“Streaming is slowly dissolving the stigma on copying music and solving the financial debate. It provides steady income for artists while offering convenience for music consumers,” he says.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, music artists and producers made profits from selling CDs, with best-selling albums netting tens of thousands of sales. But starting around 2008, the digital revolution changed the game. Music that was available on online channels could be freely copied. Shmueli, who released his debut album in 2016, acknowledges that since he started out after copying music online was a given in his new profession, the issue never really became personal.
“Obviously, I don’t endorse stealing music, but I have no grievances, because I never took it for granted that I’d profit from album sales,” he says. “I used my singles and albums to generate demand for live performances. Even if people copied my music to listen, I was still getting out there, one way or another. I also don’t believe that people suddenly became willful ganavim — I think that the ease and convenience simply won them over. Now, with streaming, everybody wins. Artists get paid an incentive by 24Six to upload their music there, and in the long term, if people are listening, you can cover the expense of producing an album and even make a little money.”
24Six, he notes, is absolutely transparent and honest, and the company pays monthly.
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