Taylor Swift and others seek to retain financial value for music.

Explaining her move in an interview with Yahoo, US chart star Taylor Swift said, "Everything new, like Spotify, feels to me a bit like a grand experiment. I'm not willing to contribute my life's work to an experiment that I don't feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music. I just don't agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value."

Other artists seem to agree. Beyonce has yet to include her latest release, out since July, in her Spotify catalog. Also turning his back on Spotify is country musician Jason Aldean. With over three million streams, Aldean had the biggest week for a country artist in Spotify history but removed his album from the site despite having initially recorded a track-by-track commentary for streaming listeners. Artists have reported earning fractions of a cent per play on the service.

Lowest on the food chain?

In the past five years, only one American artist, Taylor Swift, has sold more than one million albums in the first week after release, a feat she has achieved three times. Her sales are increasing at a time when the industry has seen continuous drops, including, for the first time in 2013, digital sales.

Swift's point: musicians need to be business-savvy, and consumers of music need to consume, not just eat off the free sample platter. Musicians were promised freedom with the digital revolution, but concerns surrounding copyright, sound quality and fair compensation still exist. Artists like Swift are using their star power to become advocates for change.

But for every Swift or Beyonce, there are thousands of struggling musicians. Speaking with DW, US pop artist Alexandra Kelly said, "I love that my music reaches the fans who want it, but it is also very difficult to make a viable career as an artist because you end up spending more money than you make."

Digital media suppliers require timely payments from users but compensate artists in arrears, sometimes in excess of 120 days, so artists must be able to financially front an album for upwards of a year.

Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek blogged on November 11 that his company has already paid $2 billion to artists. He wrote, "We will do anything we can to improve speed of payments and give artists the opportunity to promote themselves. That's our responsibility, and it's the right thing to do."

Learning from history

Streaming is the newest development to come from 40 years of technological changes to the industry, but through it all, one constant remains: the music business always rewards the marketing-minded. Taylor Swift is a tireless marketer. She knows her fans because she spends time cultivating personal relationships with them.

In the label era, artists signed away their copyrights because they saw it as an opportunity for their music to be heard. Some of them are retired and penniless, while owners of their collective copyright catalogs continue to earn money.

When the digital revolution freed musicians from label control, some of the older stars, most notably Metallica, cautioned artists on the need to maintain control of their copyrights.

Intellectual property attorney Kevin J. Greene advises artists to "focus on live gigs, sales at gigs, building a following and finding sources of income outside of sales."

Bruce Houghton, creator of the digital music blog Hypebot, tells up-and-coming artists: "Work with everyone. It’s that simple." He told DW, "Things are changing. We all need to be pragmatic and experimental to find out what works."

Fans support with purchasing power

Fans are finding ways to support artists. They have participated in "Pay What You Want" offerings and backed art experiences in music, such as American musician Amanda Palmer’s 2012 "Theatre Is Evil" project. Raising $1.2 million, the crowd sourcing success included an art book filled with album-inspired images.

A German music fan speaking with DW said that when unable to attend live performances, he will purchase music but adds, "I wouldn’t know ninety percent of the bands I listen to if I had to pay for their stuff before being able to check it out." He noted that most of the music he finds comes from YouTube, yet another platform that has begun the process of monetizing streams with the launch of YouTube Music Key.

American singer/songwriter JD Eicher understands. "I think everything is headed toward streaming," he said. "The artist in me dislikes the shift, but the consumer in me is already on board."

Cultural Revolution

While CD and download sales plummet, vinyl has seen a steady increase, now making up 2% of the overall market. Belgian DJ/Producer Harry V.A. explained to DW, "When you buy something tangible, digital does not even begin to compare to the experience."

HitRECord, created initially as an open-source collaborative by actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt and his late brother Dan in 2005, monetized its site in 2010 with the release of retail products. Splitting the revenues 50/50 with artists, they paid out $40,000 in the first year. By 2012, proceeds had grown to $400,000. In 2013, HitRECord launched an Emmy award-winning television show which continues to share profits equally with contributors.

Will businesses like these help artists and fans change the face of the industry? Time will tell, but as Dutch music fan Jiri Rutten points out, "If we stop paying artists money, we don't even have to discuss how we will receive the music."