Roger Daltrey says artists are being robbed by streaming services and record labels. According to the singer, the musicians’ fees to their labels are disproportionate to the income from streaming. Because of this, musicians today couldn’t make a living from their releases. A complaint that artists regularly – and not unfoundedly – bring.
Current project was a losing proposition
In an interview with The Independent, the frontman of The Who illustrated the problem. He explains that he lost 10,000 pounds (around 118,000 euros) with the previous album Who. He also paints a bleak picture of the music industry: “Musicians can no longer earn their living in the record industry”. He also added: “I think our music industry has been stolen. I think we have to be really concerned when young musicians can’t write music for a living.”
Where is the exchange?
The Who’s first album, “My Generation”, was released in 1965. Until 1982, before a longer break, the rock band released six more albums. All of this before digital marketing, distribution and consumption via streaming services. A lot has changed in the record industry since then – his conclusion: the labels earn a lot, but they do less work than before. “It’s ridiculous, and they’re being blindly robbed by streaming and record companies because the old record company deals that were in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s still work with the same percentage breaks.”
He continued: “And of course the labels don’t do any work. They just push a button and it goes out digitally, whereas before they had to produce, distribute and do all those things. They don’t do shit and take all the money, and the musicians don’t get anything.” Daltrey elaborated further: “The streaming companies pay so little at the beginning, and then the record companies take 85, 90 percent of it. It takes a billion streams to make £200. That’s the reality.”
No more albums from The Who for now
After negative past experiences, Daltrey said last year he was reluctant to record another album with colleague Pete Townshend. In 2012, The Who sold the publishing rights to their back catalog for $100 million.
Rolling Stones is no longer average, according to Daltrey
Roger Daltrey is not one to keep his opinions secret. Most recently, he described the Rolling Stones as a “mediocre bar band”. Regarding the consistent quality of the Stones’ discography, Daltrey also said in an interview: “No offense, but there are a lot of gaps in it.”