What do bands actually make from ten million Spotify streams? About £32k...

In Part 1 of this conversation, Gareth David from Los Campesinos! walks Helena Wadia and Sean Adams through the numbers and how he felt about Spotify's response.

This radical financial transparency about streaming also goes into the platform's payout structure that puts artists in direct competition with each other, and explains why "just support artists on Bandcamp" misses the complexity of who actually owns the rights.

Gareth is the lyricist and lead singer of Los Campesinos!, a band who've been walking the walk for twenty years: unconditional support for trans people, rejecting unaligned brand money, low-income tickets for fans, and now, brutal honesty about how much (or how little) the music industry actually pays.

In part 1, Gareth explains the economics of streaming, the difference between artists and rights holders, and what happens when you release an album the same month as Taylor Swift. Next week, Part 2 goes into their sold-out 2024 North American tour accounts, where nearly £50,000 went on a tour bus alone.

Visit https://drownedinsound.org/playlists/ to hear our podcast companion playlist and discover new music in rich Hi-Res lossless quality. To start your 30-day free trial of Qobuz head to https://qobuz.com/dis.

Edited by: tell.studio (Phil, Louisa, Owen, Matt)

Co-hosted by Helena Wadia, who also co-hosts the Media Storm podcast: https://mediastormpodcast.com/about-us/

Los Campesinos
https://loscampesinos.com/

Further reading
How much Los Campesinos made from Spotify
US tour budget breakdown
Explainer of Dublin show budget

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00:00:00 - Welcome, Los Campesinos, and radical transparency

00:02:13 - Starting the band on message boards

00:04:06 - Why Gareth decided to share specific numbers

00:06:39 - The shock of the real streaming numbers

00:09:21 - What's the most ethical way to support bands

00:11:52 - Rights holders vs. artists on Bandcamp

00:13:16 - Spotify's response to transparency criticism

00:17:22 - Taylor Swift and the algorithm's impact

00:18:44 - Keeping music on Spotify while critiquing the platform

00:22:11 - Newsletter break and topic switch

00:23:34 - Why tour transparency matters to Los Campesinos fans

00:24:30 - Come to Brazil, come to Australia (but why they can't)

00:27:30 - How touring with two children changes everything

00:28:55 - Making venue logistics work with kids on tour

00:31:44 - Qobuz sponsorship message

00:32:59 - Keeping ticket prices low as an ideological choice

00:35:35 - Low-income tickets and the ticket bank

00:39:47 - Part 2 announcement and tour income preview