James Blake: “music must be paid for”

James Blake: “music must be paid for”

James Blake opened the so-called Pandora’s box and said a truth that all artists have in common: they must be paid for their music and not seek other forms of income.

With a series of tweets, the artist denounced the current situation of the music industry and the way in which all artists are forced to behave to earn money and which in fact is to their detriment and that of music.

“Music must be paid for. Artists are not influencers and cannot live with the hope of going viral.

Do you remember when my cover of Godspeed went viral? Neither Frank (Ocean) nor I made a dime because every video had “original sound”. Most people didn’t even know it was me because my name never came up.

Next time your favorite artist goes viral, remember that they’re not making any money.

I often read “if you’re lucky enough to go viral, use the exposure to generate income in some other way”. Musicians should be able to earn money from their music.

If we want quality music, someone will have to pay for it. Streaming services don’t pay properly, labels want a bigger cut than ever and sit back and wait for you to go viral, TikTok doesn’t pay properly, and touring is becoming cost-prohibitive for most artists. The brainwashing worked and now people think music is free”.After Blake’s words went viral, many artists, including Ye, Tyler, the Creator, Metro Boomin and others shared his words.

Artists should be able to earn money from their music, but we know that’s not the case. From the sale of records they earn little now, in fact, very few records are sold, the streaming platforms do not pay adequately. Once upon a time one of the main sources of income were concerts, but this is also changing a bit. What’s left in the end? Extra commercial activities, such as shops, restaurants, clubs, clothing lines, merchandising, advertising with brands and selling your image. And finally being pushed to make songs that can go viral on TikTok. This then creates discontent among the artists who ultimately find themselves making songs, dreaming of earning money with their music and finding themselves being influencers, but also among the public. We who have access to an unlimited amount of music, in fact free or for a few pennies a month, think that music is free, in fact music, like any other art form, should not be free. Music itself loses value, becomes disposable. A record released a week earlier is already considered old and the music system is wearing out.