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Money, money, money … in the music business, there seems to be little left for the songwriters that fuel it. ABBA co-founder Björn Ulvaeus calls for the industry to support its most valuable asset, breaking down how the streaming revolution impacts creator royalties, careers and craft — and outlines what can be done to truly thank artists for the music.
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Love him and ABBA so much!
Gracias desde Argentina
He’s literally done a Ted talk on a topic I was going to write an article about for a blog. Loved this
I have seen the shift over the pandemic and I really appreciate this talk.Thank you for being bold and honest. These are facts that people don’t think about when looking at music. We need a better system. I think if more people realized that their payments didn’t go to the right places, that their subscriptions didn’t support their artists there will be a change. How can you help. You already have. Like and share!
Bjorn is a very intelligent, insightful and engaging person to listen to. A musical genius sent from the Father 🙂
What father? His?
People: Artists must be paid more ✊✊✊. So tell me what we should do to make that happen
Speaker: Let’s increase the streaming price to $12.99
People: Well…not that.
I still buy and listen to CDs because I like albums and high quality audio
Only CD does not really offer hi-quality sound.
@lolwho better than spotify streams; 1411kbps vs 320kbps
This was one of the better TED Talks in a while, honestly.
As it is now, the Spotify royalty model is nonsensical. Per Ulvaeus’ example, why is my subscription money going to Justin Bieber instead of the artists I listen to? “Free” listeners are supported by the ads, so why isn’t my money going to the artists and songs I value?
Excellent Ted talk.
I was highly skeptical at the start with an old person complaining about streaming but we was extremely fair and reasonable and I hope my like and comment helps spread his message ever so slightly.
I agree with him 110%, music helps so many people. I will do my best from this moment on to learn who wrote the music and songs I like to hear. An pay it forward to those people.
Finally something good by Ted
Björn looks much younger than 76!
It’s not just the streaming payment system that’s the problem, it’s also the promotion system. How do you get new music in front of people who wouldn’t have thought to go seek it out on their own? And how do new artist who are starting to gain a little bit of traction, get more exposure so they can take their career to the next level? MTV doesn’t really play videos or have shows like TRL anymore. Traditional broadcast radio has been on the way out for the past 20 years. Sure, there’s YouTube and all the stuff that people do on social media. But when you’re looking for music online, you only seek out stuff you already know or similar new stuff that you think you’ll like. So it becomes a kind of echo chamber. There’s no one putting a compilation of new stuff in front of you and saying “here try some of this. Maybe you’ll like it.” And you end up being exposed to new artist or different genres of music that you wouldn’t otherwise have thought to listen to before. The same thing is happening with TV shows and news media too and I think it’s going to have a detrimental effect on American culture. There’s no one thing that everyone pays attention to anymore and it’s dividing people.
I rarely use spotify, the current fee is low enough for me to keep it running. Any higher I would cancel it. I bet many spotify subscribers would agree. Higher price will make piracy a thing again. It’s a delicate balance.
Back in the days the music industry made more money than they deserved, so maybe it is closer to a equlibrium now? (Im not having all the facts, but IMHO music was too expensive 20 years ago).