Interview: What we get wrong about the economics of streaming, with Michael Pelczynski (Forms + Shapes)
*This event is open only to Water & Music members. If you're a member, please RSVP with the name and email tied to your membership account so we can get you approved as quickly as possible. If you're not yet a member, RSVP and then sign up for a membership to get access. You should get approved within 48 hours of signing up!
Music streaming has never been bigger — and more scrutinized. Today's leading streaming services host hundreds of millions of paid subscribers and add 100,000 new songs daily. It also seems more difficult than ever for artists to make a living from streaming. DSPs themselves are also struggling with profitability. Major labels, seeing the writing on the wall, are actively pushing for payment reform in their licensing renegotiations, especially towards models that incentivize more loyal fan behavior.
And amidst this chaos, there's still widespread confusion and misunderstanding around the basics of how streaming economics really works.
Our next Water Cooler interview with Michael Pelczynski — principal advisor at Forms + Shapes and former VP of Strategy at SoundCloud, where he architected the platform's influential "fan-powered royalties" model — will dive into common myths and misconceptions about the past, present, and future of streaming economics. We'll cover points including but not limited to:
Why you can't treat streaming income like download income (read: streaming payments are fluid, not transactional)
How artists can adapt to the fluid nature of streaming economics in their release/career strategies
Opportunities for tech innovation that can better serve artists' career needs
We'll leave 15 minutes of open Q&A at the end so you can help directly shape our discussion.
About Michael Pelczynski
Michael Pelczynski is a strategist, economist and music rights expert that has been a pioneering force in evolving the music streaming business. As principal advisor at Forms + Shapes, Michael continues shaping the new music business with clients across AI, creator tools, fan models and administrative tech. Previously as Vice President of Strategy at SoundCloud, Michael had architected, licensed and launched an award-winning new streaming model, led global business strategy and established the company's future fan-powered business.
Continually working on improving the economics of music, Michael had delivered multiyear first-to-market licensing deals with major record labels while inventing patent-pending artist-to-fan engagement tools that enhance the commercial value proposition.
Focused on the future state of the industry, Michael has led cross-functional teams to address industry-wide issues like fraud, identify and evaluate new strategic business opportunities, including ancillary revenue initiatives, strategic partnerships and operational improvements. Upon joining SoundCloud, Michael was the head of economics and rights administration overseeing the company's 170MM global revenue based royalties.
Prior to joining SoundCloud, Michael directed rights administration at Warner Music Group, overseeing royalties and reporting across six label divisions totaling 440MM in annual revenue. In addition to his formal economics background, Michael's career in music began as a songwriter, composing for BMG Rights Management and several film productions, notably garnering 2014 A2IM Libera Awards semi-finalist nominations for Album of the Year and Up & Comer.
About Water Cooler
Water Cooler is Water & Music's biweekly, members-only interview series, giving an inside look at cutting-edge music-industry innovation through conversations with founders, creators, and business leaders. Our goal is to equip our members with the vocabulary and business acumen to navigate the fast-moving music-tech landscape more thoughtfully and intelligently.
Speakers are hand-curated by Water & Music's research team, with conversations featuring both deep-dives into music-tech products and commentary on wider macro industry trends.
About Water & Music
Water & Music is a research network for music and tech, on a mission to make the music industry more innovative, cooperative, and transparent. From in-depth, data-driven analyses on emerging market trends, to hands-on educational workshops and a regular slate of virtual and IRL event programming, W&M aims to equip music-industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and creators with the tools and mindsets to navigate tech innovation successfully.
You can learn more about our research and our unique industry perspective on our website.
