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Latest Taylor Swift Album 'Folklore' Sets New Apple Music Streaming Record for a Pop Release

OK, no let's put this into perspective... Royalties from Spotify around $350,000, from Apple arnd $250,000. Subtract now the production and promotion costs and then you will understand why normal musicians don't have a chance anymore to make a living from writing and recording original music. I don't care much about TS, but even with millions of streams a Pop star is making just peanuts with an album release these days.

These times suck. Content creators work basically fro free or even burn money, while the users fill their pockets.

Dark times for creative people we are living in...
 
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Swift and Apple have famously had a somewhat rocky relationship in previous years, with the artist in 2015 penning an open letter to ‌Apple Music‌ about the service's initial stance on refusing to pay royalties to artists during the three-month free trial period.
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Are we still pretending this wasn’t a PR stunt that Apple was in on the whole time
 
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groovebuster said:
OK, no let's put this into perspective... Royalties from Spotify around $350,000, from Apple arnd $250,000. Subtract now the production and promotion costs and then you will understand why normal musicians don't have a chance anymore to make a living from writing and recording original music. I don't care much about TS, but even with millions of streams a Pop star is making just peanuts with an album release these days.

These times suck. Content creators work basically fro free or even burn money, while the users fill their pockets.

Dark times for creative people we are living in...
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Based on what figures?
 
dmylrea said:
Based on what figures?
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My own. I've been fortunate that my music has been getting thousands of plays on all the streaming services. The total I've earned over the past two years: a little over $10. If I had sold just 4 physical albums (or downloaded albums), or had just 38 people download one of my songs, I would have made that. Streaming, on the other hand, provides less than a trickle of income. The current system seems to benefit only the few million-selling artists and the publishing companies. The rest of us are left to pick up the crumbs they leave behind.
 
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Not gonna lie, I listened to it. If the hype reached all the way to me, the furthest thing from a Taylor Swift fan, I'm not surprised it's setting records.

It's pretty good. It's similar to Nebraska in that there are people who like Bruce Springstein (not me) and then there are people who like Nebraska (me). It's a stripped down sound you don't expect from the biggest pop star in the world.
 
jayducharme said:
My own. I've been fortunate that my music has been getting thousands of plays on all the streaming services. The total I've earned over the past two years: a little over $10. If I had sold just 4 physical albums (or downloaded albums), or had just 38 people download one of my songs, I would have made that. Streaming, on the other hand, provides less than a trickle of income. The current system seems to benefit only the few million-selling artists and the publishing companies. The rest of us are left to pick up the crumbs they leave behind.
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Assumed your username was what you used on a streaming service, found you on Spotify, I think :D, dude very cool, will listen to more later. :)

thePhil907 said:
It's pretty good. It's similar to Nebraska in that there are people who like Bruce Springstein (not me) and then there are people who like Nebraska (me). It's a stripped down sound you don't expect from the biggest pop star in the world.
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Ha! Had to quote you since I'm another "Not a Springsteen fan", but think Nebraska is spectacular.

I gave it a listen too, figured, what the heck, NPR had a stream, kind of _backgrounded_ it, I really dig on Exile, but I'm also a fan of Bon Iver (and other Justin Vernon projects).
 
Blackstick said:
I’m a huge Swift fan, but my wife says most tracks sound like she made the album herself acoustically in a home studio, which she basically did. Not that it’s a bad thing.
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Never listen to Swift either but I got curious because of this. Sounds like the mastering was done pretty well, if you ask me.
Still not really my music but I can appreciate some care going into the engineering. For any modern pop act that gives plus points.
 
groovebuster said:
OK, no let's put this into perspective... Royalties from Spotify around $350,000, from Apple arnd $250,000. Subtract now the production and promotion costs and then you will understand why normal musicians don't have a chance anymore to make a living from writing and recording original music. I don't care much about TS, but even with millions of streams a Pop star is making just peanuts with an album release these days.

These times suck. Content creators work basically fro free or even burn money, while the users fill their pockets.

Dark times for creative people we are living in...
Click to expand...
That is what she made in her first 24 hours of release on only two platforms. I wouldn't call that "peanuts". She will have songs off this album with Billions of streams before it is all said and done.
 
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CJM said:
Never listen to Swift either but I got curious because of this. Sounds like the mastering was done pretty well, if you ask me.
Still not really my music but I can appreciate some care going into the engineering. For any modern pop act that gives plus points.
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I mean she assuredly has professional sound engineering staff on site and it's a full-featured home studio, no question there. That being said, she obviously didn't have an orchestra or a huge instrumental and performer accompaniment on these tracks, as one might expect during pandemic protocols. It'll still sell a boatload :)
 
D.T. said:
I really dig on Exile, but I'm also a fan of Bon Iver (and other Justin Vernon projects).
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That was the one stand out track for me too! I know of Bon Iver, but never listened to them. I will definitely be digging into their catalogue next.
 
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xalea said:
Anyone who believes she put this together practically on her own at home.. I have a bridge to sell you.
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It would take literally 2 seconds of googling to find out she made this with the guitarist/producer from The National. Who I'm assuming most people here haven't heard of either.
[automerge]1595955244[/automerge]
GeoStructural said:
Well, I hate to be that person and I am not trying to be mean, but I don’t know her, never heard a single song from her. She’s good looking tho.
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Seriously, if it's 2020 and you haven't heard of Taylor Swift... That be like going back to 1988 and being like "Who's this Madonna person? Nice looking broad, though." And maybe you didn't realize, but you've definitely heard at least one of her songs before. Even if you ONLY consume Apple stuff, you've seen her
 
groovebuster said:
OK, no let's put this into perspective... Royalties from Spotify around $350,000, from Apple arnd $250,000. Subtract now the production and promotion costs and then you will understand why normal musicians don't have a chance anymore to make a living from writing and recording original music. I don't care much about TS, but even with millions of streams a Pop star is making just peanuts with an album release these days.

These times suck. Content creators work basically fro free or even burn money, while the users fill their pockets.

Dark times for creative people we are living in...
Click to expand...

Most newer artists have never made money off of album sales in any time period. Most of their income comes from Touring until the label is paid back. Then, if they are lucky enough to continue to sell albums they start getting a cut.

In fact, I would argue that your chances are better now because of technology. In the 90s it costed hundreds of dollars to have a single song cut from a really bad producer and then each CD was like $10 to make if you couldn't mass produce. Now a days I can write, produce and distribute an entire album from my Phone.
 
xalea said:
Anyone who believes she put this together practically on her own at home.. I have a bridge to sell you.
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Why not? A number of musicians have multi-million dollar recording studios in their own homes and record their albums there.
 
For those who criticize her work should watch the Netflix documentary "Miss Americana", maybe then you wouldn't dismiss her out of hand.
Has a good sense of humor.
watch
 
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I've never been a hard core fan of Taylor but I have liked a few of her catchier tunes.
This album though, I am obsessed with! Must be the times but I find it so soothing and poetic. "Folklore" is the perfect title for this album IMHO.
 
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