{"id":327,"date":"2021-07-01T16:31:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T15:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rethink-quarterly.local\/?p=327"},"modified":"2024-09-03T22:09:22","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T21:09:22","slug":"musicians-getting-paid-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/musicians-getting-paid-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"How musicians are getting paid in the pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<header class=\"entry-header bg-adp-tan block--article-header alignfull block--article-header\" >\n\n  \n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full entry--image\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1277\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pien-muller-Fh-Q-xfdh_o-unsplash.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-179\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pien-muller-Fh-Q-xfdh_o-unsplash.jpeg 1920w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pien-muller-Fh-Q-xfdh_o-unsplash-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pien-muller-Fh-Q-xfdh_o-unsplash-1024x681.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pien-muller-Fh-Q-xfdh_o-unsplash-768x511.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pien-muller-Fh-Q-xfdh_o-unsplash-1536x1022.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pien-muller-Fh-Q-xfdh_o-unsplash-375x250.jpeg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pien Muller \/<a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/collections\/66556866\/q2?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"entry--social-share\">\n  <ul>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/musicians-getting-paid-pandemic\/&#038;t=How musicians are getting paid in the pandemic\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/themes\/rethink-quarterly\/img\/facebook.svg\" alt=\"Facebook logo - click to share this article on Facebook\"><\/a><\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=How musicians are getting paid in the pandemic&#038;url=https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/musicians-getting-paid-pandemic\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/themes\/rethink-quarterly\/img\/twitter.svg\" alt=\"Twitter logo - click to share this article on Twitter\"><\/a><\/li>\n    <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/sharing\/share-offsite\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Frethinkq.adp.com%2Fmusicians-getting-paid-pandemic%2F\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/themes\/rethink-quarterly\/img\/linkedin.svg\" alt=\"LinkedIn logo - click to share this article on Facebook\"><\/a><\/li>\n  <\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n            <a class=\"entry--tag tag-style\" href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/time-for-universal-basic-income\/\">Features<\/a>\n\n        \n  <h1 class=\"entry-title\">How musicians are getting paid in the pandemic<\/h1>\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-summary-style\">Physical album sales are just 3% of their peak in the year 2000, music streaming services pay peanuts, and the pandemic halted touring. But artists are embracing new ways of making money.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n  <div class=\"entry--meta content-width\">\n           <p class=\"authors\">By\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/author\/gil-kaufman\/\">Gil Kaufman<\/a>\n\n             \n         \n     <\/p>\n    \n  \n  <p>1 July 2021  <span class=\"desktop-only\">\u2014<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/issue-2-experimentation\/\">Issue 2: Experimentation<\/a> \n  <\/div><!-- .entry-meta -->\n\n<\/header><!-- .entry-header -->\n\t<div class=\"entry-content content-width\">\n\n\n\n<p>The global pandemic all but erased&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/liveforlivemusic.com\/news\/covid-19-concert-cancellation-tracking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lucrative touring options<\/a>&nbsp;in 2020, and it\u2019s not clear when, or if, they will fully return.<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>Physical album sales have&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/chart\/12950\/cd-sales-in-the-us\/#:~:text=According%2520to%2520the%2520Recording%2520Industry,album%2520topped%2520the%2520Billboard%2520charts.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shrunk by 97%<\/a>&nbsp;since their peak at the turn of the millennium. And digital music plays on streaming services such as Spotify are&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ksusentinel.com\/2021\/04\/28\/music-streaming-market-2021-2027-tidal-alphabet-inc-youtube-music-apple-music-spotify-ab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">expanding at a breakneck pace<\/a>, but they send just fractions of pennies into artists\u2019 bank accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The good news is that as the old methods of reaching the top become less dependable, musicians are making money on everything from exclusive merch drops and virtual fan hubs to children\u2019s books, podcasts, movie deals, back catalog sales and NFTs (more on those later). Despite every blow the music industry has taken in the past two decades, dollar signs are still popping for artists willing to branch out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/mick-haupt-kkFiqiVj7IA-unsplash-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-383\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/mick-haupt-kkFiqiVj7IA-unsplash-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/mick-haupt-kkFiqiVj7IA-unsplash-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/mick-haupt-kkFiqiVj7IA-unsplash-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/mick-haupt-kkFiqiVj7IA-unsplash-375x250.jpeg 375w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/mick-haupt-kkFiqiVj7IA-unsplash.