As more streaming and download sites gain popularity, music is readily available at people’s fingertips. In order for streaming sites to have artist’s material available, the company has to have some sort of agreement for artists to receive payment.

Many artists have submitted testimonies about lack of payment, or the small amounts they are being paid.

Campus students use different streaming websites like Pandora, SoundCloud and Spotify to access new albums, classics and rare selections.

Senior Sarah Smythe swears by Spotify when getting music, she said.

“My favorite part about it is you can look at what your friends are listening to,” the public relations  and advertising major said. “You can also follow artists and see what they’re listening to.”

Smythe purchased the Spotify premium account, which grants unlimited access to artist’s work to computers and mobile devices.

It’s the best $10 a month ever, she said.

“I recommend Spotify to all my friends,” she said. “I love Spotify.”

Smythe found out about the streaming website from her cousins in New York who were using the site, she said.

“I tried it and found out it was so amazing,” Smythe said. “It’s worth it.”

Spotify also features applications within the website to help expand the user’s music experience. Featured applications include Pitchfork, Digster and TuneWiki. These apps give the listener reviews, information and playlist suggestions tailored to the user’s listening history.

According to Spotify’s website, artists, record labels, and rights owners have contracts so that the revenue goes to the right places. About 70 percent of money made is distributed to various sources, the website said.

Streaming websites aren’t the only places students get their music. Some just download, legally or illegally.

“I usually try to find a leak,” Ariel Crenshaw said. “Sometimes I buy albums, but nine times out of 10 I download it.”

At the point of downloading, it doesn’t register that the artist isn’t getting paid, she said.

“I’m a struggling college student,” she said.

Pandora, another music streaming site, allows patrons to listen to songs or artists of their choosing. Then Pandora decides where the music journey should go next.

Artists are also paid for their work on this website, but there have been complaints from artists about just how much they’re receiving.

David Lowery, lead singer from the band Cracker, wrote on thetrichordist.com that he was paid $16 for a song played on Pandora more than 1 million times.