Can Jazz Musicians Make Money in the Age of Spotify?

Navigating the Digital Jungle

These days, it’s easier than ever for jazz artists to record, but harder than ever for them to monetize their recordings. For this article, published in the April 2015 DownBeat, I spoke with leading indie artists (e.g., guitarist Dave Stryker and drummer Willie Jones III), label executives and industry analysts. I wanted to find out how musicians are surviving in an age where music consumers prefer to stream their music for free, or nearly so, rather than buy CDs or download MP3s. Surprise: the news is not all bad.