You can see James Blake's (recorded) private parts on Vault, a new artist-to-fan platform that publicly compares to Substack but feels more like Onlyfans for listening pleasure.
“About a week ago I went viral with a post about the effects of streaming and TikTok on artists' ability to support themselves,” Blake said in a mail in X (only one X!). As he explained, Vault approached him with a partnership offer in which he would offer his fans unreleased music in exchange for $5 a month. Charge the public to consume music? how retroqualification.
“I wanted to find a way for musicians to make money directly from the music they make, not least so they could reinvest in the very expensive process of renting studios, hiring musicians, etc.,” Blake continued. “Making music is not cheap and I wanted to help encourage musicians to spend more time making music.”
He added: “Also, I've talked to a lot of artists who are frustrated that so much good music isn't released because it doesn't meet certain requirements or trends.” Is James Blake listening to genuinely good music that was considered too distant for our modern tastes? Or are they just stems and half-finished ideas? $5 a month is all it costs to figure it out.
Joking aside, the public's preference for paying nothing and musicians' preference for food and shelter have been in conflict since Napster. Blake broke down the insane payment structures in streaming in his video ad: “This is what artists make from streaming: between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream depending on the platform,” he said, “which is a million reproductions equals $3,000. If you're signed to a record label, imagine the numbers dropping by at least 50 percent. And after the management cut, which ranges from 15 to 20 percent, and taxes and registration overhead, it is simply not sustainable for an artist to focus only on the art of it.” Watch the full video below.
Last year, Blake released his latest album. Playing robots to the sky, which marked a return to harmony after its environmental deviation, Chill out. He recently appeared as a guest on Erik the Architect's song “Parkour.”
Ok, for the first time I'm going to release from my vault of unreleased music.
we are launching @vaultdotfm Show that music has inherent value beyond mere exposure.
Subscribe to unlock 👇 pic.twitter.com/pIic7Ef47G
-James Blake (@jamesblake) March 20, 2024
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