A week after it was released, I went on iTunes and bought Taylor Swift’s latest album, 1989, for S$18.98. Did I do so only because I could no longer access her music on Spotify, the music streaming service on which I spend at least 15 hours a week?

No.

I caved because her song Welcome To New York had been stuck in my head for days on end — and I’d listened to it only once on YouTube — so I just had to buy her album and spend every waking minute listening to it. I’d like to think I would have bought 1989 anyway, even if it were available on Spotify.

But then again, Taylor Swift is quite unique in her magnetism (after all, 1.287 million people bought her album in the first week) and I am also probably a member of a very small group that still believes in paying for music.

In an interview with TIME magazine this month, Swift said she thinks streaming “for the most part ... has been shrinking the number of paid album sales”. Conversely, Spotify chief Daniel Ek argued that the streaming service helps “recover money for artistes and the music business that piracy was stealing away”.

Swift essentially believes that without streaming services, fans would have no choice but to buy music; while Ek believes fans would choose, instead, to download music illegally. This is why the Taylor Swift versus Spotify debate is so compelling: They are both correct, to a certain extent.

STREAMING PROS AND CONS

In Singapore, a survey by Sycamore Research and Marketing and InsightAsia Research Group earlier this year said 61 per cent of the adult population has participated in movie and TV or music piracy, and 80 per cent of younger pirates regard illegal downloading or streaming as a social norm.

It’s one reason musicians here are still open to putting their music on streaming sites. Even though it doesn’t pay well, it’s better than not being paid at all.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a viable income stream but, in my opinion, streaming services are a positive development for musicians and artistes in lieu of piracy,” said Errol Tan, label manager at KittyWu Records, which manages local bands Caracal and Monster Cat.

“Streaming royalties make up just a tiny percentage of the available revenue and monetisation channels for artistes, but its ease of accessibility; global and social reach make up for that. I would rather have consumers listen and discover music on platforms such as Spotify or Deezer and get paid for it; than force them to hit the torrents and continue the illicit download of music, which do not pay artistes.”

Still, musicians have to eat, though they can no longer rely on album sales as a source of income. Ang Kwee Tiang, regional director (Asia) of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, said in an interview earlier this year that Singapore’s music recording industry is one-fifth the size it was in 1997. “The state … is shocking. From almost S$90 million in 1997, it has gone into a free fall to only S$20 million in 2012,” he said, adding that the local music market was “in dire straits”.

There is also a limit to how much streaming services can help. For example, even though Monster Cat worked with Spotify to make their latest album, The Violet Hour, available as an exclusive pre-stream on Spotify early this year, KittyWu revealed streaming proceeds across the board from services such as Spotify, YouTube and iTunes Radio have not broken the S$300 mark.

“I wouldn’t recommend local musicians relying on audio or visual streaming sites as their primary source of income, but these sites have their own utility,” said Audrey Lim, who manages Singapore bands The Sam Willows and Jack & Rai.

However, streaming sites do help in other ways. “A large portion of music consumers now turn to digital sources to access music,” said Lim. “Streaming sites help to connect consumers with the music, and allow new consumers who such as similar bands to discover the music through the sites’ suggestion or discovery features – this potentially connects the musicians to a wider audience base.”

“Aside from connecting local music artistes to a global, paying audience, Spotify also supports local artistes through collaborations,” explained Sunita Kaur, managing director (Asia) of Spotify.

In terms of average daily mobile music streaming, she said, there are more Spotify users in Singapore than in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. “Spotify also provides artistes with access to data that illustrate how their music is being heard around the world. By providing streaming data through our artiste website, http://www.spotifyartists.com, we not only help artistes have a better understanding of our business model, we also give them data that help them plan their own promotional strategies, such as their tours, based on Spotify’s listening data.”

THE PERSONAL TOUCH

As more and more companies come up with their own business models for streaming music — such as YouTube’s Music Key, which launched earlier this month — companies will have to find ways to retain big-name artistes, who will draw their fans in, while catering to an audience that is no longer used to paying for music. Musicians, on the other hand, will have to come up with their own strategies to maximise revenue.

Singapore rock band Caracal, for example, will be streaming its latest album, Welcome The Ironists, only a week after the official release of the physical product.

As Tan explained: “We hope this might mitigate some cannibalisation of album sales, but having the album released on streaming services might be the tipping point to purchase the physical album if fans love the music enough.”

Ultimately, however, the business of music involves getting people to like you and your music — by whatever means necessary.

“Generally, any income generated is simply the outcome of finding a large enough base of fans whom you connect with and who genuinely want to support your brand of music,” said Singapore singer Sarah Cheng-De Winne. “Different types of artistes (attract) different types of audiences — I believe the key is to continue to find that audience that really connects with you.”

Adding that personal touch, Cheng-De Winne said, helps. “I sell the most albums during tours and after live shows — that’s the best opportunity to connect with new fans who want a memento of your live performance,” she said.

“Spotify is great for letting those who don’t have a chance to see you live discover your music. That’s important ... but nothing beats having a physical signed copy of an artiste’s work in your hands. It’s this personal touch that really makes the difference to fans who attend live shows”.