A Sky News investigation into the economics of digital music services continues to reveal Gary Numan received just £37 for a hit streamed more than a million times.
In the 1970s and 1980s, he had hit songs including Are Friends Electric? His 18th solo studio album, Intruder artiesten nieuws is scheduled for release in May. He achieved fame with hits like Cars, and We Are Glass in the 1970s and 1980s.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic destroying artist revenue from touring, platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Google Play have come under increased scrutiny in the past year. As a result, a DCMS inquiry is currently examining them.
Who Is Gary Numan?
The English musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer Gary Numan was born Gary Anthony James Webb on 8 March 1958. He got his start in the music industry as the frontman of the band Tubeway Army. The Pleasure Principle, his debut solo album, won the UK Albums Chart upon its release in 1979, following two albums with the band. In spite of his commercial popularity peaking in the late 1970s and early 1980s with hits like “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” and “Cars” (all of which reached top one on the UK Singles Chart), Numan continues to be a cult favorite. His albums have sold over ten million copies.
While critics and fellow musicians were hostile toward Numan during his early career, he has since become regarded as a pioneer in electronic music. The guitarist was known for his heavy synth hooks, his androgynous “android” persona, and his distinctive voice. The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors awarded him an Ivor Novello Award, the Inspiration Award, in 2017.
Hearing Session of Court
A session of the hearing was held on Wednesday, when representatives from Sony Music, Universal Music and Warner Music, as well as representatives from licensing bodies, appeared before MPs. The list of artists who have provided evidence already includes Elbow’s Guy Garvey, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien, Chic’s Nile Rodgers, and Singer-Songwriter Nadine Shah.
MPs were told the cut from streaming was fair compensation for the risks related to developing artists, recording, marketing, and distributing their music.
The musician is not appearing at the inquiry but gave his views on the revenue from streaming in an interview with Sky News – putting the figures in context.It’s a simple answer, he said. The streaming companies should pay for this. But, instead, they are getting it for free.
Old Statement of Numan
An old statement showed that one of my tracks had over a million views, millions of streams, and was worth £37. So a million streams paid me £37.”
I put my streaming statement to print; I didn’t think to look at it; I just put it on the printer, and about 30 minutes later, it was still printing.” Numan explained.
There were hundreds and hundreds of pages in it, with a price tag of $112. It was barely worth the paper it was printed on, and to print, it took nearly a half-hour. You know it’s so much information, but nothing is in it.”
Numan is unsure what happened to his music; he said he thought the printers destroyed it. “If I knew where it was, I would have given it away for free,” Numan explained. “But it’s gone, it’s lost forever, I don’t know what happened.” Numan has a new project called The Pleasure Principle, which is a concept album based around the theme of escapism. He is currently working on the artwork, which will be released later this year. The album will be available as a CD and LP, with vinyl copies available at an unspecified date.