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mick Haupt \/&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/kkFiqiVj7IA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Old school<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For much of the past century, recorded music made its way to your ears through the tightly controlled conduit of major record labels. The big six labels that existed until 1999 shrunk down to three: Sony BMG, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. They and their subsidiaries control&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/musicindustryblog.wordpress.com\/tag\/record-label-market-shares\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more than 70%<\/a>&nbsp;of the global music market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the first major labels were founded in the early half of the 20th century, their aim was to \u201cfind art and culture in an attempt to license and pre-sell\u201d those recordings to stores, according to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wordcollections.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Word Collections<\/a>&nbsp;CEO Jeff Price. The former president of SpinART Records focuses on helping independent musicians manage their publishing rights, and he says those old royalty systems were essentially estimates. The artist was paid an often-generous advance by a label to cover their recording and promotional costs, which they had to repay before they could begin earning money on sales. Only the label had access to the final sales figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Musical recordings generate four main types of royalties: public performance, mechanical, print music and synchronization. The mechanical royalty is the payment the songwriter receives for the physical or digital distribution or reproduction of their copyrighted works. Public performance royalties create income for copyrighted works when they are played, recorded, streamed or performed in public. The least common, the print royalty, is paid for copyrighted music transcribed as sheet music. And synchronization refers to commercial licensing; I\u2019ll get into syncs deeper in a moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aside from royalties, musicians made the bulk of their income from touring, which is why they almost always hit the road after releasing an album. Until the advent of so-called \u201c360 deals\u201d in the early 2000s \u2014 in which labels began offering contracts to artists that included cuts of concert ticket and merchandise sales \u2014 the income generated from touring and T-shirts was a reliable, often healthy, revenue stream for many acts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Billboard&nbsp;editor-at-large Steve Knopper says that when digital downloads and streaming transformed the business at the turn of the millennium, the three buckets from which the record industry usually paid artists \u2014 touring, sales and publishing \u2014 were all upturned. On download and streaming services, artists were racking up what Knopper dubs \u201cmicropennies.\u201dAround this time, more bands were realizing they could break free from labels and control their own sales and distribution; the digital economy was refreshingly transparent for artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cJam bands like Umphrey\u2019s McGee could&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.umlive.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sell downloads of concerts<\/a>&nbsp;they just performed,\u201d says Knopper. \u201cOr if someone plays your song at a wedding and does a funny dance and it gets 2 billion views, you can agree for that video to continue being on YouTube and get all that royalty money from what YouTube pays.\u201d Musicians could opt for a copyright takedown of unauthorized use of their music, or they could take control of the estimated&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.visualcapitalist.com\/how-many-music-streams-to-earn-a-dollar\/\">$1-per-1,500 streams<\/a>&nbsp;that YouTube videos generate for creators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p><strong>The digital services are very accurate. They just don\u2019t pay a lot.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe technology allowed more artists to make money in a way they never did before,\u201d Price says of the streaming economy. This allowed ever more artists to enter the ecosystem, as the pool of money to be made shrank, now averaging about $1 per 200 streams on most digital services. \u201cThe digital services are very accurate,\u201d he says.&nbsp;\u201cThey just don\u2019t pay a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/noiseporn-JNuKyKXLh8U-unsplash-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/noiseporn-JNuKyKXLh8U-unsplash-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/noiseporn-JNuKyKXLh8U-unsplash-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/noiseporn-JNuKyKXLh8U-unsplash-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/noiseporn-JNuKyKXLh8U-unsplash-375x250.jpeg 375w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/noiseporn-JNuKyKXLh8U-unsplash.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Adam Bentley \/&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/JNuKyKXLh8U\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The crypto remix<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When Covid-19 shut down the whole world in 2020, artists were scrambling for new ways to make money outside of touring, often still the most lucrative outlet for musicians.