James Blake Joins ‘Vault’ to Tackle Music Streaming Monopoly
With the aim of allowing musicians to earn directly from the music they make, the English singer and producer has joined the artist subscription-driven platform, sharing three unreleased tracks.
With the aim of allowing musicians to earn directly from the music they make, the English singer and producer has joined the artist subscription-driven platform, sharing three unreleased tracks.
While tech layoffs have dominated dinner table conversations, the world of music hasn’t been too far behind. In the past few months alone, over 75 thousand employees across the industry have been relieved of their duties in an effort to decrease costs.
The elephant in the room? Spotify’s monopoly over the industry and the digital streaming platform model as a whole. For nearly a decade, the Swedish music streaming giant, and other major platforms offering similar services, have effectively controlled the way music is released worldwide. Something that hasn’t gone down well with many artists, especially James Blake.
The Grammy-winning English singer, songwriter, and producer, widely known for his 2019 electro-soul album, ‘Assume Form,’ went viral a few weeks ago when he spoke about the broken state of the music industry and how artists make little to nothing from the music they release on platforms like Spotify, TikTok, Apple Music, etc.
James Blake first expressed his displeasure with TikTok’s detrimental effects on the music industry before talking about how he and Frank Ocean didn’t make any money from his cover of Ocean’s ‘Godspeed,’ which went viral after its release. It’s no secret that Spotify pays an artist as little as $0.003 to $0.005 per stream, which is further broken down with label/management cuts, which leaves the artist with a minimal share in royalties for their art.
Spotify has now made it even tougher for an artist to make money from streaming by allowing payouts only after the particular song crosses a thousand streams, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Growing tired of these issues and inspired by “wanting to find a way for musicians to make money directly from the music they make,” James Blake has announced his partnership with the artist subscription platform, Vault.
“Most musicians are not extroverts who are social media and branding geniuses, least of all me. And I wanted to find a way for musicians to make money directly from the music they make, not least to be able to reinvest in the very expensive process of renting studios, hiring musicians, etc,” said Blake in the video he posted about the announcement.
Launched on March 20, Vault allows an artist to share their music directly with their fans for a subscription of $5 a month, hence cutting out all the potential middlemen that might be involved in a traditional release. The goal, according to Blake, is for artists to take control of their music by avoiding gatekeepers, charging what they feel is a fair price for their tunes, and interacting with fans directly about shows, releases, and any other announcements.
To kick things off, James Blake has already dropped three unreleased tracks, which he says are among many that he will be able to release due to the platform’s flexibility. You can access the tunes on James Blake’s Vault profile.
The conversations surrounding musicians and the art they produce have recently taken a super-fan-oriented approach, where the goal is for fans to get first-hand access to their favorite artist’s music. However, with the current state of music streaming royalties, rising costs, taxes, and with touring growing to become more expensive than ever, it is only fair for artists to earn from their primary source of creation – which is through the digital release of their music.
It is certain that the music industry is gearing for a seismic shift in its functions; whether Vault’s launch is a step in the right direction, or whether it is another application that is similar to Patreon and Bandcamp, will be assessed in the coming months as artists familiarize themselves with the platform.
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