Spotify Saved the Music Industry (But Not Necessarily Musicians)
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Spotify Saved the Music Industry (But Not Necessarily Musicians)
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Re: Spotify Saved the Music Industry (But Not Necessarily Musicians)
#2The long tail is dead. The algorithm that was supposed to help you find it has killed it instead.
Re: Spotify Saved the Music Industry (But Not Necessarily Musicians)
#3It seems to me like musicians have always been in a precarious relation to the economy, same as all other artists. The only difference is that for a brief time in the 20th century the average person was willing to spend money on music, unlike every other time in human history.
Nothing will ever stop people from making music, and 99% of working musicians are making a meager living doing what they enjoy, just like always.
Re: Spotify Saved the Music Industry (But Not Necessarily Musicians)
#4The long tail is dead. The algorithm that was supposed to help you find it has killed it instead.
The long tail is more alive than ever, but algorithms have always been a bad way to find it. Instead, listen to personal recommendations on web forums etc. There are people who are passionate about any obscure micro-genre you can imagine, and they'll point you to the best of it. Bandcamp and Soundcloud are full of long tail music that's completely ignored by the mainstream music industry.
Re: Spotify Saved the Music Industry (But Not Necessarily Musicians)
#5The long tail is dead. The algorithm that was supposed to help you find it has killed it instead.
Yeah, load in all your varied collection of interesting indie tunes and watch them spit out modern pop covers as recommendations. It's surreal... almost like the training set was, "what will.make us the most money to promote?"
Re: Spotify Saved the Music Industry (But Not Necessarily Musicians)
#6The long tail is dead. The algorithm that was supposed to help you find it has killed it instead.
The long tail is more alive than ever, but algorithms have always been a bad way to find it. Instead, listen to personal recommendations on web forums etc. There are people who are passionate about any obscure micro-genre you can imagine, and they'll point you to the best of it. Bandcamp and Soundcloud are full of long tail music that's completely ignored by the mainstream music industry.
It's interesting, I've gone back to Spotify from Apple Music primarily because I can easily find more interesting playlists from curators.
I don't think Spotify has any kind of special algorithmic sauce, they just make it easy for people create and share playlists.
It amazes me how most of the other streaming services try to turn everything into an algorithm, via "special radio" stations, etc. And yet, the best way to provide a long tail for music still seems to be basic web 2.0 - let the people make the content for you.
Re: Spotify Saved the Music Industry (But Not Necessarily Musicians)
#7As an amateur musician I still make most of my monthly sales from iTunes. Streaming pays so little, unless you're a big name – which incentivizes the big labels while squeezing the smaller artists.
Early platform like Lala (bought by Apple) had a cool model – $0.10 per song, but you can only stream it. Ownership was still there, and artists were paid equally per sale.
Nevertheless, getting your music distributed is easier today than ever, and I'm sure all artists are grateful for that.
Re: Spotify Saved the Music Industry (But Not Necessarily Musicians)
#8The long tail is dead. The algorithm that was supposed to help you find it has killed it instead.
Can you substantiate this? Based on conversations with musicians I know in that long tail, seems like it's helped them get discovered but they're not earning a livable wage from it. It's not clear to me that they'd be any better off in the absence of Spotify, although I don't have strong convictions either way.
Re: Spotify Saved the Music Industry (But Not Necessarily Musicians)
#9The long tail is dead. The algorithm that was supposed to help you find it has killed it instead.
Yeah, load in all your varied collection of interesting indie tunes and watch them spit out modern pop covers as recommendations. It's surreal... almost like the training set was, "what will.make us the most money to promote?"
I've always found the opposite, in that Spotify points me toward music I'm sure they are paying almost nothing for.
Re: Spotify Saved the Music Industry (But Not Necessarily Musicians)
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
The long tail is more alive than ever, but algorithms have always been a bad way to find it. Instead, listen to personal recommendations on web forums etc. There are people who are passionate about any obscure micro-genre you can imagine, and they'll point you to the best of it. Bandcamp and Soundcloud are full of long tail music that's completely ignored by the mainstream music industry.
It's interesting, I've gone back to Spotify from Apple Music primarily because I can easily find more interesting playlists from curators. I don't think Spotify has any kind of special algorithmic sauce, they just make it easy for people create and share playlists. It amazes me how most of the other streaming services try to turn everything into an algorithm, via "special radio" stations, etc. And yet, the best way t…
In my humble opinion all discovery algorithms with all large providers are terrible. Instead of expanding they narrow down choices and never surprise me in a good way like some human curated playlist can.
I had been switching between Apple Music, Spotify and Google Music in different countries. Currently I have settled on Google Music simply because Google practically abandoned Google Music so they are not so in my face with curated playlists and stations.
On the other hand I think that there is opportunity for good (like in really working) AI engine for music recommendations.