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t be 95% reliant on touring,\u201d says Joel Mark, an executive artist manager at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ymugroup.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YMU Group<\/a>. \u201cSo when the record business hit a low [in 2020] and it was clear that zero percent of income would be coming from shows, we had to think of other ways to connect with an audience.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>YMU\u2019s roster includes rock and pop acts Blink-182, Morrissey and Rancid, as well as electronic dance music artists 3LAU and Steve Aoki, all of whom have diversified their revenue streams in their own ways. Aoki and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker have secured film deals with Netflix and Amazon, respectively. More and more of Mark\u2019s clients are diving into the world of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/culture\/culture-news\/nft-non-fungible-token-explainer-1139596\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">non-fungible tokens<\/a>&nbsp;\u2014 NFTs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NFTs are the current digital rage, in which one-of-a-kind digital pieces of art, video or music are bought and sold on the&nbsp;blockchain. NFTs broke into the public consciousness in February 2021, when 3LAU (born Justin David Blau) raked in a record-setting&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cultr.com\/news\/3lau-just-sold-his-ultraviolet-album-nfts-for-11-7-million\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$11.7 million<\/a>&nbsp;in a three-day sale of 33 digital album NFTs. One song alone, \u201cUltraviolet,\u201d sold for more than $3.6 million.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Electronic musician RAC (born Andr\u00e9 Allen Anjo) was an early adopter who sold his 2017 album \u201cEGO\u201d exclusively on the Ethereum blockchain, before NFTs were a thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe did a deal with an indie label where you could buy a copy of&nbsp;\u2018EGO\u2019 for one Ether coin, and we treated it like a merch sale,\u201d Mark says. The result was a win for the Grammy-winner, who took home $7 of each $10 album sale, and it was proof that selling music via the blockchain could work.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That inspired RAC to release his 2020 album \u201cBOY\u201d on cassettes only available via the purchase of a $TAPE cryptocurrency token. The token could be redeemed for one of the 100 limited-edition tapes or traded to other collectors. From a starting price of $28, the price of a single $TAPE token surged to nearly $13,000 at one point and is now sitting at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/store.zora.co\/rac\/tape\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$3,388<\/a>. The best part for the artist, according to Mark, is that RAC makes a percentage of the re-sale of his NFTs every single time they are resold. Forever.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s a game-changer,\u201d Mark says of the potential ability of his clients to benefit from the lucrative resale market. \u201cWhen we\u2019re able to start selling concert tickets on blockchain, artists will get a higher percentage of sales and it will be a real re-ordering of things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s no guarantee that the NFT bubble will last, but its effects on the environment are likely to.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2021\/3\/15\/22328203\/nft-cryptoart-ethereum-blockchain-climate-change\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Verge<\/a>&nbsp;reports that blockchain systems, which requires networks of computers doing advanced cryptography to verify every transaction, consume great amounts of power. The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/digiconomist.net\/ethereum-energy-consumption\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">amount of energy<\/a>&nbsp;used by the Ethereum blockchain is comparable to that of the entire country of Peru.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Off the blockchain, Mark also encouraged clients to embrace targeted merchandise drops. Pre-sales eliminate the waste of printing hundreds, or thousands, of shirts and hats for a tour, and then getting stuck with them if they don\u2019t sell before the dates end. \u201cThis is so much more efficient, because people can make the decision of whether or not they want something. If they really love the band, they know they can buy the shirt now, or in a week it will be gone,\u201d Mark says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the pandemic, musicians embraced a swath of newer online services in the hope of ringing up fast, easy money. That included Patreon, where fans can sign up for paid monthly subscriptions that unlock exclusive content; Cameo, where fans can hire a celebrity to record a custom video message; Stage-It, where artists can perform full-production concerts for pay; and Twitch, the streaming platform popular with gamers, where rapper Travis Scott raked in a&nbsp;reported&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/esports\/story\/_\/id\/29532117\/billboard-travis-scott-astronomical-drew-more-45-million-viewers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$500,000 performance fee<\/a>&nbsp;for a virtual show.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A number of artists on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/brilliantcorners.