Music streamers just knowingly killed a simple way to pay artists more money

Yesterday Apple Music and 30 minutes later Amazon Music announced they would not charge extra for hi-res lossless and 3D Spatial audio streaming.

It seems likely that Spotify will follow soon at the same price point.

Tidal, Quboz, and even Amazon Music had been charging an extra $5 or $14.99 per month for the higher quality streams.

Becuase 51% of revenue collected by a music streamer is paid out in royalties, every $14.99 per month hi-res subscriptions added $31 more each year to the pool that pays artists, songwriters, and labels than the average $9.99 per month subscription.

Many analysts beleive that Apple and Amazon cut prices to compete with Spotify. Others point to low adoption of hi-res streaming. After all, if no one is willing to pay extra, why not give it away for free?

Whatever the reason, the message to artists is clear: Don’t expect higher royalties any time soon.

MORE:

Apple Music adds Dolby Spatial and Lossless Audio with no price increase 

Amazon Music matches Apple with HD and 3D music at no extra cost