Singer Neil Young pulled his music from Spotify this week. A stunt that few have dared to do, even if the Swedish company has been repeatedly criticized in recent years for its method of remunerating artists. Because the online listening platform is now essential, if not profitable.
Last fall, singer Philémon Cimon went on a crusade against the stinginess of the music industry. He denounced his distributor, then his former record company, but never raised his voice against listening platforms like Spotify, which however only pay him crumbs for his music, by his own admission.
“I go after those I can talk to. But Spotify’s business is for governments to do something about. I’m not going to fight against someone who won’t even hear what I have to say,” reasoned the singer-songwriter in a resigned tone.
When your name is Neil Young, however, the leeway is not the same. The famous Canadian singer has removed his catalog from the most popular listening platform in the world, not for a royalties affair, but for political reasons. Neil Young is protesting that Spotify is hosting the controversial podcast by American host Joe Rogan, who is used to peddling inaccurate information about the pandemic.
The news went around the world, but no big names in the industry followed suit. A few times in recent years, singers have challenged Spotify, most often for economic reasons, but never have these disparate releases really succeeded in sparking a movement powerful enough to shake the music giant.
“Spotify has become a staple. It’s part of the new way of consuming music. Apart from artists with an older audience who are not used to being on the platforms, I do not see who could do without it, ”explains Steve Jolin, who is at the head of the record company 7th Sky.
Among his foals, we find Fouki, Alaclair Ensemble or Koriass, who are all among the most popular Quebecers on Spotify. Thanks to their millions of cumulative plays, their presence on the platform has allowed their music to travel beyond the borders of Quebec, but it has hardly brought in financially.
” One stream, it ends up being worth a fraction of a cent, indignant Steve Jolin. Should platforms increase the pay rate for artists? Should artists benefit from a contribution from Internet providers, without whom there are no streaming ? These are all questions that must be asked to improve the ecosystem. But we won’t go back: almost no one has a CD player anymore. »
The latest “offline”
In Quebec, Claude Dubois is one of the last resisters. None of the recordings to which he has rights can be found on Spotify.
Mario Pelchat has also long been stubborn in not making the music of the artists he produces available on the platforms. A strategy that confused the skeptics, the first album of the 2Frères having exceeded 100,000 copies sold in 2017, a real achievement for the time.
But at the start of the pandemic, when the last record stores still open were forced to close temporarily, Mario Pelchat finally gave in.
“But I continue to be against it. As long as the rights holders [les artistes, les réalisateurs, les producteurs…] will not be compensated at their fair value, I will continue to find it unfair. It’s not normal to pay 10 dollars and have access to all the music in the world”, thunders the interpreter of Crying in the rain by pleading for a significant increase in the cost of subscription.
How to compensate fairly?
Others are calling for artists to be compensated with a fixed amount for each listen they generate. At the moment, the platforms instead calculate the set of monthly plays, then distribute the revenue among the artists on a pro rata basis.
According to a study by the National Center for Music in France, a change of model would be to the advantage of artists who work in more niche music styles, such as metal, blues or classical. But that would come at the expense of other musical genres, such as rap and hip-hop, the study concludes.
Consequently, ADISQ is hesitant to call for a new compensation system and prefers to campaign for the subjection of listening platforms to the Broadcasting Act in order to require, in particular, a minimum of exposure to Quebec content. .
“Currently, barely 8% of the music listened to online streaming is from Quebec. We know that Quebecers love music from here, but it is essential to highlight it so that they continue to discover it,” ADISQ director general Eve Paré added by email.