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Brilliant Corners<\/a>&nbsp;manager Jordan Kurland\u2019s roster \u2014 including popular indie acts Death Cab for Cutie and Best Coast \u2014 did livestream shows during the pandemic. But as he and fellow manager Michael McDonald of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mickmgmt.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mick Management<\/a>&nbsp;say, those were typically to raise money for their crews or for organizations in need rather than for profit. McDonald also saw a notable uptick in corporate Zoom performances for other clients on his roster. Virtual gigs and performances paid his artists anywhere from $20,000 to $150,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/eran-menashri-Ae7pSsfzEHs-unsplash-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-385\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/eran-menashri-Ae7pSsfzEHs-unsplash-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/eran-menashri-Ae7pSsfzEHs-unsplash-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/eran-menashri-Ae7pSsfzEHs-unsplash-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/eran-menashri-Ae7pSsfzEHs-unsplash-375x250.jpeg 375w, https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/eran-menashri-Ae7pSsfzEHs-unsplash.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Eran Menashri \/&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/s\/photos\/record-collection?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">In Sync<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>During the pandemic, legacy artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Stevie Nicks made headlines by selling the rights to their back catalogs for hundreds of millions of dollars. With sales of recording rights in a boom cycle for the past five years, CPA Tony Peyrot of business management and tax advisory firm&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/dppcpa.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dunn Pariser Peyrot<\/a>, says it might be a good time for artists in the twilight of their careers to cash out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf, like [Dylan, Young and Nicks], you have written most of your songs yourself, what the purchaser is buying is that income stream for the rest of time via streaming, physical sales, downloads, syncs and other usages,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the catalog rush is a \u201cspeculative boom\u201d for now, Knopper says the artists cashing in have many popular songs. The back catalogs could earn their new owners millions over the years through sync deals and other prominent placements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p><strong>The creators\u2019 era will change entirely how artists make money. It opens up a whole new toolkit, and there\u2019s a lot inside that kit.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Peyrot says free or charity live streams are fine during a shutdown, but are not the way forward. \u201cThe appetite is not quite there yet,\u201d he says. In the meantime, many of his clients are turning to one of the most lucrative income streams of the past decade: syncs. The word \u2014 short for music synchronization \u2014 refers to a license granted by the copyright holder to place music in commercials, advertisements, video games, TV shows or movies. Each episode of programs such as \u201cThe Masked Singer\u201d&nbsp;require many music licenses, as do sporting events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPeople don\u2019t look down on it as much as they did in the past, because it\u2019s just part of getting the music out there,\u201d says Peyrot of syncs, which some also used to call \u201cselling out.\u201d When the Rolling Stones offered tour sponsorship rights to fragrance house&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/archive\/business\/1981\/12\/07\/what-do-rolling-stones-jovan-have-in-common-a-contract\/68c71447-5bc9-4c59-a585-5b6ef406f7c7\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jovan in 1981<\/a>, purists considered it crass cashing out, but today this kind of deal is just smart business sense. Depending on the broadcast\u2019s reach, the music might be provided for free in exchange for promotional consideration, or the artist might get paid from $500 for a small indie film to $1 million for a prominent placement if the iron is hot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The \u201ccreators\u2019 era\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/soundtrap-4DAH0YhV3Qg-unsplash-683x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-386\" style=\"width:342px;height:512px\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>While many people in the music business are focused on how to squeeze more micropennies from streaming services, Marc Geiger thinks we\u2019re heading into a golden \u201ccreators\u2019 era.\u201d&nbsp; The Lollapalooza co-founder and former William Morris Endeavor global music head thinks artists are finally in the position to fully drive their careers, with&nbsp; infinitely more opportunities to make money in new, inventive ways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m calling it the era of Digital Artist Monetization,\u201d he says, envisioning a post-\u201cthree bucket\u201d revenue stream world where the creator has a direct line to their audience, eliminating the need for record label deals entirely. A lot of the infrastructure is already in place, with services such as BandCamp, where artists set their own album prices, and new avenues emerging, such as NFT sales and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.masterclass.com\/classes\/herbie-hancock-teaches-jazz\/chapters\/a-musical-life\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">paid MasterClass lectures<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe