Good morning, y'all. Last night, someone asked me about streaming music and why I've never put my music on streaming platforms. It got me thinking about my personal experience with this whole streaming concept. That shit is crazy .
You see, I’ve never had my music on streaming services. Now, many of my friends and fellow artists have their music out there on these platforms, and of course, I pay close attention to what's happening in the music world. But personally, I’ve never dabbled in the streaming game.
When I first heard about streaming as a method of distributing music, I was very much against it. It just didn't make sense to me why anyone else could distribute my music better than I could. After all, the internet is right there—everyone is just one click away from finding whatever they're looking for. So, anyone who’s looking for my music can easily find it online without needing a streaming service. Am I right ?
Early on in my career, when streaming first came about, I couldn’t see any advantage to it. So when I first heard about Spotify and Apple Music, I was skeptical. They were giving away free trials, so I tried my three months for free and found some enjoyable things about it—being able to listen to a wide range of music was nice. But it’s not like I discovered any new artists through it. I couldn’t see the viability of it. The only thing attractive about it was that it was free. And we all know that the reason it’s free is that the streaming companies make money off the free version by selling advertisements. Mama didn't raise no fool.
I've never been a big proponent of streaming. One day, I ran into one of my homeboys, a blues artist, who was bragging about his music being on Apple Music and Spotify. He was proud of having his music available through streaming. So, I asked him, "Is it making you any money?" Of course, his answer was no. Later, I asked several other artist friends of mine the same question: "Does having your music on streaming platforms make you any money?" They all gave the same answer: no. Is it working for you ?
One friend told me, "There's no point in buying my music anymore because people can listen to it on the stream for free." It felt like cutting off your nose to spite your face or shooting yourself in the foot by putting music out on streaming platforms. I’ve never understood it.
One thing I do understand is the direct-to-fan connection. I’ve been willing to make that connection, and it seems to work well for me. Last time I asked a friend of mine who has her music on streaming platforms, "Does it make you $30 or $50 a month?" She said no. Another friend, an artist down in Louisiana with his music on streaming, also said no when I asked if he was making $100 a month from it.
So, I think I was fortunate enough to respect that I never fell for the streaming game. And I don’t plan on falling for it anytime soon. That’s been my feeling about streaming. Maybe my feelings will change someday, but as of now, I don’t see any benefit to putting my music on streaming services.
What do you think ?