Are Artist Complaints About Streaming Justified? Mailbag

This month we dive into questions about The Doors, "Silent Night", songs about television, and so much more.

We’re back with another edition of Can’t Get Much Higher’s mailbag, the monthly newsletter where I answer reader questions. Here’s what we will be discussing this time.

• How long does it take before songwriters start singing about a piece of technology?

• Why do artists put the “Silent Night” melody in so many Christmas songs?

• Are artist complaints about streaming justified?

• Why is metal so underrepresented at The Grammys?

• What’s the deal with The Doors not having a bass player?

• Can you really build a music career on TikTok?

Should you have a question for the next edition, you can submit it using the button below. If your question is selected, you get a free premium subscription to this newsletter for a month. Premium subscribers get access to our entire archive of posts, biweekly interviews, music industry link roundups, and priority when submitting questions.

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On average, how long does it take for a new technology to reach a stable frequency in song lyrics? Here’s my untested hypothesis: technologies enter lyrics when the technology existed for the entire life of the majority age group of the intended audience. - Justin

Great theory! And I can check. I have a database of almost 8,000 lyrics from songs released between 1950 and 2022 that either made the Billboard weekly top ten or yearly top 100. I looked to see what percent of songs featured major technology in their lyrics by year. The results were fascinating.

In very broad strokes, your idea is on point. People don’t start mentioning specific technology until it becomes widespread enough where people think it is normal. Nevertheless, that condition seems to be necessary but not sufficient. Here’s an example. By 1955, 75% of US households had a black and white television. Still, we don’t see the television ever become that prevalent in our lyric sample. It peaks at 5% of lyrics in 2005 and is generally on par with mentions of trains. Some technology just doesn’t have the poetic juice.

Telephones and automobiles, on the other hand, have continued to inspire artists. Part of that is of course related to the prevalence of those technologies. But I think it’s also related to the intimacy we associate with them. Fewer people, for example, talk on the phone than 40 years ago, but the sound of someone’s voice separated across a physical distance continues to conjure deep emotions. (Note: I’ve written about the longevity of telephones in songs before.) In short, it’s not just about the technology itself. It’s about how it affects artists and their relationships.

With the holiday season fast approaching, I've been digging out many of my Christmas records. One thing I've long noticed is that a significant number of them conclude with “Silent Night”. Is this a quirk of my collection or a more widespread trend? - Robert

According to WhoSampled, “Silent Night” is sampled or interpolated in 57 other holiday songs. So, you aren’t imagining this. But why is this the case? First, according to Billboard, “Silent Night” is the most recorded Christmas song of all time.

1. “Silent Night” (137,315 recordings)

2. “White Christmas” (128,276 recordings)

3. “Jingle Bells” (89,681 recordings)

4. “The Christmas Song” (80,064 recordings)

5. “Winter Wonderland” (70,471 recordings)

6. “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” (68,669 recordings)

7. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (65,377 recordings)

8. “Joy To The World” (59,767 recordings)

9. “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” (56,552 recordings)

10. “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (54,446 recordings)

In short, everyone knows “Silent Night”, so it’s a nice familiar melody you can toss in one of your songs. But, more importantly, “Silent Night” is super old, so it’s been in the public domain for a long time. Because of that, artists and composers can use the melody and lyrics at will without having to pay anyone.

Is all the complaining that streaming pays too little justified? Or are there simply a growing number of middle-class/part-time artists that genuinely want to be full-time but are incorrectly perceiving streaming payouts as the modern equivalent of record sales? - Ryan