But it's not about the money. Think of the exposure you're getting!

In a sea of content, each piece's value is minimal. I can pick anything to watch or listen to. Why should I listen to yours?

You're no longer fighting for dollars as an artist, you're fighting for attention. There are more people out there willing to give their content away for pennies or free then people who want to live off of the music they make.

Perhaps artists should hop on the basic income bandwagon.

Also there are so many other models out there - artists can get dedicated fans to subscribe to each new piece of content they create on sites like Patreon.com (founded by a YouTube musical duo tired of the pennies they were receiving). Pretty amazing - folks contribute a $1 or more for each new song, for example, as a way to keep artists producing. You'll see folks making a decent monthly income just off this channel - plus getting some great connections communicating with their fans.

I agree with mikehawkins - if artists are not getting enough from the current distribution model, why not try out things like Patreon.. anyone here who has tried that and can share some numbers?

I don't disagree that other options should be tried; I'm saying that they likely won't work en masse. You'll always find artists who will find patronage through a small following, but we're not headed back to the era of large swaths of the music industry making a living off of their music.

Walk into your typical library. Look at all of the books on the shelves. Pick a random book. Pull it out. Imagine that book yells at you "I deserve more money if you want to read me!".

Do you pay for the privilege to read that book? Or do you push it back in and pick from the thousands of other books available? We are awash in cheap/free content, that's the problem.

I like the way that services like Patreon can bring fans closer to the musicians. I'm an indie novelist and while my sales are not nearly high for me to write books as a career I regularly get tweets etc nudging me to get the next book out. If this interaction can be improved for both parties so much the better. Mind you - it may not work with artists/writers with huge amounts of fans!

How does Patreon compare to doing your own Kickstarter or Indiegogo for patronage?

Just curious, do you feel that Spotify or your label is to blame?

Blame for what exactly? A song doesn't warrant listeners or revenue just because it exists, "make something people want" doesn't just apply to developer-entrepreneurs.

It wouldn't be your only source of income if you did try to earn a living as an independent musician. Look at Oddisee, an indy rapper and producer from Brooklyn, as an example. It's a full time job but he's doing it. He sells music, streams it on all the streaming platforms, tours, produces and cameos on other's work.

Nit, but pretty sure Oddisee is from DC.

Yeah, he is, but he lives in and is based in Brooklyn now.

How much do you think a single listen by a single person should cost?