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Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”

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Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”

#731

Post by thdrdt »

loudtieblahblah wrote: post #666
shakezula wrote: post #4

I used to work in the music industry professionally, on the ground level doing booking and management. This trend has been happening slowly for nearly a decade but it’s finally here. Rap and Hip Hop figured out a long time before most other genres that rapid small releases was a far better way to keep hype and sales up. Before Spotify was a thing, the shift was happening with YouTube but it wasn’t as predominant. Now…

Except this very model has prevented hip hop from evolving and instead we ended up with mumble rap which feels like a step backwards in multiple ways. Music has become all gimmick, fueled by celebrity gossip and social media bullshit. It's samey as hell and stagnant and lacks innovation.

It doesn't matter. Just listen to what you like.

Even Mozart and Bach made crap music on a bad day.

I think in our time we are very fortunate to have the ability to discover music so easily. Personally I never listen to mainstream music but there is a lot more to discover.

Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”

#732

Post by orthoxerox »

shakezula wrote: post #141
7thaccount wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend once explained this to me a decade ago. I would buy albums, but he would torrent everything. In his eyes, music has shifted to the public domain now. He said the best way to support a band now would be to buy t-shirts and go to as many concerts as you can. I still buy all my albums, but finally see his point. I mean now, all artists have their entire collection of music on YouTube. If everyone almost always…

Your friend was absolutely right. I never cared if people pirated my bands music (or later the bands that I was managing) because the real thing I wanted was them showing up at shows, buying merch, posting us on facebook, asking events to bring us on, etc... At a certain point, Taylor Swift and larger artists _do_ make a good chunk of change from their actual music sales, but it isn't a feasible strategy to rely on t…

The model breaks down for people who write purely electronic music and are thus composers, not performers.

Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”

#733

Post by dnlbtlr »

When it comes to Spotify’s payment model I would rather that my $10 a month be split between the artists I listen to (based on number of plays) rather than the artists only getting $0.006 to $0.0084 for every play. I think for the more niche artists that can’t rack up the plays this model could be more sustainable. Thoughts?

Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”

#734

Post by mnd999 »

Strange interview. As a Spotify customer this doesn’t give me that warm fuzzy feeling about supporting artists. It’s more likely to make me think twice about giving them my money. It’s almost as if he was trying to annoy his artists and his customers. At best it comes across as pretty arrogant.

Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”

#735

Post by AniseAbyss »

shakezula wrote: post #4

I used to work in the music industry professionally, on the ground level doing booking and management. This trend has been happening slowly for nearly a decade but it’s finally here. Rap and Hip Hop figured out a long time before most other genres that rapid small releases was a far better way to keep hype and sales up. Before Spotify was a thing, the shift was happening with YouTube but it wasn’t as predominant. Now…

The 1970s golden age of making a concept album in a French villa doing drugs for two years on the record label's dime are long gone.

Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”

#736

Post by feanaro »

Reimersholme wrote: post #494
pradn wrote: post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if being able to update albums has been a good thing. It may encourage people to release "MVP"s because they can always improve them later. It doesn't quite fit because reviewers will review the first version. For me personally, it has been a negative, because I really loved Tame Impala's Borderline, which was switcheroo'd with a song I don't feel for when the album came out. They even took out the single ve…

There is a very scary thing about digital art where platforms at any time can remove things or silently release a new version. It makes me uncomfortable in the same way as when newspapers online make updates to their articles with no transparent revision history of what was changed and when. The technology just makes it easier though. The Foundations have been trying to erase the original Colin Young version of Build…

So just aggressively back up versions you like as they are released. If you don't save it for yourself, you can't guarantee it won't eventually disappear.

Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”

#737

Post by ksec »

shakezula wrote: post #252
chrisseaton wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I listen to a lot of music but I’d never go to a live show (can’t think of anything worse) and I’m not going to wear a branded t-shirt. How do they capture revenue from people like me in your model? Now I think about it I did once buy a video log of the production of an album. But that’s one artist from the thousands I listen to.

To be honest - they don't. You're not the target demographic for them, and that's fine! But for this approach is optimized for the audience that will wear those shirts, go to those shows, buy the posters, follow them on instagram, etc...

I think these people may still provide some value in the form of Retweet, Gossip, Views, Media, Hype, Clicks that helps marketing. In the world of Social Media just having your name known is better than totally unknown. And will funnel back to other places.

Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”

#738

Post by ksec »

ganfortran wrote: post #671
shakezula wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your friend was absolutely right. I never cared if people pirated my bands music (or later the bands that I was managing) because the real thing I wanted was them showing up at shows, buying merch, posting us on facebook, asking events to bring us on, etc... At a certain point, Taylor Swift and larger artists _do_ make a good chunk of change from their actual music sales, but it isn't a feasible strategy to rely on t…

Even Taylor Swift releases the full new Album on youtube the first day, which is unthinkable even 5 years ago. I think the industry already accept it is the way forward.

>I think the industry already accept it is the way forward.

Yes but this sort of makes me question, if it is on Youtube for free, why are we paying for it on Spotify and Apple Music?

Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”

#739

Post by danparsonson »

sukilot wrote: post #636
egypturnash wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you stop playing the huge AAA games and start playing smaller ones, you see another solution: lower prices for games that can be finished in an amount of time that fits into the busy life of an adult, and very often a grant from a national art fund . Not for American games, of course, we basically destroyed the National Endowment for the Arts, thanks a lot guys.

I prefer art not selected by the government. "Finishing" a game is a weird concept. I don't know anyone who finished chess. Small games aren't necessarily cheaper than big ones; it depends on popularity to sustain a low unit price.

Chess doesn't have a narrative arc - unless I've been playing it wrong

Re: Spotify CEO: musicians can no longer release music only “once every 3-4 years”

#740

Post by feanaro »

bazeblackwood wrote: post #549
tossthere wrote: post #524

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is controversial for some reason, but I don’t think there’s ever been a significant demand or market for music production. The entire notion that musicians get paid to make music is a false premise. There was a market for records, not for music. What people were actually paying for was the technology to play music, and the distribution of music. When that became digitized, no significant market formed around mus…

This isn't "controversial", it's just a kneejerk contrarian position from an armchair expert. It's actually hard to understate the demand for music production. You walk through any major retail store, they're playing music that is generally designed (and proven) to make you purchase more. Advertising, movies, basically any form of audio-visual entertainment would be devoid of life without music. And people demand nov…

I think his comment is insightful and thought-provoking. You might be dismissing it too eagerly. To me, the argument primarily revolves around the notion that music's supply is unquenchable regardless of demand since people naturally want to produce music. They will do it even if there is no financial incentive so there will always be music to listen to.
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