I just did the math and found that we receive $0.002/play from streaming services like Spotify. In order for us to earn $1 from streaming services, you would have to listen to one of our songs 500 times. 5,000 plays = $10.00.

In other words, you could listen to our new album 500 times through before we would get paid a fair market value for our time and investment into creating music for the public to consume.

If those 5,000 plays were actually fairly purchased downloads, the earnings would look something more like $3,505 after distributor and publisher fees.

We were not forced to put our music on Spotify. We chose to do it. Why? Because we are indies. Because no one’s in the music store anymore – the physical or digital marketplace – compensating the artists who put their time, talent, emotions, spirit, tears, pain, joy, and life into the songs that make up the soundtrack of your life.

Because if we as artists don’t go to where the listeners are, no one will hear our music. And if no one is around to hear our music, what’s the point of making any noise at all? If no one is going to compensate the songwriter for their time and talent, there won’t be any songwriters left.

You may think that artists write music for themselves. This is true…and false. A songwriter writes songs because it’s impossible for them not to – it’s part of living and breathing. But the point of writing songs is so that they would be heard, shared, sung, and felt. That they would become anthems to others’ lives. So that they would add to the narrative in the bigger story of us. To translate our emotions and thoughts into a new and special language. To give life to our dreams, hopes, and desires we all have.

The war going on between streaming services and artists, at it’s core, is not about the numbers – it’s about the culture that these services are enabling and perpetuating – a culture of entitlement.

A culture that expects something for nothing. A culture that separates the art from the artist. A feeding frenzy of consumers that have devalued not only the art but also the artist.

Indie artists use these services because they don’t know how else to be heard.

We can talk about streaming services and Taylor Swift all you want but you are missing the bigger point – the smaller guy. The guy who doesn’t have a list of #1 hits but who is trying desperately to do what he loves for a living: write great music and, in turn, pay his mortgage and feed his family.

I ask you simply to RESPECT the artists and the art you love by purchasing their music at a fair market value.

The next time you drop $5 on that pint of beer when you are out with your friends, think about the 5 artists whose songs you just streamed in your car on the way to the bar and maybe consider putting your money where it really matters.

- Dan Smith

And to be brief the answer is “Great!”

It really was a fun experience – albeit with a couple rough moments – we had a great time and were honored to have the band with us that we had. We only briefly got to interact with the man himself, but he was very kind and genuine and still puts on an incredible show considering how long he’s been around. We all got to meet him after he finished sound-checking and politely shook all our hands with a smile and said “Hey! My name’s Mike. Looking forward to hearing y’all!” He asked if we were the house band for the church in York and I told him briefly where we were from before he had to head back to his bus – presumably to finish watching the football game that caused him to be late to soundcheck to begin with. His band was also phenomenal and really nice – they all apologized for being so late with sound check.

All was good though, we managed to fit in probably the shortest setup and sound check in history. We were all using in-ear monitors and had to get our individual in-ear mixes done in about 5 minutes so it was a bit rough but we got the job done which was good enough. Problem was, as soon as we stepped on stage to start our set – something must have changed on the board because for the entirety of our set, the only thing I could hear in my ears was Electric Guitar. What made it worse was that we were playing to a click track – can you say sloppy? So, to me, it sounded terrible. I had the worst time hearing anything and was at first upset before I decided it was an opportunity to put my faith in action and trust God that it sounded great to the audience.

Sure enough, after finishing our set to a standing ovation and hitting our merch table, we were overwhelmed by all the positive response. It was such an honor and privilege to be a part of the evening and we can’t think CMI and WJTL enough for the opportunity.

Our friend David O’Donohue captured the event for us an set it to our song Beauty in the Broken. We hope you all enjoy the highlight reel!

There are two questions we are asked ALL THE TIME:

1. How are things going with the Revive Project?

2. When are you coming out with your next album?

In all of our travels over the last year we’ve run into these 2 questions the most and I deduce that the answer people are really after is simply this: What’s next?

Let me answer each of these questions as concisely as possible and in the process, hopefully unpack the bigger question.

1. How are things going with the Revive Project?
A lot of the time this question is also asked in conjunction with “Does it feel like what you’re doing is actually making a difference?”

In short, what we set out to accomplish with The Revive Project was three-fold – 1.) Give God the glory with our music and our talents, 2.) Use the opportunities we were given to lead worship for communities around our region to share about The Revive Project and to shed light on Reading’s many issues, 3.) Give proceeds from the album back to city non-profits or events that would in turn benefit those in need and to further the reach of The Revive Project message.

Because God is good, we have been able to accomplish and pursue all of these things, and that’s something worth being excited about! The fog and ignorance our region has had to Reading’s issues is starting to fade and there is a growing movement of individuals, churches, and organizations desiring to take part in the revival and restoration of Reading. We have been able to support events financially as well as donate to local organizations working to serve those in need in the city. Our single, “Awaken (Let the Whole World Sing)”, has been promoted and played on radio stations around the country and we’ve had numerous opportunities for live interviews and performances on air to share about Reading and The Revive Project. Our next single, “Everywhere”, is now in the process of getting that same exposure.

Does it feel sometimes that the problem is so big that it can’t be solved? Yes. Absolutely. It felt like that when we set out to do this in the beginning. It was NEVER our goal to be the answer – but to simply take part in God’s story of restoration in the place and time we were called. All we can continue to do is remain faithful to God’s calling by fulfilling the roles He’s called us into.

2. When are you releasing your next album?
Based on history, we should be releasing an album this year. We have released an album every two years since 2003, however, this will be the first time in 10 years that this will not be the case. To be completely transparent – we simply don’t know when we will release another album.

