WASHINGTON, Feb 2, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - After music legends Neil Young and
Joni Mitchell quit Spotify over a Covid misinformation row, some lesser-known
artists have said they simply couldn't afford to leave the world's largest
music streamer -- despite their concerns.

   The row sparked a discussion about other artists exiting the platform of
more than 170 million subscribers in a stand against Spotify's partnership
with podcaster Joe Rogan, who has been accused of promoting vaccine
falsehoods on his show.

   But the opportunity for less well-known artists to reach a large audience
and potentially get paid for streams of their music means they feel obligated
to stick with Spotify, even though many say the streaming giant unfairly
compensates them.

   "For me, Spotify is kind of a necessary evil," said Leo Sidran, musician
and host of the podcast "The Third Story." "To leave Spotify would be a
decision to eliminate an enormous potential for people to find me."

   The music business has always been a tough one for performers, but the
decline in major record labels' absolute power as industry gatekeepers has
given rise to a new landscape that has its own pitfalls.

   Acts with smaller followings have to do a lot of their own promotion,
which makes platforms like Spotify or other streaming programs -- and their
music-hungry audiences -- a way to get onto listeners' playlists.

   "It's crucial to be heard," said New York-based jazz guitarist Michael
Valeanu. "I think those platforms are how people consume music these days."

   Valeanu had not listened to the Rogan podcasts in question and so was
undecided on the controversy at hand -- but said he was willing to quit
Spotify simply because he says the platform does not fairly distribute
revenue among artists.

   For example, Valeanu said he has been paid only about $500 across
platforms, largely from Spotify, for his roughly 10-year-old first album that
has been streamed "thousands" of times.

   - Going to be discovered -

   Spotify told AFP that as of 2020, it has paid over $23 billion in
royalties to rights holders -- including over $5 billion in 2020 alone.

   Artists' streaming payments are tied to how in-demand they are, so there
will be a financial impact for popular performers such as Mitchell and Young
-- and for their record companies.

   Billboard magazine estimates Young's decision to pull his music from
Spotify will cost him personally around $754,000 annually, while the impact
will be a roughly $272,000-per-year loss for Mitchell.

   Young's Twitter account directed fans to head to Amazon Music to stream
his tunes, providing a link and noting "all new listeners will get four
months free." "He is standing up to Spotify... (And) now he's pointing people
to Amazon Music, which actually doesn't make any difference," said a singer-
songwriter who performs under the name Pilsner Man, noting both are streaming
platforms that don't favor less famous acts.

   The 29-year-old Pennsylvania-based artist said he makes less than $200 a
month via Spotify, noting that losing that money by leaving the app would
hurt his professional prospects -- but maybe not as much as losing the
exposure.

   "A lot of it has to do with algorithms as well -- people find music on
playlists," he added. "So if you're on (Spotify), you're going to be
discovered by people who aren't even really looking for you."

   Some artists complained that bigger acts like Young, Mitchell and others
had stepped away from the platform over misinformation, not in support of
criticism of streaming pay rates.

   - Last straw -

   While singer-songwriter India.Arie cited Rogan in her social media post
announcing her departure from Spotify, she went a little further.

   "Paying musicians a fraction of a penny? And (Rogan) $100 million?" she
wrote. "This shows the type of company they are and the company they keep."

   Sidran, the musician and podcast host, said the only way he sees the
current system changing is for the biggest names in music to withdraw their
work -- and so far, they haven't.

   "(If) Adele, or Billie Eilish, or some really big contemporary pop artists
were to leave, maybe it would make a difference," he said. "But for the
independent artists to leave, it doesn't really impact Spotify, it impacts
the artists."

   But independent performer Miles Blackwood, a 31-year-old known as Baze
Blackwood, said the Rogan episode came on top of his concerns about the pay
rate, citing other platforms he thinks are more equitable.

   "I'm in the process of removing all my music from Spotify," the Boston-
based musician told AFP on Monday. "I think this was really more of the final
straw."