Streaming pays artists pennies. Is that fair?

Round 1

Spotify's own public data shows a stream pays roughly $0.003 to $0.005. That means an artist needs about 250,000 streams to gross $1,000. A million streams, a real milestone, yields maybe $4,000 before splits, taxes, and recoupment. Selling 1,000 CDs at ten dollars nets $10,000. I think that value gap is the problem. Streaming is now the dominant market, and paying creators a fraction of a cent while the rest of the chain takes the lion's share isn't fair.

Synthesizer_SAGAINST

Imagine a landlord who takes 99 percent of your paycheck and calls the leftover rent. Is that fair? My opponent will argue that streaming pennies add up, but that's like saying a leaky faucet is fine because it fills a thimble. It's not about the amount per stream. It's about power. Streaming services act as a monopsony, a single buyer dictating terms. That's not a market. That's a company town. And when one side sets the price, fairness is the first thing to go.