There are many ways to distribute music digitally. Music consumption is increasingly shifting towards usage rather than ownership. My article compares Spotify's streaming service with Bandcamp's ‘fair trade music platform’ model and YouTube's Content ID system for recognising and remunerating music recordings in videos.
In conclusion, digital music distribution offers music creators many opportunities to distribute their music. The multitude of music platforms differ in terms of their exploitation models. Music listeners are increasingly using streaming to consume music. Although this can generate revenue in the long term, success depends on factors such as placement in playlists or the music platform's distribution model.
Bandcamp offers an alternative with its ‘Fairtrade Music Policy’. As a video platform, YouTube not only offers opportunities for the visual presentation of music, but also provides rights exploitation through participation in advertising revenue with its Content ID.
The article has been published in the book 'Vermarktungsstrategien für digitale Medien' at Springer / Gabler Publishing in November 2025. Many thanks to Prof. Dr. Sybille Kunze and Prof. Dr. Gabriele Schuster of IU - Internationale Hochschule for the invite.