Peter Frampton: 55 million streams and I got paid $1700

I can't speak from a musician's point of view but I can speak to a videographer's point of view.

1. For some reason, everyone expects me to want to work for exposure and "credit'. People will pay $5 for their Starbucks in the morning, will drop $10 on a breakfast burrito, $3.50/g on gas, go to work fully expecting to get paid. When they go out to eat they would never consider asking the restaurant to comp them a meal on "credit". Yet when it comes to my work, they all want it for this magical credit that doesn't pay anything.

2. I lose 90% of my revenue to copyright infringement. Anyone reading this, pretend you had to give back 90% of your income and try to get by. The copyright laws are super restrictive and outdated for digital. The giant tech companies enable piracy every way possible while escaping liability and being the biggest benefactor.

3. When paying customers do call me up, they are expecting me to work for peanuts.

How am I combating it?
1. Anyone that asks for free content, I ask them if they are getting paid to ask me to work for free? I do this openly in public, former/current client or not. Simply do not put up with it and let the people who appreciate your work pile on them.

2. I created a separate company that is ruthless. I've trained a team of people around me and have law firms on every continent except Antartica. We will hunt you down, get your social media accounts/websites terminated and file lawsuits as fast as we can go. I don't care why you stole it, take no prisoners and get just as petty as those taking my content. We also represent about 100 of the world's best weather videographers and combined we've become a wrecking ball.

3. I know my level of work, I know my equipment and I know my track record. If you want to hire me, it's going to be expensive and I retain ownership to 100% of the content I create with no exception. Do nothing for free. Want an interview? You have to license video. Want to do an article on me? License my work. It is not my responsibility to donate my time, energy and work to make someone else money. Want me to post content on your platform? Pay me.


The result?
1. People have pretty much quit asking me to work for free out of fear of being publicly humiliated.

2. I make as much money off copyright as I do licensing content now. The theft has fallen off significantly. I'm still a big loser here and my platform is a fraction of the size it should be but it's starting to pay dividends.

3. Media companies recognize the value of my work even at high prices. I protect my content so well, limit distribution and rights that when they buy it, they get a much better return on investment than the cheap video aggregators.

4. My social media platforms have started skyrocketing after getting so many other hands out of my pockets. This is still a work in progress but it's paying well. When the numbers started shooting up, sponsors started coming out the woodworks and offering significant money. I have been turning them down to just grow my platform and wait for the right marriage but it's coming.


Who is to blame?
1. The industry has been beat down at every turn. Tech companies, media companies, etc. It's fiercely competitive. The people that run around looking to make a name for themselves are a dime a dozen. They all go out of business once the weather gets slow for a few months and they are replaced by the next batch. Working to make ends meat is the best way to go out of business. Just say no. Work with the people in the industry to pull the floor up instead of the ceiling down.

2. Ultimate it is the artist that is responsible. The idea that you have to pay someone else with your labor in order to get a better deal is such a stupid concept. Being broke and in fear of how you will pay your next bill is a product of cheap pricing. If you never say no to $200 you will never see $2000.


So if streaming is such sheet stop doing it. If the record company is taking too much of your money, quit using them. If people are ripping your content, punish them brutally. It sucks to have work this way but it's business and you have to treat it like business. If all creators of content, regardless of content took this approach then everything would change for them and the industry as a whole. But it wont.