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How Spotify Killed Lo-Fi Hip Hop

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Re: How Spotify Killed Lo-Fi Hip Hop

#101

Post by bane »

nluken wrote: post #60

I would highly recommend that folks read Liz Pelly's Mood Machine , which is referenced here via the Harper's excerpt, not just because it shows artists' perspectives on the long tail model that tech pitched to them, but because it can be read as an indictment of the platform model that increasingly dictates how we engage with art and society at large. Pelly's account really gets to the heart of the problem: these pl…

The "post-radio" world is a weird one. An algorithm selecting songs for streaming audio just isn't the same as the kind of curated-for-genre/channel experience that radio used to provide. Sure songs would get overplayed, but radio also did a pretty good job of keeping that absolute tripe off the air. Good radio stations would also surface good local bands and cater to regional tastes.

As much as I love the fact that teens these days are growing up with the same songs I grew up with as a teen, I also view it as a problem. The shared cultural experience that radio generated was powerful.

We're lost somewhat in quantity now and there's really nobody who's helping form and shape taste. An algorithm might find similar songs based on musical features, but the same sounding song over and over is boring. AI just makes more boring songs because it's largely looking to replicate popular song features as well. This can be passable for purely background music meant to fill space with non-distracting sound, but is terrible for active listening.

Radio was good at mixing in variety within the confines of the genre and audience expectations. Heck, many channels use to program to support the mood during the commute and work hours, and outside of those main audience times would allow the DJs to get a little wild sometimes. Growing up the only place you could catch early EDM was on weekend late-night broadcasts on the local alt-rock station.

It's not like radio of a sort does still exist - just download the GNOME Shortwave client and you can drown in channels there. It's just not powered by the marketing that supports Spotify.

edit - I think it's interesting that the comments I'm seeing below this so far are talking about recent radio. I should have been more clear. In the U.S. markets at least Radio "died" during a great consolidation wave in the earl 2000s when Clearchannel and a few other media companies slurped up all the local channels, switched their formats and started playing consolidated playlists.

It really did used to be the case that your local station DJs were local brands, each with their own curation of songs. Some stations would even have local music festivals and were big promoters of local talent. I spent many evenings calling up the local station to request songs to be slipped into the playlist, sometimes to promote somebody I knew and get them some airtime.

Re: How Spotify Killed Lo-Fi Hip Hop

#102

Post by Minor49er »

roywiggins wrote: post #45
perfmode wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d love a way to directly Cash app or Zelle my favorite artist

You kind of can with Bandcamp's "pay this much or more " model, though obviously there's a substantial percentage taken.

Bandcamp docks 15% for revenue share and charges a payment processor fee. Someone recently paid $4.00 for an album I published and Bandcamp gave me $3.15 of it

Re: How Spotify Killed Lo-Fi Hip Hop

#103

Post by ToucanLoucan »

avidiax wrote: post #50
thatguy0900 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rich people seem to be content with building a luxurious emergency bunker in new Zealand and then just rolling the dice on whether the world will go to shit or not. The only conclusion I can really come to is that they know the world will be going to shit no matter what they do or something.

Rich people have a prisoner's dilemma if they are sufficiently self-aware. Maximum individual wealth and profit will come from maximally embracing AI. But if everyone does that, they are indeed rolling the dice on whether they'll instead be eating canned beans in New Zealand instead of upgrading their 150ft. yacht to a 155ft. yacht.

> sufficiently self-aware

You look at people like Bezos, Musk and Zuck and tell me they have a shred of self-awareness.

Re: How Spotify Killed Lo-Fi Hip Hop

#104

Post by goosejuice »

mns wrote: post #75
portaouflop wrote: post #70

Spotify is a blight upon music and it would be better for our culture if it would cease to exist - I have been boycotting these vultures and culture-vampires since day one but apparently I’m a big weirdo Luddite for that. Buy music directly from the artist or on bandcamp, stop supporting Spotify if you give a shit about music

Without Spotify and the rest of the streaming services most of the people would just pirate music. I would probably spend less on music than I do now on Spotify per year.

They also wouldn't know about many of the artists in the first place.

Re: How Spotify Killed Lo-Fi Hip Hop

#105

Post by itsoktocry »

calibas wrote: post #56

> For Japanese soundtrack producer Nujabes, the “lofi” sound wasn’t an aesthetic choice. It was an artifact of creating such forward thinking music with the dusty equipment from 20 years ago. I trying to figure out where the author got this from? Audio hardware/software hasn't changed that much in 20 years, and Nujabes' lofi aesthetic seems intentional. According to Wikipedia, it originated from an effect button on R…

>I trying to figure out where the author got this from?

I laughed at this too. Oh yeah, back in 2005 there was no way to get good sound from that dusty old equipment.

I mean, some of the best sounding albums of all time are 50+ years old.

