Today, people are more likely to use a streaming service like Spotify or Apple Music to listen to their favorite bands and I have to admit that I do this too. The problem with streaming services is that the musicians earn "roughly 1/20th of a cent for a single stream of a given song," according to Simply Music.
This means that a song needs to be streamed at least 2,000 times in order for the musicians to make $1.
While artists are clearly making very little money for having their music available on these services these are one of the better places for listeners to easily access music. This is because for a flat rate every month users can listen to virtually anything instead of having to pay for each album. Other than youtube (where artists only make money from advertisements if their channel is official) streaming services are what inspire listeners to step up from just streaming songs to buying a ticket to their concerts. You can see this especially on Spotify where 51% of users reported spending the money to see musicians live, according to Simply Music. Spotify even has a tab on every artist's page where you can view all their upcoming concert dates, which are near you, and you can buy your tickets right there.
Then there are streaming sites like Bandcamp which don't charge listeners to stream songs for a limited about of plays. After that bands can set how much they want to charge for digital downloads of their music. What's good about Bandcamp is that bands often set their albums as only $1 in order for their music to be available to virtually anyone. But if you do have the means to buy their album you can pay any price above the set dollar. Bandcamp also only takes a small percentage of purchased merch and digital downloads at 10% and 15% respectively. If you listen to indie bands Bandcamp is a great place to experience their music and support bands who haven't had the chance to get their music on Spotify or iTunes.
Even though listening to music digitally has become so popular there are still people out there buying physical CDs and vinyl records. You may think that this is where musicians really make their money, but like streaming services, they are only getting a small cut of what you paid for the CD. The first cut goes to the store you bought the music from, then the record label who disperses the money to more places. This would be the publisher, the printing company, and some labels even take money as a "breakage fee," according to Splinter News. After most of the money is gone the small portion that remains is what ends up in the band's pockets.
Overall the best way for you to support the bands you love is to go to their concerts and buy their merch and CDs there.
This is where they'll be able to receive the largest cut of your money so that they can continue to make the music you love and go on tour. After all, I believe that listening to live music is the best way to experience it. It's well worth your money.
