Spotify, which began streaming music in Sweden in 2008, lets users
choose from millions of songs over the Internet free or by subscription,
and is increasingly seen as representing the future of music
consumption. Mr. Broe, a 26-year-old from Brooklyn, said that having all
that music at his fingertips helped him trim his monthly music budget
from $30 to the $10 fee he pays for Spotify’s premium service.
“The only time I download anything on iTunes is in the rare case that I can’t find it on Spotify,” he said.
A decade after Apple revolutionized the music world with its iTunes
store, the music industry is undergoing another, even more radical,
digital transformation as listeners begin to move from CDs and downloads
to streaming services like Spotify, Pandora and YouTube.
As purveyors of legally licensed music, they have been largely welcomed
by an industry still buffeted by piracy. But as the companies behind
these digital services swell into multibillion-dollar enterprises, the
relative trickle of money that has made its way to artists is causing
anxiety at every level of the business.
Late last year, Zoe Keating, an independent musician from Northern
California, provided an unusually detailed case in point. In voluminous
spreadsheets posted to her Tumblr blog, she revealed the royalties she
gets from various services, down to the ten-thousandth of a cent.
