The Number of Plays a Song Gets Is the Only Thing That Matters, Says Record Label CEO

Streaming has completely changed the music industry, American record producer Steve Greenberg, who heads New York-based music label S-Curve Records said Monday at Calcalist’s When Technology Meets Music conference in Tel Aviv.

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Unlike previous decades when music purchases were made upfront, by buying a record or a CD, what matters now for music producers is the total number of plays a song gets, rather than how many different listeners it has, Greenberg explained.

“You could have one million people listen to a piece of music once each, and that is actually less valuable than 100,000 people listening to the same piece of music 20 times each,” he said.

Founded in 2000, S-Curve Records represents artists including Leslie Odom Jr. of the original Hamilton cast, and 2018’s Eurovision winner Netta Barzilai.