Bitterness out of place in the show off forum, I think.
If there's anyone trying to make a career as an artist who still thinks that they can make an income from streaming, what Papanate says is true: Each stream is worth about $0.0003.
Streaming is marketing and brand building. In 3 years, I want my singer to have enough engaged people on our mailing list to make a limited European tour viable. One way to aim for that is to grow listeners in a select group of cities. Part of my strategy is to track streaming numbers in Europe, and to grow those numbers.
Establishing an artist is a long game, people. This is step 5 of 500 steps. But it's also proof-of-concept, and an important milestone.