Subtraction

Damon Krukowski of Damon & Naomi and, earlier, of Galaxie 500 walks us through the math of artists’ earnings from streaming music services. This made the rounds quite a bit yesterday when it was published, thanks in no small part to the fact that it’s very well written and chock full of quotable lines and eye-opening figures:

“My BMI royalty check arrived recently, reporting songwriting earnings from the first quarter of 2012, and I was glad to see that our music is being listened to via these services. Galaxie 500’s ‘Tugboat,’ for example, was played 7,800 times on Pandora that quarter, for which its three songwriters were paid a collective total of 21 cents, or seven cents each. Spotify pays better: For the 5,960 times ‘Tugboat’ was played there, Galaxie 500’s songwriters went collectively into triple digits: US$1.05 (35 cents each).”

I have a soft spot for Galaxie 500; their three amazing albums figured prominently into my misspent youth. For my money, the band is responsible for some of the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard. So it’s very disheartening to hear that even artists of that calibre are so ill-served by streaming economics. Read the full column at Pitchfork.