also calls out the writers strike exploitative status quo, etc

"It's not working for the artist right now and I just want to speak to that. That's fucked up," he said. "The writers are striking because with streaming, they can't get paid."

  • LGOrcStreetSamurai [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Snoop brings up the idea of physical media at least makes sense "If you sold a million copies at $9.99, nine million dollars, you get this percentage that's what it is. If I sell nine million streams how much money do i get? It's not being translated and it's not working for the artist right now.... are streaming millions and millions and millions and millions of fucking streams and they don't got no millions of dollars in they pocket". I very much agree with him, physical media sales at the very least made sense, I think the percentage is kinda fucked up but at the very least we could all pretty easily see that X amount of sales lead to Y amount of payout for creators.

    Dude has a very real point. Writers, artists, producers of things that get streamed, all of them have got a totally raw deal. It's all so very obfuscated. From the artist to the writer and everything in-between and beyond, they aren't getting their money. Snoop is directly pointing out that creators are the ones that bring value to these platforms, but get infinitesimally small return for that value.

    Producers of stuff that is streamed and those that contribute/support those producers (I can't think of a better terms) are the ones that bring all value to these streaming platforms. It's utterly unjust that producers of content's pay per play starts a $0.0001-$0.003. It's digital rent seeking pure and simple.

    Snoop has been in the record and entertainment industry a long time, and I genuinely salute this brotha speaking on this shit. Especially considering the music industries well documented history of raking in zillions of dollars and artists, producers, writers, etc. get like a buck twenty-five for their work (also uniquely bad for black artists) .

    I always feel bad for young katz in all industries that are introduced to something that sucks ass as normal. Older folks should be the ones pushing for/making sure the new guys get a better deal. I know I do on my job, at the very least I try to show new people how to skirt "The Man™️" as much as possible.

    Also really R E A L L Y hate how dude is bringing up these very real very direct points and these ghouls just let out some light laughs and applause.

    • W_Hexa_W
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      deleted by creator

      • LGOrcStreetSamurai [he/him]
        ·
        1 year ago

        Physical Media is yours. You own the thing. Steaming is an overly elaborate version of renting.

      • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
        ·
        1 year ago

        I mean, I like piracy. I don't have space in my house for a bunch of plastic discs, though.

    • UlyssesT [he/him]
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      1 year ago

      Snoop got taken for a ride by the NFT fad, but I still respect his takes regarding musicians getting fucked over by :porky-happy:

      • LGOrcStreetSamurai [he/him]
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        1 year ago

        The :cryptocurrency: NFT stuff :cryptocurrency: is but the tip of the iceberg of Snoop's very strange and absurd (often kinda funny) financial ventures. The dude is a hustler (in the nicer but still some negative connotation of the word), but he seems to the type of dude who wants help other people get they hustle on too. Which is problematic of course, but in the abstract he seems like his heart is in the right place even if his wallet is there too.

    • GarbageShoot [he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      I very much agree with him, physical media sales at the very least made sense, I think the percentage is kinda fucked up but at the very least we could all pretty easily see that X amount of sales lead to Y amount of payout for creators.

      Yeah, I mean, whether the percentage was good or not (usually not), it was definable and that makes it much simpler to negotiate from a standpoint of a) precisely how badly you are getting ripped off and b) what can easily change.

      • LGOrcStreetSamurai [he/him]
        ·
        1 year ago

        whether the percentage was good or not (usually not), it was definable and that makes it much simpler to negotiate from a standpoint of a) precisely how badly you are getting ripped off and b) what can easily change.

        Exactly! with streaming it's a total mystery box. Creators put in their work and labor into the question mark covered cube and just have to hope they get some coin.

        a) precisely how badly you are getting ripped

        I would also imagine because of how obfuscated it is, not only are you getting ripped off, you are totally unaware of what a good deal is. Much like regular people's wages, I would imagine that sort of hidden knowledge would make it super hard to find a good rate/deal for your work.

        I may make something that gets 10 streams and only get $.01 out of it but you may do something similar and get a payout of $10. It's really just show how plainly capital wants labor slugging it to drive down the going rate, or just keeping as many people in the dark as they can to make easier for them to utter siphon every drop of value.

    • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
      ·
      1 year ago

      physical media sales at the very least made sense, I think the percentage is kinda fucked up but at the very least we could all pretty easily see that X amount of sales lead to Y amount of payout for creators.

      On the retail end, what you're purchasing is a "license" to the content. So the end user is being told that what they're getting is equivalent to a ticket to the Movie Theater. On the advertising end, what you're purchasing is "views" of the ad media. So the advertiser is being told that what they're getting is equivalent to an individual set of eyeballs for a set amount of time.

      So we can quantify the media for the viewer. We can quantify the media for the buyer. I guarantee you that the internal accounting department at the studio is able to quantify the cost of a stream versus the quantity of revenue it brings in.

      How is it that the folks producing the media are out in the cold? Its almost as though management is explicitly denying these artists access to the information around their own sales.

      Snoop has been in the record and entertainment industry a long time, and I genuinely salute this brotha speaking on this shit. Especially considering the music industries well documented history of raking in zillions of dollars and artists, producers, writers, etc. get like a buck twenty-five for their work (also uniquely bad for black artists) .

      He's been on both sides of it. He's seen his forerunners and peers get screwed. He's learned the value of holding your own label and distributing under your own brand. He's also acutely aware of what age and fashion can do to a brand, and how long you have to really cash in on your media before you're no longer at the center of that big engine of commerce. No better source than lived experience, and he's got it in droves.