might go from someone releasing a big project to Target and Apple first, to opening their own store and delivering certain goods to [retailers], while saving all the good stuff for their own store,\u201d he says. \u201cIt will change entirely how artists make money. It opens up a whole new toolkit, and there\u2019s a lot inside that kit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The music industry is undergoing a radical shift from a top-down model to a bottom-up digital one. In this new world order, artists are controlling the intellectual property pipelines and making direct digital connections to their fans. And when those fans order on-demand merch, sign up for a subscription, or buy and sell tickets, it will put significantly more money into their favorite acts\u2019 pockets, perhaps allowing hundreds, or even thousands, of mini-Beyonc\u00e9s to bloom across the digital space.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"block--author\">      <div class=\"block-author__inner\">\n        <div class=\"author--image\">\n                      <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/author\/gil-kaufman\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/profile_Gil-Kaufman-298x305.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n                  <\/div>\n        <div class=\"author--info\">\n                      <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/author\/gil-kaufman\/\" class=\"author--name\">Gil Kaufman<\/a>\n\n          \n          <p>Based in Cincinnati, Ohio,\u00a0Gil Kaufman\u00a0is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in Billboard Magazine, MTV News, Wired, Rolling Stone, Fodor\u2019s and the original web-only music magazine, Addicted to Noise.<\/p>\n          <div class=\"block--author-social\"><ul class=\"author--socials\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/gil-kaufman-4a42995\" title=\"LinkedIn\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-linkedin\"><\/i><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n       <\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block--recommended-content alignwide is-style-bg-adp-tan\"><div class=\"block-recommended-content__inner\">\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Read more<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"block--article-pushpoint pushpoint__small\">      <div class=\"block-article-pushpoint__inner\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/real-people-talk-pay-las-vegas\/\">\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--image\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/matthias-mullie-NF9s89qIaL0-unsplash-1-1084x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--info\">\n                    <span class=\"pushpoint--title\">How 6 people in Las Vegas earn their dollars<\/span>\n          <p>The entertainment capital of the world was hit hard by the pandemic, but Las Vegans are getting back in the game.\n<\/p>        <\/div>\n      <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block--article-pushpoint pushpoint__small\">      <div class=\"block-article-pushpoint__inner\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/future-proof-world-workforce\/\">\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--image\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/iStock-1347116065-1084x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--info\">\n                    <span class=\"pushpoint--title\">How employers can future-proof the world\u2019s workforce\u00a0<\/span>\n          <p>Reskilling and upskilling is top-of-mind for everyone in the age of AI. But how should it be done, and who should pay for it?\n<\/p>        <\/div>\n      <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n\n<div class=\"block--article-pushpoint pushpoint__small\">      <div class=\"block-article-pushpoint__inner\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/unique-jobs-ninja\/\">\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--image\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/rethinkq.adp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/K2202215-web-1084x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\n        <\/div>\n        <div class=\"pushpoint--info\">\n                    <span class=\"pushpoint--title\">A full-time ninja carries on ancient traditions<\/span>\n          <p>Kunoichi \u2014 female ninjas \u2014 have played a special role in the history of Japan, and exist to this day.\n<\/p>        <\/div>\n      <\/a><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-group alignfull section--sign-up has-background\" style=\"background-color:#7967ae\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center is-style-default has-white-color has-text-color has-large-font-size\"><a href=\"\/sign-up\/\">Sign up<\/a> to keep up to date with ReThink Q.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Physical album sales are just 3% of their peak in the year 2000, music streaming services pay peanuts, and the pandemic halted touring. But artists are embracing new ways of making money.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":179,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[84,85,86,87],"coauthors":[10],"class_list":["post-327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-entertainment","tag-innovation","tag-music-industry","tag-nfts","issue-issue-2-experimentation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How musicians are getting paid in the pandemic - ADP ReThink Q<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Physical album sales are just 3% of their peak in the year 2000, music streaming services pay peanuts, and the pandemic halted touring. 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