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The economics of indie music streaming

Dec 23, 2021
Musicians depend on high streaming volume to make a living when they're paid as little as .0032 cents a stream.
Ruby Room Recordings’ producer, engineer and songwriter Elan Wright, left, listens to the mix of a new song with with musician Mark Diamond.
Emily Fox

Comedians are demanding royalties. Spotify yanked their recordings.

Dec 9, 2021
Have you heard the one about the aggrieved comics and the streaming service?
Comedians are speaking out about their desire to have the same kind of royalties deal that musicians typically have.
Getty Images

Why Bob Dylan may have sold his entire catalog of music

Dec 7, 2020
Under his estimated $300 million deal with Universal Music, royalties for his songs will go to the company.
Bob Dylan performs at the Grammy Awards in 2011.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Satirist Tom Lehrer has put his songs into the public domain

Oct 21, 2020
Anyone's now free to record or perform the 92-year-old songwriter's parodies without owing royalties or consulting lawyers. And that's not a joke.
Tom Lehrer backstage at the Palace Theatre in London in 1959.
Evening Standard/Getty Images

Would you buy a cut of your favorite artists' royalties?

Dec 5, 2017
A new public company gives investors the chance to bet on a musician's continued success.
Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

Pandora's profits could depend on this obscure panel

Dec 14, 2015
The Copyright Royalty Board determines what streaming companies pay in royalties.

How do actors make money off residuals?

Oct 24, 2014
Lisa Kudrow still makes money off "Smelly Cat," and more about how actors get paid.

For public good, not for profit.

A musician on his 21-cent royalty check

Nov 15, 2012
Musician Damon Krukowski discusses the challenges of making a living in the era of Pandora.

'Eminem case' settles digital dispute

Nov 2, 2012
The end of a long-running battle between the rapper's producers and Universal Music could mean a payoff for lots of artists.

Pandora seeks lower royalties for musicians

Aug 30, 2012
To boost profits, the music streaming service is pushing a bill in the House of Representatives that would cut payments to musicians. A coalition representing recording artists plans to fight back with an anti-Pandora PR campaign.