Purchase with highest percentage to artists?

[antiquark]

Does anybody know what format of music gives the most profits to the artist? Like is is iTunes, google play, amazon, or going to a record store? I've been buying mostly iTunes stuff, but I'm wondering if a lot of the profits are going to straight to Apple Inc, rather than the people who actually made the music. (To be clear, I'm interested in giving more money to the artists, not the middlemen!)

[blueschica]

Does anybody know what format of music gives the most profits to the artist? Like is is iTunes, google play, amazon, or going to a record store? I've been buying mostly iTunes stuff, but I'm wondering if a lot of the profits are going to straight to Apple Inc, rather than the people who actually made the music. (To be clear, I'm interested in giving more money to the artists, not the middlemen!)

 

Sorry to give you a bunch of links, but here is what I found (busy night)-

 

http://www.fastcodes...ts-visualized (If you squint at the center column of this it shows what the artists get from individual plays on each service. I think. It's teeny print. Looks like Google Play pays best.)

 

http://gizmodo.com/w...527750499 (this makes a good case for vinyl, and for actually paying money to BUY music to support your artist)

 

http://lifehacker.co...my-music (this article is 4 years old but Lifehacker, as always, is awesome; and again makes the case for buying the music; doesn't really matter what format you do it in.)

 

Hope this helps! :)

Edited July 1, 2016 by blueschica

[J2112YYZ]

I would think that buying the album directly off a band's webpage/facebook would give them the most money. Or buying the album at the store. I don't believe there is much of a middleman when done like that.

 

The streaming services are probably the worst way to go since they don't pay out that much to the artists and most of it goes to the streaming service. Spotify seems to be the biggest offender of this from things i've heard/read.

[Disembodied Spirit]

I would think that buying the album directly off a band's webpage/facebook would give them the most money. Or buying the album at the store. I don't believe there is much of a middleman when done like that.

 

The streaming services are probably the worst way to go since they don't pay out that much to the artists and most of it goes to the streaming service. Spotify seems to be the biggest offender of this from things i've heard/read.

Direct digital purchasing would make sense. But I have heard stories about sites hosting a digital copy, that charge huge monthly rates to the artist.

So to 1 buyer, not a big deal, but to an artist, they may have to sell XX # of copies per week/ month just to break even.

I would agree on the Spotify thing, but recently artists have pulled their music due to unpaid/ or low royalties. In reality no one in the music business expected Spotify to work, just as they had not expected with Napster 15 years prior.

 

A good read > https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/03/how-much-musicians-make-spotify-itunes-youtube

 

The best music book out there > https://www.amazon.com/Need-Know-About-Music-Business/dp/1501104896/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=HJRFJVFV4JTWXKGDKHTV

[Verena]

Does anybody know what format of music gives the most profits to the artist? Like is is iTunes, google play, amazon, or going to a record store? I've been buying mostly iTunes stuff, but I'm wondering if a lot of the profits are going to straight to Apple Inc, rather than the people who actually made the music. (To be clear, I'm interested in giving more money to the artists, not the middlemen!)

I still believe cd's are best things for them.

 

They have a better sound quality, we can listen entirely and it gives our dear musicians more money.

[Ancient Ways]

Buying directly from the artist when possible should give them the most money. The more middlemen you add the less they will get. Depending on the artist, iTunes is probably the worst deal for the artist.

[MusicHead]

Does anybody know what format of music gives the most profits to the artist? Like is is iTunes, google play, amazon, or going to a record store? I've been buying mostly iTunes stuff, but I'm wondering if a lot of the profits are going to straight to Apple Inc, rather than the people who actually made the music. (To be clear, I'm interested in giving more money to the artists, not the middlemen!)

 

Gnarly thread idea, dude.

[MusicHead]

Does anybody know what format of music gives the most profits to the artist? Like is is iTunes, google play, amazon, or going to a record store? I've been buying mostly iTunes stuff, but I'm wondering if a lot of the profits are going to straight to Apple Inc, rather than the people who actually made the music. (To be clear, I'm interested in giving more money to the artists, not the middlemen!)

 

Sorry to give you a bunch of links, but here is what I found (busy night)-

 

http://www.fastcodes...ts-visualized (If you squint at the center column of this it shows what the artists get from individual plays on each service. I think. It's teeny print. Looks like Google Play pays best.)

 

http://gizmodo.com/w...527750499 (this makes a good case for vinyl, and for actually paying money to BUY music to support your artist)

 

http://lifehacker.co...my-music (this article is 4 years old but Lifehacker, as always, is awesome; and again makes the case for buying the music; doesn't really matter what format you do it in.)

 

Hope this helps! :)

 

Excellent. I pretty much buy my downloads straight from GP anymore. Once a blue moon, iTunes (a couple albums from the foreign band Francis).

[catherine]

I buy most of my cds and vinyls from Amazon. I would buy from record stores but anytime I have made a point of going to one looking for particular titles, they are rarely found and I resort to Amazon anyway.