Many have criticised the streaming services and the conditions for payment and influence for the artist. But not as many have suggestions for solutions or alternative business models. One of those who do is Anna Lidell, musician and co-founder of the music platform Sleeve.
She hopes that her new platform can challenge the established streaming system, especially when it comes to female artists' place in the algorithms.

 

Music on the artists' terms

"Sleeve represents a new approach to the music industry, where traditional solutions such as streaming, social media and the live stage are no longer sufficient. The platform offers artists an opportunity to build a stronger relationship with their audience," says Anna Lidell, artist and co-founder of the music platform Sleeve.

Anna Lidell has a broad knowledge of the industry as an artist and independent music producer, composer and record label owner of Machinedrops and former front person for Autor.

Anna Lidell founded the platform with her two partners, Jared and Josh, who each have years of experience from Microsoft and Patreon in Silicon Valley.

Music artists are unhappy with current platforms

Most artists - regardless of gender - earn almost nothing on classic streaming services. A study from 2023 by the international artist organisation AIO, shows that 90 per cent of music artists are dissatisfied with their streaming revenue. The average payment per play on Spotify is approximately 0.04 cents USD.

Unlike established services where artists earn a fraction of a cent per play, Sleeve lets users follow as many artists as they want for free, while selecting those they want to support with a fixed amount each month.

"Instead of focusing on pennies and algorithms like traditional streaming platforms, Sleeve ensures that the money goes directly to the artist. This gives them the freedom to cultivate their core audience, create exclusive experiences and build a long-lasting community without having to chase viral hits," says Anna Lidell.

Anna Lidell 2020, photo: Emilia Theresa

 

Singer and songwriter Vilma, who is active on Sleeve, finds that the platform allows her to focus more freely on her music:

"It feels like I can actually 'just' focus on my songwriting and put my energy into content that actually reaches the people it's made for."

Algorithms create bias

According to Spotify's own data, digital listening changed the way we discover and listen to music. Where once a friend or a clerk at a record store recommended new music, now it's largely an algorithm that drives our music consumption.

The algorithms have a built-in bias: women and nonbinary artists only make up 23.1 per cent of all streams.

Looking at who listens and their streaming consumption, we can see that there is a difference in preferences when it comes to gender. 31.9 per cent of women listen to music from other women and nonbinary people, while male listeners stream far less from this group. Here the share is 19.2 per cent.

According to Anna Lidell, this has historical explanations:

"Because there have been far more men in music over the last 100 years, the algorithms are trained on a skewed representation. In my opinion, this is one of the reasons for the massive gender bias in streaming," Lidell explains.

Anna Lidell 2020, photo: Emilia Theresa.

 

Anna Lidell is backed up by figures showing that Spotify's algorithm-driven playlists reinforce this bias.

From passive consumption to active community

The Sleeve model is based on an active community where users curate their own feed and artists have direct insight into their audience. According to Lidell, this can be an advantage for DIY musicians and solo artists, who are often women, she explains:

"With Sleeve, you have control over your revenue and your fans without having to navigate the bias of algorithms. It offers a new freedom for artists who want to manage their own career."

Far from adverts and tech giants

In a post on the platform, artist and music creator, Signe Svendsen, expresses why Sleeve feels particularly meaningful to her as an artist:

"I think it's perfect timing that Sleeve offers a place where you can follow the music and the people behind it, far from adverts and tech giants," she writes, emphasising the benefits she sees in being an artist on Sleeve:

"Sleeve allows me to share songs, video and audio in good quality and where it's still me - and only me - who has the rights to it. It feels like a great freedom and opens up a courage to share and a desire to be creative."

But does the amount of time the artist has to put into producing special content for the platform match up to the revenue that can be earned back?

Anna Lidell doesn't have a clear answer to this, but so far she is getting a good response from the artists.

"Most artists right now spend a huge amount of time on social media, music videos and behind-the-scenes content - without making a cent. We've built a tool where you can keep sharing your process, but the difference is that you actually make money from it. "

Sharp focus on the music

The platform combines elements of Patreon, Bandcamp and social media, but with a strong focus on music as an independent art form.

Anna Lidell believes she has a model for how Sleeve will build the critical mass of both fans and artists on the platform:

"Music is very network-based, which is why we have created a programme that means that both users and artists can recommend an artist for a sleeve, and if the artist does so, the referrer gets a third of our share for the first year. We call it a 'referral programme', where you could say it's equivalent to the recommender doing some of our work. And that's why we think it's fair that we share our income."

Currently, there are approximately 60 artists, bands and music creators on the music platform, with artists such as Pernille Rosendahl, Poul Krebs, Annika Aakjær and Mathilde Falch having already joined.

"I hope that Sleeve becomes a platform that music users choose when they want to be inspired by music," says the co-founder.