On Tuesday (December 28), singer T-Pain posted a photo to his Twitter page showing how many streams it takes for an artist to earn $1 from various platforms. The famed auto-tune singer added, “Just so you know… …”
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The tweet has since earned tens of thousands of likes and nearly 15,000 retweets at the time of this writing.
With the tweet, T-Pain reminded just how many streams it takes an artist to earn any money at all. And while big-name artists like Beyonce and Bruce Springsteen may earn millions upon millions of streams (and as a result, a great deal of financial gains), lesser-known artists aren’t earning anything in comparison.
For many artists, therefore, streaming services equate to the largely ineffectual “exposure,” leading many in recent history to note that exposure doesn’t pay the bills.
To make $50,000 a year, one would have to garner about 12.5 million streams on Amazon; about 6.5 million on Apple Music, and 62.5 million on YouTube Music. Not exactly common.
Whether or not these numbers have any effect on streaming platforms or their users is yet to be seen. And whether Metallica, who sued Napster in 2000 and won, will have any comment as to the reemergence of Napster in the minds of music lovers around the world, is something to keep an eye on.
T-Pain’s tweet has also caused people to remember that Napster is still a viable option for streaming. Twitter user XFactor noted, “I guess I’ve lived long enough for Napster to become the good guys…”
Twitter user Rich O’Toole wrote, “Everyone please get on Napster again”
Twitter user Socialist Boomer said, “Can I get a “Napster 4eva-fuck Metallica”?”
Check out this song from T-Pain and let’s collectively thank the singer for reminding us just what’s behind the curtain of our favorite streaming services.
