Mark Roberge argues streaming pays less because of cash-flow timing, not total revenue. Independent artists need roughly thirty releases before streaming income becomes substantial, but can eventually earn over $100,000 from a catalog. The real solution is building multiple income streams: merchandise, tickets, and direct fan subscriptions that provide monthly revenue.
there's all this talk constantly about how Spotify is the devil and they're only paying cents on the dollar and you can't make any money on streaming. And most of the people that are saying this are typically people that are signed to major label deals, and so they're only getting a portion of their revenue anyway. And so they're getting squeezed and they probably don't even have a recoup. So, you know, when you hear someone like Snoop Dogg, oh, I haven't got paid or I haven't seen anything, it's probably because of the deal, not because of Spotify ultimately. So the thing is over time you can make more money than you could selling a physical album to somebody, right? You can, you can sell that album once to that person, probably only gonna buy it one time, and then ultimately over the course of their lifetime they're going to stream more than, than they, they would, uh, you know, in regards to like the, the ratio of how much it costs to buy that album to how many streams they're gonna have on that song or that album over time. Uh, so over time you'll make more money. So it's really not about a revenue issue, it's a cash flow issue. So back in the day you'd sell that album, you'd sell that single, and you make that money right away, and you could put it right back into the business and continue to grow, and you could put it into marketing, you put it touring, all those things, right? Now there's a gap, right? So you put out a release and your catalog is minimal. You're a new artist. It takes about like 30-something releases, honestly, to start like really picking up on, on revenue, right? And, and, and building a fan base in between those releases to a point where it actually starts to matter, right? So that's what you're really seeing is like the cash flow side of things is really the hit. And so finding ways to create other revenue streams in between that until you get to a place where your catalog starts to generate enough revenue is is what is needed to be done, right? That's what you need to be focusing on. In order to do that, you need to build real relationships with your fans. You need to get them to purchase merchandise. You need to get them to purchase tickets to your shows. You got to get them to purchase merchandise at your shows. And you should ideally get them into a subscription situation where you're giving them value, giving them access, and they're paying you on a monthly, and that will close that gap. You know, incentivize them, but also give them the opportunity to help you and tell them that, you know, I, you know, I talk to so many different artists all the time that are worried about this type of offer to their fans. And it's like, if you just ask your fans, like, hey, what do you think about me doing this? They'll tell you. They'll be like, yeah, we'd be happy to do it. We'd be pumped. And we get access to you, or we get this, or we get that, or we get, you know, songs before anybody else, or we get to be part of a group chat that no one else is, or we get, um, you know, access to a live stream that you guys do every week. Something like that, or all of them, right? Ultimately, a fan would love that. And if you ask them, they'll tell you what they want. And so don't be too hesitant on it, because a fan is always happy to help you, and they're excited to to get more access. So, you know, that's really what I would want you to take away from this, this video I made is ultimately, you know, streaming is not the devil. You're going to make more money over time if you're consistent and you continue to go and put out releases and it'll compound, your fan base will grow. And, you know, I got many artists that I work with that are making over $100,000 off their, their catalogs independently right now, which is amazing, right? But it took time, took many releases, took strategy, took fans. And so that's where they're at now, but it takes time. And in In between that, they sold merchandise, they sold access, and they played shows. So having an understanding of that is really gonna be helpful, I think, to a lot of artists, a lot of independent artists that are out there trying to, you know, obviously fund their careers and getting an understanding of like, your fans can help fund it. So get out there, get that stuff going. If you have any questions on any of this, hit us up in the DMs. We're happy to help. And you know, we can help build that infrastructure for you through Fanflowy.
