Spotify

[neaxudos]

Clearly, most musicians don’t get that much from Spotify because you need to stream hours and hours of music to make a difference and let them earn something. Most people don’t listen to music all the time. Therefore the musicians don’t make that much money, especially if they prefer high quality and not speed of production.
I hope it will change somehow in the future and more platforms will appear that will appreciate the musicians more than just workers that need to follow the norms of production.
But for now, one of the ways to actually make money from Spotify streams is to get more of them through platforms like https://songlifty.com/spotify-promotion/. It’s a fair way for musicians to make Spotify work for them a little bit too.

[jjazznj]

I rarely buy CDs but I still make mix CDs and Live ones to give to friends. That being said I hate Spotify and rarely if ever use it.

[belyin]

Cassette only releases are very trendy and vintage highly sought after releases on cassette are very collectible. The same title on CD may fetch a buck or two.

We seem to be in the second cassette hipster revival—there seemed to be one about 10-15 years ago and then vinyl took off. Now vinyl is mainstream and no longer hip, so back to the cassette. I have joked that I plan to release an Edison cylinder, but back in 2013 someone released a Tiny Tim cylinder. And google turned up a company in England that specializes in the format.

[Meters Fan]

Cassette only releases are very trendy and vintage highly sought after releases on cassette are very collectible. The same title on CD may fetch a buck or two.

[Kemp]

Cassettes were convenient and fun, but sounded like what IPods and MP3s sounded like later. However, they gave us the power of the mix tape, and that changed my life. Vinyl and CDs are where the sound is.

[belyin]

CD’s suck. Never liked them. And now new cars don’t even have a CD player

I still wish I had my old auto reverse cassette deck. I could make copies of albums easily to play in my car and give away…I guess that’s what “they” didn’t like. Me making copies…the good old days

i refuse to buy a CD. I will buy the record and hope it had a download code

I don't love cds, but I certainly prefer them to cassettes. But cassette recorders shouldn't be hard to find (though they will need some maintenance) if that is what you are into. CD recorders aren't exactly scarce either. I bought a Tascam recorder for around $80 two or three years ago. Neither cassette tapes or cdr's are good archival media, but for that nothing really beats vinyl; it should last 10,000 years or so if well stored.

[innertube]

CD’s suck. Never liked them. And now new cars don’t even have a CD player

I still wish I had my old auto reverse cassette deck. I could make copies of albums easily to play in my car and give away…I guess that’s what “they” didn’t like. Me making copies…the good old days

i refuse to buy a CD. I will buy the record and hope it had a download code

[belyin]

Agree.

I have yet to embrace the vinyl resurgence, due to convenience and space constraints, plus the fact that I have not had a working turntable for decades.
I will however keep purchasing CDS for as long as that is possible to do, and with luck I will get to LMF tomorrow.

Way back in 2004 in an interview with Coda Magazine (Canada's equivalent to Downbeat, now defunct) I said issuing cds at that time (with downloads clearly on the horizon even before streaming took off) felt like releasing piano roles in 1925 with radio broadcasting and electronically recorded phonograph records about to steamroll the business.

But I have been predicting the cd revival for at least the last 10 years—maybe one of these years I will be right! After all, the logic is persuasive: younger generations love to "discover" the formats thrown away by their parents and older siblings; thrift stores have thousands of cds for mere pennies while their vinyl stockpiles have been completely picked over and rarely worth even a glance; the vinyl revival might mean a revival in interest in home-based audio systems compatible with tangible formats; and the high price of new lps due to bottlenecks in the supply chain make cds a much better value (and while original pressings get more expensive and rare, too many lp reissues are sourced from dubious sources multi-generationally removed from the original tape masters.) But it is still hard to sell (or even give away) cd's to anyone under 50, but any revival will have to come from the young'uns. And to everyone who tells me they don't have a cd player, I point out that every thrift store in America have dvd players for cheap that will play cds.

