The world of music continues to evolve, and one of the great protagonists of recent years has undoubtedly been streaming. It is true that the service has facilitated consumer access for music lovers, but for artists the issue has been more complicated than that. One who recently thought about it is Jerry Cantrell.
In a new interview with Primordial Radio, the Alice in Chains mastermind talked about how music distribution has changed over the years and what it really means when it comes to the financial livelihood of those who make music.
“The music business wasn’t organized in a very fair way,” Jerry recalled (according to the Blabbermouth transcript). «They were predatory loans for the bands that you paid at 75 cents on the dollar. And as for maintaining your publishing label, that was a real battle and very few artists did it. “The new model has taken that and intensified it a little,” he said.
The negative face of streaming in music
The guitarist describes that in the old days each play on the radio became a dime; however, today it is a “thousandth of a cent.” Therefore, he explains that “the financial pressure has only intensified.”
“The new model of the streaming platform has taken the old model of being a small part for the artist and made it even smaller,” said Jerry Cantrell. “Therefore, the prices for doing business (bus rental, gas, fuel, salaries, travel) continue to go up and incomes continue to go down for artists of all sizes.”
In any case, the veteran composer clarifies: «I have nothing to complain about. “I’m fine, but the important thing is to do a good job.”
“I don’t think a grocery store, a farmer, or someone who sells or grows a lot of produce can stay in business for long if the cost of operating and marketing stays the same and maybe 70 to 70 percent.” 80 percent of customers come in and say: I don’t really feel like paying for this apple today, but I’m going to take it anyway«, he exemplified between laughs.
Cantrell today is focused on his solo career, but in the same conversation he declared himself a “true defender of the rights” of his colleagues, and confirmed it once again: “It is a bad business model. “It would be nice if it was a little more fair to the artist.”
