The British rock band, While She Sleeps, have released a t-shirt in a bid to raise awareness about Spotify streaming and the ways in which this has become detrimental to musicians.
The t-shirt reads, “One T-shirt is the equivalent to 5000 streams on Spotify. 76% of all music in 2019 is streamed and not bought physically or digitally. Band merchandise is the most direct way of supporting an artist.”
The group have made it very clear that this is not a campaign against streaming services, but an attempt to bring to light the effects of these services if people rely solely on them as a way of supporting musicians.
Formed in 2006, the metalcore punk band have released four studio albums, with their most recent, ‘So What?’ in March of this year. The album has been received well on the whole, with positive reviews from Kerrang and Louder Sound, describing it as “more alternative, electronic”. It is clear that the group have taken a different angle in their production with this release than their previous work, “there are plenty of riff heavy body slams, but this is a shinier, polished and melodic finish.” As with most long time rock bands that decide to go down this route, of course the record has face some backlash. Max Morin called it “a transparent attempt at marketability than genuine musical vision.”
On twitter, WSS explained the reasons behind why they have launched this t-shirt and why it is important for this message to be shared further than just their own fanbase. “If bands and artists are to survive and win the battle of art vs money, we need to find new income to keep afloat…this t-shirt isn’t just for our band, it’s for all bands and we want it to become a staple in the positive change needed in the music industry.”
This is about how you can support the music you love.
Not just our band and our music – this is aimed at every working band trying to make music and get it out there. We are launching a free-to-use design to highlight the realities of being a band today.https://t.co/84LyW9LCyZ pic.twitter.com/HEB082D6JX— WHILE SHE SLEEPS (@whileshesleeps) August 7, 2019
In addition, the 5-piece metal core band have made this t-shirt design available to use for free, so that the message can be heard in further realms of the industry and in popular culture as a whole.
