Thank goodness for Ted Gioia, who suspected Spotify was spiking playlists with musak, essentially, and now an investigation has proven him correct. Fake artists who produce cheap tracks and give up all rights to it are now proliferating. He calls it war on the music biz.
https://www.honest-broker.com/p/the-ugly-truth-about-spotify-is-finally
@brianvastag Oh shit it finally happened...I've been wondering when this would become a thing.
See, if you had ever asked my father what kind of music he listened to, you'd get specific artists and a detailed listing of subgenres. If you ask my mom what music she likes, you'll get an answer like "something happy"
The musicians my dad listened to probably do alright, but they certainly aren't world-famous millionaires. The musicians my mom listens to are though, because it's just whatever is on the radio, whatever is popular. Always felt weird that you kinda get paid more to make music for people who don't give a shit than you do if you make music for people who are super passionate about it. The easier you are to replace, the more money you seem to get.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Spotify is doing a good thing...but it did feel kinda inevitable to me that something like this would happen eventually...the secrecy and fraud ought to offend anyone, but I'm sure plenty of listeners had no issue with the music itself...
I just pictured the outcome being cheap tracks for streaming platforms and more exposure for random garage bands. But I guess I should have predicted fake bands instead, this is capitalism we're talking about after all...
@admin @brianvastag it's the difference between art and pandering. A "piece de resistance" doesn't seem like something that should be super palatable and go down smoothly without noticing, right? It should be a little shocking, new, maybe even confusing or a little hard. A statement, at minimum.
What successful artists often depressingly realize, though, is that average people often don't want to be challenged with new unfamiliar things. They're perfectly happy with new twists on the familiar.
@brianvastag If Spotify breaks that, they save a fortune in royalties. Great for them! But then what stops another company from just copying the same business model, but a little cheaper?
Spotify is under pressure to provide immediate returns and quarterly growth figures. Management know this. They have no choice but to deliver or be replaced. But they are doing so at the expense of the long-term future of the company. Huge performance bonuses today, then flee before the company implodes.
You have to make your own lists and never turn on their creative mixing function if you want all good music. Your sound rapidly becomes mundane in all genres if you let the app be in charge.
@brianvastag @VisualStuart A very interesting read. I like organizations that (as far as i know) try to respect musicians, and allow musicians to communicate directly with their listeners.
I "feel" that Bandcamp does a great job with that.
@SimonCHulse @brianvastag Sorry, should’ve ended that toot with a ‘/s’.
Referencing the fact that the EU don’t seem to be worried about any of the things Spotify does, because it’s based in Europe. They do act on whatever complaints about Apple that Spotify make though.
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