The Ethos of Valuing Music

How do we as music therapists and listeners value music in our lives and practices? I wrestled with this question on a recent trip to Denver. I saw an instrumental metal band performing on the sidewalk of Broadway using a gas generator to power their amps. The band was taking donations via a sign that read “gas money”. The band attracted a small crowd of enthusiastic listeners, and eventually the generator shut off mid-performance. It was a jarring and comical experience and cuts to the heart of what I think we as music listeners owe to the musicians and the music we value. This existential question directly relates to an artist's ability to provide music that we value and asks “what do we do when the generator shuts off?”

As listeners, we are generally shielded from the financial plight of artists. Artists tend to accept having their music available on Spotify (one example of many music streaming services) as a necessary evil. It is widely known that streaming services pass on little value to musicians (less than half of a cent per stream). Overall, there is money in streaming (84% of US recorded music revenues from 2024), though little goes to the artists who actually make the music.

Over the last 25 years, listeners have become accustomed to having access to nearly all music on Earth for a small monthly fee. During this period, money in music has shifted away from artists and towards streaming platforms who take 30% of the total revenue (labels get almost 60% while artists typically make a much smaller amount). To understand this idea more clearly, consider the free online music sharing site, Napster, which started in 1999 only to be court ordered to be taken down shortly after its creation in 2001. Thus, consumers developed a new taste for free music. BitTorrents popped up in 2001 and in 2006 (2011 in the US), Spotify filled this hole in the digital market with all-you-can-stream for the low price of $9.99 per month.

As streaming services continue to devalue artists and maximize profits, I worry that the artists who make the music (also known as humans) will inevitably be pushed out of the recording industry entirely. Deezer (a streaming service) reports that about one third of new uploads in 2025 are AI generated music. Recently, a study by Deezer and Ipsos found that 97% of participants could not identify AI-generated music in a blind listening test, indicating that the quality of AI music can be very convincing as human-generated. Personally, I agree that it can be extremely convincing depending on the genre. It’s only a matter of time before it will be convincing in any genre (link to a convincing AI generated song - Walk My Walk). 

So what can we do as music listeners to support the artist and the music we value for now and into the future? In the spirit of valuing music and the artists who make it, I encourage you (and your friends!) to go to live shows, buy t-shirts, records, CDs, or downloads. Artists make between 75 and 85% of the total revenue from merchandise sold at shows, though this percentage depends on agreements with the venue. Although this means spending money differently, it does not have to be a great financial burden. You can build your library over time with used CDs or records. This practice can be a fun way to get to know yourself and your own music tastes better. Also, when you build a library, you have music that doesn’t require a monthly subscription, which future proofs your own music library if streaming goes out of business or becomes too expensive. Also, building a library of music (digital or physical) can help you feel more connected to your music and yourself! 

These are a few small ways that we listeners can deepen and refine our tastes while helping to support and sustain the artists who make the music. Every little bit of intention helps, and I think it is worth it to be part of an ethos shift of actively valuing music and artists.