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Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”
301–310 of 861 posts
Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”
#302It's probably true and I find it sad. The best musical experiences I had have been from albums, not single tracks. No more albums every 3/4 years means no more singles leading to the hype of an album nor more meaningful shows around one theme. No more albums means no more ways to put something on for an hour of development and feeling like you're (re)living something that has a beginning and an end while having consi…
That's really not what he said.
The gist of it all - don't got dark for 4 years, unless you're planning to retire.
Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”
#303Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The music isn’t your product, the music is your marketing. The shows, the merch, your influence - that’s your product. Man, that's depressing.
>> The music isn’t your product, the music is your marketing. The shows, the merch, your influence - that’s your product. > Man, that's depressing. If the CEO of an open-source company said, "Software isn't our product, software is our marketing", would you feel the same way?
Kinda, yeah.
I think it's a little sad that you can't write some great software that solves a problem for people and get paid for it anymore. Or at least not as easily as in the past.
The changing business model has a lot of negative externalities, too. Like the temptation to monetize user data instead of monetizing the value of the software directly, and the temptation to push the line on privacy.
Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”
#304Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's orders of magnitude easier to make working software than it is to make a hit record. True, but hardly apples-to-apples; it's orders of magnitude easier to make music than it is to make a viral app. In either case, the barrier to entry is low, the standard for doing it professionally is surprisingly high, and making a hit is a huge undertaking.
As a musician and programmer I find the bar to make money on apps way way lower than on music. Being a good programmer brings you much closer to making money on an app than being a good musician does to get a record out. For one you don't need luck, money and the right contacts to release an app. It isn't even in the same ballpark IMHO. Pro musician is closer to "race driver" than "viral app creator".
There is a musician equivalent of app creator. Where do you think music in TV shows, movies and YouTube comes from. A human musician creates it. Atleast for now...
Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”
#305Earlier quoted context omitted.
I really don't think it does. If you spend 3 months straight on a single (which isn't out of the ordinary for my friends who are still in the scene) you're approaching the same level of time input per song, but you're still on a tighter release schedule.
See, but that's the thing. Many artists don't work in this way where they'd have a major project that is this single to get our in 3 months and that's like me having a sprint deliverable and that's that. They'll write songs when there's inspiration, but maybe nothing for six months after. Then some don't feel right so they get thrown into the bin etc. An album release is very much "when it's ready". Forcing it on a s…
Spotify isn't saying that if an artist doesn't put out material every 3 months they'll be de-ranked. That's absolutely not the idea here. What they're saying is that in the current climate, you have to fight for attention, and rapid, small releases achieve that.
A quick check of Dawn of Solace's Spotify page and tour schedule shows me that they're active but probably not making full-time jobs out of this. And that's absolutely fine. They're doing their thing and probably enjoying it.
The article is saying that to be profitable and relevant, you're going to have to put out more frequent, smaller, rapidly-digestible bits of music. This was a model I applied regularly to death metal and hardcore bands that I worked with during my time in the industry and I can tell you right now- _it works_.
Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”
#306Shameless plug: we recently released an album. Features trombones, vocal harmony, keys, drums, positive lyrics, strings. https://open.spotify.com/album/5x7xJwg3ZkohX8sLcPHe9x
Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”
#307I wish more people, especially tech CEOs, could understand the incredible sacrifice of time, money, and energy it takes to make an album people actually enjoy. Everything you listen to, unless you are willing to listen to raw demos, is a miracle. I've worked both as a sound engineer and and a software developer. It's orders of magnitude easier to make working software than it is to make a hit record. The way tech com…
Ugh I wish that anyone would understand that "just work more" is a HORRIBLE outlook on things.
Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”
#308Earlier quoted context omitted.
How much money? Enough for personal private jets or enough to make a living? If the bar is to simply pay the rent then I still think that musicians can do what they want.
I don't think this subthread is any use when you're just speaking of "musicians" at large being able to pay their rent. You can't put Rammstein in the same league as my friend who would like to make a living in music but realizes that it's unlikely he'll ever make pay-the-rent kind of money from that, simply due to the sheer volume of competition and luck involved (while their music is as good as any song I've heard…
I'd just like to take a second to appreciate that your example of a band with money is Rammstein. Rock on!
Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”
#309Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would disagree. I would instead phrase it as "addressing a need", and with that phrasing, I don't see a clear distinction between software and music.
That is really diluting the difference between art and software, so much so that it's almost comical. I define art as the exploration of emotional expression, and software simply does not fit into that category except in the cases of using software as a tool or mechanism in the exploration. The "need" in creating art is often described by artists in that the act of creation is fulfilling an internal need. Writers, mu…
It is elitist to claim they are not the same.
Software is the product of expression.
Music is the product of expression.
They both can use emotion when creating.
They both can evoke emotion while experiencing.
Who retires first debate: the famous musician or famous programmer is still unsettled.
Classically an artist put themselves in difficult situations in order to grow as a person so the art can say more. Don't be angry at others making money because an artist has choosen a different path.
Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”
#310Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> The music isn’t your product, the music is your marketing. The shows, the merch, your influence - that’s your product. > Man, that's depressing. If the CEO of an open-source company said, "Software isn't our product, software is our marketing", would you feel the same way?
It's not comparable - music is art.
I think some software is certainly also art, such as games.