Today it is easier than ever to illegally download music, in some cases being even easier than purchasing it legally. While many do choose to forsake their ethics and download music illegally, there are many people in society today who choose not to do so and choose instead to support the artist. One of the easiest ways to support the artist is the stream their music on legal streaming applications or on the radio. One popular music streaming application is Spotify with both paid and free services the application appeals to a very large audience. However what many people do not know is that on Spotify, artists earn on average less than one cent per play, between $0.006 and $0.0084 while on the radio the going rate is $0.08 per song.

This came to my attention when I read an article about why Taylor Swift pulled her music from Spotify. What was most appalling, what the fact that this is a common trend amongst most popular music streaming applications including Pandora. While this low price still allows popular artists to generate a modest income (~$425,000 per month in royalties) what I dislike most is the negative trend in society. As society appreciates good music but is unwilling to pay for it appropriately. I worry that this downward trend in royalty revenue will deter new artists from entering the industry which will cause a loss of musical diversity.