You! Me! 10 Million Spotify Streams! How Much?!?!! Why Los Campesinos! Stopped Being Quiet - Part 1

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 Sign up to the DiS newsletter: http://drownedinsound.org 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