you're summing up a lot of my own thoughts on this topic. I stopped paying for Spotify but continue to use it to create playlists for all the reasons you mentioned, and I pay for Apple and Tidal (and dislike both as a user). Tidal is my main platform now and it's not one that satisfies all of my needs as a music listener OR a curator. Not even close.
The reality? I may go back to paying for Spotify (in addition to paying for the others). In my posts, I link to Bandcamp for all individual artists. Playlists I share are default Spotify with links to all the other platforms, but I may start defaulting to SoundCloud with links to all the others instead.
The fact is that I purchase music on Bandcamp and maybe more importantly, drive a ton of album sales directly on Bandcamp as well because of how much music I recommend. I get messages daily here and on TikTok/Instagram telling me "I bought so many new records because of you." So the feeling that I'm not the average user resonates, even though I know I'm not special or exempt from criticism.
We can send a message with our wallets. Spotify is deplorable. There's no question. But I want to be the best curator I can possibly be, and without it, it takes me many extra hours a week to scour the best music. As somebody who is drowning from 12 hour work days 7 days a week recently to the point of mental collapse sometimes... I'm not going to beat myself up if I end up crawling back.
I'm an addict so I accept sinning in order to get my fix, and I need more and more. Craven but true. My particular jones is jazz, but everyone has their own addiction. The cost even of downloading would cut my listening by a factor of at least ten. My guilt at paying Spotify 10€/month for unlimited access to a vast ocean of music is assuaged by the fact that I regularly attend live music, I do pay for downloads and even the odd CD, and through my Substack and Facebook throw the spotlight on a lot of music, new and old, for a small but equally addicted group of readers. And need I say that I do not listen to Spotify-curated playlists. I make my own! I'll be in a pickle if and when Spotify folds, but there you have it. If all this makes me evil, then I'm evil.
I struggle with Spotify from a curator and listener. I’m researching alternatives but hesitate to pull the trigger b/c other streaming services don’t seem to make much of a difference for artists or fans. Right now, I’m leaning toward Tidal.
While Spotify has definitely seen record gross income annually, they didn’t become profitable in net income until 2024 thanks to layoffs and other efficiency efforts. I wonder if uploading music by fake artists was part of that efficiency strategy? That news is what prompted my search for a new platform. I don’t like a service stealing from artists when they are already earning so little while making so much for the corporation.
you're summing up a lot of my own thoughts on this topic. I stopped paying for Spotify but continue to use it to create playlists for all the reasons you mentioned, and I pay for Apple and Tidal (and dislike both as a user). Tidal is my main platform now and it's not one that satisfies all of my needs as a music listener OR a curator. Not even close.
The reality? I may go back to paying for Spotify (in addition to paying for the others). In my posts, I link to Bandcamp for all individual artists. Playlists I share are default Spotify with links to all the other platforms, but I may start defaulting to SoundCloud with links to all the others instead.
The fact is that I purchase music on Bandcamp and maybe more importantly, drive a ton of album sales directly on Bandcamp as well because of how much music I recommend. I get messages daily here and on TikTok/Instagram telling me "I bought so many new records because of you." So the feeling that I'm not the average user resonates, even though I know I'm not special or exempt from criticism.
I also know that (highlighting Carré's recent piece) Spotify streams are still the gold standard for determining whether labels will even work with an artist in the first place, and that's not going to change any time soon. Music discovery aside, and Spotify has always been my #1 source of excellent new music because I'm actually not being served garbage by the algorithm like many are (I guess being somebody who listens to brand new underground releases constantly has its perks), the fact is that Spotify is still the central metric for artist success. If we aren't there to help their numbers, even though their pay is abysmal if non-existent, that is screwing them over too.
My point is, nothing is actually black and white.
We can send a message with our wallets. Spotify is deplorable. There's no question. But I want to be the best curator I can possibly be, and without it, it takes me many extra hours a week to scour the best music. As somebody who is drowning from 12 hour work days 7 days a week recently to the point of mental collapse sometimes... I'm not going to beat myself up if I end up crawling back.
I'm an addict so I accept sinning in order to get my fix, and I need more and more. Craven but true. My particular jones is jazz, but everyone has their own addiction. The cost even of downloading would cut my listening by a factor of at least ten. My guilt at paying Spotify 10€/month for unlimited access to a vast ocean of music is assuaged by the fact that I regularly attend live music, I do pay for downloads and even the odd CD, and through my Substack and Facebook throw the spotlight on a lot of music, new and old, for a small but equally addicted group of readers. And need I say that I do not listen to Spotify-curated playlists. I make my own! I'll be in a pickle if and when Spotify folds, but there you have it. If all this makes me evil, then I'm evil.
I struggle with Spotify from a curator and listener. I’m researching alternatives but hesitate to pull the trigger b/c other streaming services don’t seem to make much of a difference for artists or fans. Right now, I’m leaning toward Tidal.
While Spotify has definitely seen record gross income annually, they didn’t become profitable in net income until 2024 thanks to layoffs and other efficiency efforts. I wonder if uploading music by fake artists was part of that efficiency strategy? That news is what prompted my search for a new platform. I don’t like a service stealing from artists when they are already earning so little while making so much for the corporation.