Song needs 'thousands' of plays on streaming platform to make $1, musician claims

"As artists we live from gig to gig, with a little commission here or tour there," Candelo singer-songwriter Heath Cullen said.

"Sadly, these days album sales have almost fallen out of the equation due to online streaming."

There is no denying the popularity of music streaming, with the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) stating the revenue from music streaming accounted for 71 per cent of the total market in 2018, or about $376million.

In comparison, revenues from shipments of physical products accounted for 15 per cent of the market.

For last year's parliamentary inquiry into the Australian music industry, ARIA stated revenues from recorded music were approximately 30 per cent below those achieved prior to the "digital disruption", but still stated "the outlook for 2018 and beyond is positive".

But Cullen said major streaming platforms paid their artists in "micro-cents" and to make $1 off online streaming platform Spotify he would need to have thousands of streams of a song.

"My experience is I get paid a few bucks a month from Spotify or wherever, which is often not enough to buy a coffee," he said.

"Independent artists are scrambling, trying to find new ways to get paid because there's so much of free streaming going on.

"I'm not anti-streaming, I think it's convenient and cool. But the business model is what's wrong."

Corey Legge, of Swamp Stompers and his solo work fame, recently released his new single Last Night I Dreamt of You through Spotify, but he described the platform as a "double-edged sword".

"You almost rely on it for exposure and to get your music out to as many people as possible, but the sad reality is you could make much more money off one CD sale that you would a thousand streams," he said.

"Streaming rarely covers the cost of putting music online in the first place."

Singer-songwriter Vendulka, who recently embarked on a new project titled Aya Yves, agreed streaming platforms like Spotify provided a good way to get discovered - if you had enough engagement with your profile.

She said while the money generated from streaming was a fraction of what it was compared to record sales, iTunes purchases or CD sales, if artists got a major playlist they could generate a steady income and expand their fanbase dramatically.

"I tend to buy music I love directly from the artist, and stream it on Spotify for convenience of access," she said.

Cullen said his new album Springtime in the Heart was exclusively released on Bandcamp, as it compensated its artists fairly opposed to other major streaming platforms.

While streaming is here to stay, some positive news for artists could come in the form of the vinyl resurgence, with ARIA stating in 2018 sales from vinyl albums had increased for the eighth consecutive year, generating about $22million.

Spotify was contacted for comment, but did not respond by time of publication.