Molo 1

Emily Molo
Mr. Newman
Rhetoric 101
01 December 2014
Spotify vs. ITunes
Streaming music is a way for new and upcoming artists to get new material out into the
world for people to listen. Many musicians take advantage of streaming sites, such as Spotify, to
help their music career take off. Anyone who subscribes to the site can listen to the music as
many times as they wish which can help out a new artist immensely. However, artists who are
well developed should not rely on streaming music alone. ITunes is an option for artists in which
they will make more money than using a streaming site. For example, Taylor Swift, who has
recently released her fifth new album, 1989, has removed her songs off of Spotify. Many were
upset about this but in the end she is helping her career. Even though she is already very
successful, sources such as Spotify are not extremely beneficial. The removal of songs from
Spotify have boosted Swifts sales of her new album where she has sold over 600,000 copies in
one day alone. This would not be possible if all her songs were still streaming for anyone to
listen to. While streaming music can help new and developing artists, the option to not stream is
more beneficial for a musicians career.
Many people will say that they like sites such as Spotify for listening to music in their
day to day lives. It has a wide variety and listeners can use it for free as long as you do not mind
all the ads. There are millions of people who use streaming sites everyday which can expose
them to a lot of new music. From an artists standpoint, they could feel the same way. The
exposure is great and can definitely help a career take off. If one person gains an interest in a

Molo 2
song that randomly popped up on their playlist and starts to talk about it, the artist is in luck.
Olufunmilayo Arewa, a professor of law at the University of California Irvine, states that
streaming music is the best way to ensure future revenue streams for artists. On one hand, I
agree with Arewa that streaming music is the best option for new artists, but on the other hand, I
still insist that ITunes is the better choice for well-developed artists such as Taylor Swift. It has
more valuable factors that Spotify does just not contain.
Although I grant that Spotify is a useful resource for new artists, I maintain that ITunes is
still the better overall choice. If your career is making music then as an artist you need a way to
make money off of it in order to make a living for yourself. It is very difficult to live off of what
Spotify provides to artists. I applaud Taylor Swift for realizing this and stopping her music from
streaming. She made a smart choice which has already helped her sales out immensely. George
Howard, an associate professor of music business and management at Berklee College of Music,
explains the financial situation behind both Spotify and ITunes. He informs readers that if an
artist puts music on Spotify, they are granted less than a penny for each stream. Whereas in
ITunes, the artist receives a royalty which leads to produce around $3 per album sold. If Swift
were to keep her music on Spotify, she would need to have a thousand times more streams to
make the same amount. Also, streaming the music to make the same amount will take a lot
longer than someone instantly downloading it off of ITunes. In the end, ITunes is seen as the
better choice because it is the option that will provide the most financially. Howard also explains
the plea Spotify has made to Swift wanting to keep her music, but she has made a decision that
will, in the end, help her career grow. Suzanne Vega, a songwriter and singer herself, explains,
When my new album came out, I told my manager not to put it on Spotify. She goes on to
describe how the value of music has decreased over the years and streaming music is a part of

Molo 3
that. Right now no one can realistically expect to make a living off streaming their music
(Vega). This again reiterates why ITunes is in fact better than streaming sites, such as Spotify, if
an artist plans to live off making music.
Another example of why Spotify is not suitable for many artists would be Marc Ribot, a
guitarist and composer, who placed his bands new album on Spotify instead of selling it as a
CD. He explains, My band, Ceramic Dog, earned 112.80 euros in Europe and $47.12 in the
United States from our album "Your Turn." The album cost over $15,000 to make. By contrast,
CD sales on earlier albums netted us between $4,000 and $9,000. This shows how streaming
music makes an artist barely any money compared to what a CD would make them. If one album
costs thousands of dollars to make, it would be very difficult to raise those funds just from
streaming alone. If a band or artist can only make around $50 of off streaming, then what is the
point? Creating a CD to sell and utilizing ITunes is clearly the correct path to take.
To finalize, streaming music is not a reliable source of income for any type of artist. The
funds are simply not sufficient for anyone to make a living off of. Some do appreciate the effects
of streaming such as the exposure it can give to a new and upcoming artist. However, with the
lack of income streaming produces, it can turn off many contributors. ITunes draws in artists
because of its ability to help them be successful in sales of their music. Whether you are an
unexposed artist or a world known artist, like Taylor Swift, sites such as Spotify are never the
way to go. ITunes is the best digital format to sell music if an artist expects to live off the profit.

Works Cited
Arewa, Olufunmilayo B. Music Streaming is Here to Stay. New York Times: Room for Debate.
New York Times Company, 7 Nov. 2014, Web. 13 Nov. 2014

Molo 4
Howard, George. When Artists Wont Play for (Fractions of) Pennies. New York Times: Room
for Debate. New York Times Company, 6 Nov. 2014, Web. 13 Nov. 2014
Ribot, Marc. If Streaming is the Future, You Can Kiss Jazz and Other Genres Goodbye. New
York Times: Room for Debate. New York Times Company, 7 Nov. 2014, Web. 13 Nov.
2014
Vega, Suzanne. Today the Road Is a Musicians Best Friend. New York Times: Room for
Debate. New York Times Company, 6 Nov. 2014, Web. 13 Nov. 2014