The gap is ever growing

Where the musician once was the center piece of attention. Many have now reverted to being a simple line of text in a Spotify playlist. Today you often hear: “I don’t now the name of the artists. I have just heard this song before in a playlist.”. Surely an the work of an artist deserves more attention than that.

Musicians in the past

30 Years ago the musicians had it all. Many artists where known for their work because it was represented in large form in all the record shops. They had the creative freedom to design or work on the art work on the LP cover. These covers were visible for everyone visiting these shops. The big benefit that these stores had over the current lack of attention on streaming platforms is that the store owner was able to connect with the customers. This provided you with the opportunity to discover new music but more importantly new artists.

Over the decades this creative space has become smaller. Visibly because of the smaller disk formats but also non-visible. They have been able to reach more people but at a cost. The barrier between the musician and the fan has increased. The internet required the need for more middlemen because transactions became less trustworthy. More labels and promoters became required to make sure these musicians had the chance to shine their light.

Effect on salaries

It is clear that the further the artist gets from his or her fans the less he or she starts to earn. Previously artists made great sums on their album sales and tours. Today many artists struggle to make the money required to live from their passion. Spotify doesn’t pay enough and because people only recognise the line of text they can not earn enough outside of the streaming platform.

How Volareo closes the gap

Two things are of crucial importance for Volareo. Volareo firstly, focuses on making musicians earn more again. Using Blockchain as a tool to supply musicians and fans with transparant and fast acting contracts. Through the blockchain everyone can see who gets paid what percentage of each playback and transactions are done the moment the song is played.

Secondly, Volareo aims to give the musician his own place within the speaker. His or her own hub so to say. More than 40 musicians have already signed up for this service throughout SXSW and many more to come. Special about this connection between fans and musicians is that we are not designing it alone. We want to invite the groups involved to join the discussion. As a reader of this blog we would love to invite just you to do that! If you want to join our movement to help bring musicians and fans closer together please join our new Facebook group while its still open. You can do that here.

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