Case study: Pomplamoose
The band Pompaloose is yet another band facing the dilemma of how to make a living in music when it's impossible for musicians to do anything but tour constantly because of the poor pay out they're receiving because of streaming services. They documented their cost of a 28 day tour in 2014 to show that even though they made over $100,000, they still managed to lose money from the tour. A large percentage of their spending went to just getting from city to city and having places to stay and food to eat, but there were frivolous costs, such as production, that some could argue could have been cut down. However, the production made it worth fans coming out and them wanting to come back out, which allows them to grow their fan base.
Even though the band was having sold out crowds, though, they could not support themselves based on their music, even with the money they were making from touring.
Even though the band was having sold out crowds, though, they could not support themselves based on their music, even with the money they were making from touring.
What does this mean?
For artists that are not signed on major labels and are not headlining arena tours, it's likely that they will not be turning a profit every time they go out on tour. This is not what musicians want to hear, considering they are already not making money from their actual music. With people streaming music, musicians are seeing less of the profits from their music than ever, most of it going to the label, according to this infographic. For the artists that are already not generating the number of plays to be making millions of dollars off music streaming, they will be making even less once their labels take their percentage, forcing them to go out on tour. Furthermore, they will have to continue to tour until they are able to turn a profit, which for some artists may never happen depending on their fan base. Music streaming, effectively, is making it so the gap between the successful musicians and those that haven't quite made it yet is becoming greater than ever.