Petal Explains How Streaming Services and Major Labels Hurt Indie Artists and Record Stores in Twitter Thread

By Harry todd  |  June 25, 2019 | 2:16pm
Photo by Katie Krulock
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Petal Explains How Streaming Services and Major Labels Hurt Indie Artists and Record Stores in Twitter Thread

Earlier this week, news broke that streaming service Spotify had reportedly overpaid artists in 2018 and was asking for a refund. To many artists, Spotify’s stance was a slap in the face; not only does the platform offer only the paltriest of royalty payments, but now their corporate greed was exceeding themselves.

With this in mind, indie rocker Kiley Lotz (of the band Petal) took aim at the corporation in a Twitter thread Monday, making some thought-provoking points and raising interesting questions about the state of the music industry. Her main takeaway is that major labels and distributors are cooperating with streaming corporations in a process that hurts not only independent artists, but also local record stores.

“In the streaming age, the best thing labels can do is sell directly to independent record store [sic] and foster those relationships. If you hear a record you like on Spotify, go to their bandcamp or to the record shop and order/buy it,” one tweet reads.

Lotz is quick to note that many independent record stores receive damaged LPs from major distributors, a byproduct of the poor handling and manufacturing stemming from the vinyl boom. The stores—which are mostly just trying to stay afloat in the streaming era—are as hurt by the greed endemic to the music industry as the artists damaged by Spotify’s poor royalty payouts.

Read the full thread below, then revisit Petal’s 2018 stop at the Paste Studio further down.

 
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