One thing a lot of people are surprised to find out is the financial capital it takes to write, record, produce, release, duplicate, and promote an album on a professional level. Most independent musicians can expect a professionally produced album to require an investment of somewhere between $20,000-$30,000 and that’s not including the costs of duplication, promotion, touring, etc. that go along with the release of an album. That’s a lot of money and you have to be relatively certain you’re going to sell 2,000-4,000 copies of your album pretty quickly after it’s release in order to make your money back and stay on your feet.

I bring this to light because the Revive Project was a non-profit album project. It wasn’t about the money but it still cost money to make it. Thanks to the generosity of a number of friends, family, and fans, we raised almost 40% of the album’s production cost through Kickstarter. Since we released it, the proceeds have gone back into the city and promoting the project. This is what God told us to do with the project and this is what we have done in obedience and will continue to do.

One of the main reasons we just don’t know when we’ll release another album is simply because we don’t have the financial resources to do so and we don’t know if or when we will again.

Another reason, and probably more importantly, is that we hear God’s voice telling us right now to wait and be patient. I am doing an incredible amount of songwriting right now – maybe more than I’ve ever done. Song ideas and possibilities are flowing for another project more than they ever have. There are incredible opportunities in front of us to work on a new project with some leading professionals in the industry. These connections could help to take our ministry and voice to a much larger and widespread level. It seems God is behind us, but we just don’t know His timeline – and that’s okay.

From our discussions with professionals in the industry, we have learned that every independent musician is in the same financial boat. Independent musicians, these days, receive financial backing to produce their music from private parties – whether it be individuals whom God has blessed with financial wealth to support their musical careers or churches and organizations doing that kind of support and partnership. We simply don’t have these kind of partnerships available to us at this time.

So as we sit and look to the future, we see a tremendous amount of opportunity. We don’t want finances to be the reason that we stop recording and producing music that God is using to speak truth into people’s lives. Instead of staring into the eyes of a giant and giving up without a fight, we want to be like David, and believe that victory is possible with God’s help. We have seen too many talented musicians give up on their gifts and dreams because of finances and we don’t want that story to be our own.

We simply ask for you to pray with us – that God would provide the resources necessary to continue on the path He is laying out for us, that we would be good stewards of what He blesses us with, and that we would be faithful to His call as He has never left our side.

If you’d like to talk to us about the future of our music, please don’t hesitate to email me at dan@thesmithfactory.com or if you’d like to book us for a gig, head over to our booking page.

As always, we can’t thank you all enough for the amazing support all of you are and have been to our music and our ministry. We love you and we hope to continue creating delicious melodies for your ears to enjoy!

We are so blessed to have become friends with some of the awesome people over at WJTL in Lancaster. In particular our new friend, Kristi Leigh, has been a huge supporter of the Revive Project and what it’s all about. They have expressed their desire to continue to help us out by getting word out about The Revive Project and making sure people in our area are hearing the music from the project! Not every local artist is that lucky, and we are humbled by the voice that they have helped give our ministry.

All week this week, Nov 5-9, WJTL is going to be doing a TShirt and CD Bundle Giveaway on-air. Listen to Kristi Leigh’s show in the evening and find out how to enter to win your FREE Tshirt and CD!

If you don’t win one, you can still get a bundle this week for a discounted price of $20 in our new online store! Use Coupon Code: WJTL at checkout.

Thanks again WJTL for all you do!

Make sure to check out their website at www.WJTL.com and connect with them on facebook and request “Awaken”!

Here’s a little sample of something I wrote on Facebook after our appearance: “What was the most encouraging aspect of today’s experience at Liberty? A young man came up to our table afterwards and introduced himself to me. He told me that 6 years ago he attended Camp Haluwasa where I was on staff doing music. He said I shared one of our songs, “Coming Home” with him and it was that song, that message, and that experience at camp that helped him turn his life around and give it to God. He has since chosen a path in Student Ministry to share the same love to students that he received when he was at camp as a youth. Wow. How cool?! This is the kind of stuff that makes it all worth it.” One of our former Youth Group kids now goes to Liberty and took a quick cell phone video of the performance…check it out below!

We also got to meet up with our Radio Promoters in Nashville, TN and record a little acoustic video of “Awaken”. As soon as that’s ready we’ll post it for you! We also got to meet up with our friend and producer, Stephen, as well as a label rep at Centricity. Lots of great conversations were had on this trip and we were given a lot of good direction for the future.

One of the most exciting things for me, personally, was getting a phone call on the way home from a producer and songwriter that I’ve admired and respected for almost a decade. It was an honor and huge encouragement to get to talk with him on the phone briefly and I’m excited about what may lay ahead in our songwriting endeavors…stay tuned!

Good Morning Friends, Family and Fans!

We are excited to tell you that our single "Awaken (Let the Whole World Sing)" has been making it’s debut on the national radio scene. Thanks to our good friends at Shamrock Entertainment, we have been getting exposure across the radio waves and getting some really great feedback. In particular, we are excited to be added to the regular line-up of artists at WJTL in Lancaster which serves the south-central Pennsylvania region and WOLC in Maryland.

We’ll be LIVE on the Radio with Interviews and Live Performances next week at the following radio stations and you can listen live if you’re in thelistening area or online at the associated links:

• Monday, 8/13 @ 10:40am – 89.3 WECC – Jacksonville, FL (Listen Live Here)
• Wednesday, 8/15 @ 8:00am – 102.5 FM WOLC – Princess Anne, MD (Listen Live Here)

As well, you can FIND YOUR LOCAL STATION ON FACEBOOK and request “Awaken” by Dan and Lauren Smith by writing your request on their wall. This simple bit of help goes a long way!