Five years ago, US firm 8tracks was a true rarity: a music-streaming service claiming to be profitable. Sadly, it didn’t turn out to be a sustainable affair: the company shut down at the end of 2019. Founder David Porter has published a blog post explaining why. “To state it simply, we’re shutting down because we can’t generate enough revenue, at our current scale, to cover royalties that continue to increase,” he wrote. However, this isn’t your standard ‘it was all the labels’ fault!’ complaint: Porter offered a thoughtful analysis of streaming economics, including taking artists and rightsholders’ views into consideration.
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