Re: How Spotify Killed Lo-Fi Hip Hop

#106

Post by ta8645 »

pixl97 wrote: post #81
ta8645 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Money flows to the things people want. The real housewives, the view, twilight, etc. Hell people make millions simply playing video games on twitch. But nobody is owed an income for doing something they love. The question you should be asking, is how do you increase demand for the things you value? How do you make people want the thing you have to offer. Musicians, comedians, and other artists who figure out that ans…

The key to doing nearly nothing and getting rich is to start out rich and then invest. The problem is not being 'owed' an income. The problem comes in when there end up being a class of people that can't make a living doing anything. When this class becomes too large bad things tend to happen. Be it government enabled purges or the masses breaking out guillotines or riots burning entire cities down. I, an invested me…

> I, an invested member in the continuation of society, would like a rather non-violent world to be in our future.

Of course, but we don't get there following fantasies. The truth is, through most of human history, most people were peasants eking out the most meager of lives. Often dying of disease in childhood, or at least well before their 30th birthday.

The problem is not poverty today.

By all realistic measures, nearly every single person in America (even those living on the street) is wealthier than most of our ancestors. The problem isn't even wealth inequality, since that's always existed as well, (and probably always will since it seems impossible to devise a political system that is durable and corruption proof).

The problem is unrealistic desires and a fantasy that everyone can live a rich life unconstrained by material limitations. The incredible wealth that Americans had enjoyed post WWII (arguably at the expense of much of the rest of the world) has set up unattainable expectations in people.

That's not to say we can't do better, but we need to reframe the entire problem and set it in the context of human history, not the last few hundred years of unsustainable growth.

Re: How Spotify Killed Lo-Fi Hip Hop

#107

Post by 999900000999 »

cool_dude85 wrote: post #85
999900000999 wrote: post #41

>The Lofi style itself is nothing new, Lofi beats bear a striking resemblance to instrumental hip hop of the 90s and 2000s. Lofi IS instrumental hip hop. Dilla was doing this in the 90s.

It's probably better to say that lofi is a genre or type of instrumental hip hop. You wouldn't listen to e.g. Endtroducing... on the lofi girl stream.

The way this was phrased made me disregard the rest of the article.

It comes off as someone who's ignorant of the topic they're writing about.

Re: How Spotify Killed Lo-Fi Hip Hop

#108

Post by myself248 »

lanstin wrote: post #93
echoangle wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much background music do you realistically need though? If there's a few thousand hours, would you notice if it repeated at some point? (Assuming the general style of the genre is staying similar and you don't listen to specific songs you discovered but just put on some collection of songs from the genre.) Is there new elevator music being composed all the time too?

The rebellious authentic music from the current middle-aged or old people's youth is todays elevator music. I've heard the Pink Floyd's the Wall being played at a soothing volume in the grocery store as I tried to find lactose free milk for my adult children's visit.

Out on the road today, I saw a deadhead sticker on a Cadillac. A little voice inside my head said, "Don't look back. You can never look back."

Re: How Spotify Killed Lo-Fi Hip Hop

#109

Post by Gud »

bane wrote: post #101
nluken wrote: post #60

I would highly recommend that folks read Liz Pelly's Mood Machine , which is referenced here via the Harper's excerpt, not just because it shows artists' perspectives on the long tail model that tech pitched to them, but because it can be read as an indictment of the platform model that increasingly dictates how we engage with art and society at large. Pelly's account really gets to the heart of the problem: these pl…

The "post-radio" world is a weird one. An algorithm selecting songs for streaming audio just isn't the same as the kind of curated-for-genre/channel experience that radio used to provide. Sure songs would get overplayed, but radio also did a pretty good job of keeping that absolute tripe off the air. Good radio stations would also surface good local bands and cater to regional tastes. As much as I love the fact that…

I couldn't disagree more.

Most radio stations only played the most blandest junk music, even from great artists. Seems they would rotate the top 3 songs even from the absolute most popular musicians. I must have heard Fear of the Dark by Iron Maiden >500 times on the rock stations in Stockholm. The Prowler? 0. Maybe some 3am DJ could play some cool songs on occasion, like you said.

There was always very little variety.

Re: How Spotify Killed Lo-Fi Hip Hop

#110

Post by Gud »

goosejuice wrote: post #95
nluken wrote: post #60

I would highly recommend that folks read Liz Pelly's Mood Machine , which is referenced here via the Harper's excerpt, not just because it shows artists' perspectives on the long tail model that tech pitched to them, but because it can be read as an indictment of the platform model that increasingly dictates how we engage with art and society at large. Pelly's account really gets to the heart of the problem: these pl…

I will read that but... I'm so tired of this anti-Spotify crap. Artists and listeners are free not to use it, just as they are free not to use Tidal, SoundCloud, bandcamp, YouTube, etc. It's a platform and the market is free. If it's not working out for you find a different way to market yourself. It's not like top 40 or the Grammys are fair either. Art isn't a fair industry and never will be. How many amazing artist…

Agreed. it's not like we have to choose. I find Spotify to be pretty good if you want to listen to the rock classics and adjacent music(b-sides).

If you want to discover new music, YouTube Music and SoundCloud seem superior.

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