New article today in the Guardian today about dissatisfaction with the Spotify experience

[Gards]

As bad as the old model (labels advanced money to musicians to record and promote—not to mention limos, blow, hookers, etc.—that was recouped via a low royalty rate that meant the label could realize a significant profit while the musicians were still in debt to their advance) streaming is far worse. At least the model based on tangible goods assumed that the music had some sort of value that made it worth exploiting and fighting over copywriter. The new model basically gives away the music because the value is not in the music but in the ears and eyes of the consumer. Ted Gioia has written about this for years: https://tedgioia.substack.com/p/how-...silicon-valley

The best thing about the vinyl revival (especially if proves to be more than a fad) is that a significant number of young people are rejecting the false God of convenience and are again placing value (expressed in time and money) in a format the requires effort and attention. Spotify et al. (and I would argue digital culture in general) places the music in the background (and to my ears so much new music aspires to me no more than background or as I usually state it "the background has become the foreground.") If music is to reclaim its place in the fore of cultural development, it has to overthrow its tech business overlords! And maybe then people will relearn to listen.

Agree.

I have yet to embrace the vinyl resurgence, due to convenience and space constraints, plus the fact that I have not had a working turntable for decades.
I will however keep purchasing CDS for as long as that is possible to do, and with luck I will get to LMF tomorrow.

[belyin]

As bad as the old model (labels advanced money to musicians to record and promote—not to mention limos, blow, hookers, etc.—that was recouped via a low royalty rate that meant the label could realize a significant profit while the musicians were still in debt to their advance) streaming is far worse. At least the model based on tangible goods assumed that the music had some sort of value that made it worth exploiting and fighting over copywriter. The new model basically gives away the music because the value is not in the music but in the ears and eyes of the consumer. Ted Gioia has written about this for years: https://tedgioia.substack.com/p/how-...silicon-valley

The best thing about the vinyl revival (especially if proves to be more than a fad) is that a significant number of young people are rejecting the false God of convenience and are again placing value (expressed in time and money) in a format the requires effort and attention. Spotify et al. (and I would argue digital culture in general) places the music in the background (and to my ears so much new music aspires to me no more than background or as I usually state it "the background has become the foreground.") If music is to reclaim its place in the fore of cultural development, it has to overthrow its tech business overlords! And maybe then people will relearn to listen.

[yramavol]

Well, I wouldn't say I like his attitude to music. For me, music was always an art. As a huge fan of Eminem, I didn't care if he didn't have music albums this year, and it is good for me when an artist is going to break and doesn't record anything. I wouldn't say I like fast food music, but on the other hand, I understand this guy's perspective. Suppose you want to do business on Spotify. In that case, you will need to create a product every year, especially if you are planning to make a fast food product, because, with time, the price and popularity of this product will decrease, so you will need to create more music every year and buy Spotify plays to stay popular.

[The Krewe of Chew]

I use Spotify when a festival I will be attending puts out a playlist of the artists that will be appearing. I don't know how I would have handled Americanafest without it; there are too many artists I'm not familiar with playing. it's a great way to see whether I want to check out a band live. But if I really like them, I'm going to buy their CD at the show. I'll also listen to some of a new CD to decide whether to purchase.

And that Spotify guy seems like a greedy jerk.

[chopitulas]

That is one thing I have found odd about the vinyl resurgence. Getting rid of CDs initially seemed to be a storage space issue. Vinyl resurfaced after that, as I recall the time frame. If I am not mistaken, storing vinyl takes up a lot more room than CDs...

[cp_deb]

Have had a Spotify subscription for years and love it. The release radar leads me to new music I would never know about or listen to otherwise. I like being able to find and save new tracks and artists ... and thanks for the Negrito tip. Love him!

I also listen to WWOZ, KZAP, KVMR and the Bluegrass Planet on various streaming radio services. So much music, so little time.

[HankAndLeeStamper]

I have a teenage son who is way into hip hop and for him Spotify is a way of life. So we have it. I use it for two purposes. Number 1, I mostly listen to CDs in my car, so if i've already bought a CD, but am home in the mancave, i will often listen on Spotify because, while it isn't much, that way the artist gets paid twice (I buy it, then I stream it). Number 2, since I rarely listen to radio beyond OZ, I will sometimes make a decision on a non-Nola artist by listening on Spotify, if it's as good as I've been led to believe, I then buy it and repeat the process above. Related to that, a third reason i guess, is that right now, for example, the new Fantastic Negrito stuff has some singles on Spotify but the full CD comes out later this month, so I've been doing a little pre-buy listening there. That guy ---- I've never said this before about anyone ---- reminds me so much of Prince, though less fully rounded as an artist at this point in life. One of my favorite "new" artists of the 21st century.