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Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

djmag.com

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Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#211

Post by basisword »

kmlx wrote: post #188
basisword wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> we can't cash it until it reaches I think $60 or more iirc This is highly dependent on your distributor. It can be as little as $10. >> Spotify is not (or barely) making money out of our work, but we otoh are "making money" by using its platform and visibility as means to reaching to our small fan base that will finance our work through concerts. This is an odd way to look at it. Without music, Spotify doesn’t exi…

> So Spotify is making money from your music. not really: https://www.statista.com/chart/26773/profitability-developme... > Since the beginning of 2017, the streaming service has generated a positive net balance in eight quarters, two of them in 2021.

I would guess the huge sums they've blown on exclusive podcast deals and the repeated awful unnecessary redesigns go a long way towards that.

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#212

Post by ben_w »

HenryBemis wrote: post #9
paranoidrobot wrote: post #4

I think this is the wrong approach. If they have issues with people abusing the revenue model by publishing white noise and generating fake plays - go after that. However the 1K streams per track thing is going to negatively impact small artists who might have relatively large collections, but few over 1K annual streams. If it's a processing cost issue then make it so that payouts need to meet some reasonable minimum…

> I don't want, and never wanted, Audiobooks or Podcasts or News or other crap on the music app. Regarding Spotify, which I use daily, I also dislike their updates. I remember some months back I could disable/hide "Recommendations". Now in all my (personal & private) playlists I get a list of Recommendations. It's an annoyance because when I scroll fast to reach the bottom "to listen to that one song" it end up surfi…

"Recommendations" never seem even close to what I want, on any platform.

The worst is Facebook (I have friends and family who don't use any other mode for regular contact), where it often behaves as if the ideal way to engage me is, in order of appearance on the timeline:

• "People you may know" (usually devoid of people I've ever even met, and when I do know them they're not people I'm going to add)

• One real post

• A suggestion of a corporation or group to follow

• An advert for something I'm not even capable of getting ("Are you an American living in the UK who wants to renounce their citizenship for tax purposes?" — no on all counts)

• Three more suggestions of a corporation or group to follow

• More ads for things even less relevant than the email spam I got in 1998

--

Even YouTube, where I can recognise the value by comparing what I see when I'm logged in to not logged in, the recommendations are still only 50% useful and 50% dross. (Not logged in it's 98% dross, and yes I did just count 50 items before finding one video I might watch in order to not be a statistic made up on the spot).

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#213

Post by fundatus »

basisword wrote: post #39

This shouldn’t be legal. It’s a massive abuse of power. Small artists need to be on Spotify (pulling their music in protest is not viable and not going to lead to change anyway). What gives Spotify the right to arbitrarily decide “you make so little money it’s not worth our time paying you”? There’s no other business you could get away with this in. Scum.

Seriously, if you're a small artist with less than 1,000 streams per YEAR on your tracks, Spotify (or any streaming service for that matter) is already today not a relevant income stream at all.

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#214

Post by Cthulhu_ »

nonrandomstring wrote: post #205

According to this artist [0] Spotify will be irrelevant soon because infinitely streaming generative AI music will cater to all your "ever changing" desires. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39967745

Cool prediction, but false; AI generated music will be added to the pile of genres.

Honestly there's an existing factory of low effort music being churned out already, AI will become part of that existing pipeline. There will be more music produced, but it won't become mainstream.

Music isn't only about music, it's about the creators and their stories as well. Anyone claiming AI will replace traditional music creation is but a functional consumer. It's the same type that exclusively drinks soylent and wears black turtlenecks to avoid having to think about things or taste anything.

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#215

Post by Cthulhu_ »

epolanski wrote: post #169

I'm not understanding the harsh criticism here. Pretty much all platforms have some kind of soft threshold before paying. This is actually very common in real world as well, e.g. in sales you don't get commissions if you don't meet certain thresholds too.

No same, I don't get it; 1000 streams a year is not an unrealistic goal, and Spotify is flooded with low-effort garbage - and this will get worse with AI generated stuff.

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#216

Post by Manheim »

Paying a nominal amount for each stream is one matter; however, compensating nothing for smaller quantities while you pay for larger amounts presents a fundamentally different issue. This scenario is akin to an author not receiving royalties for the first 1,000 books sold in a bookstore, or a manufacturer not being paid for the first 1,000 candy bars sold at a grocery store. Such practices can be equated with theft. It's perplexing how current legislation permits this.

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#217

Post by TomK32 »

atoav wrote: post #54
snailmailman wrote: post #11

I don’t know much about how music licensing works. But would this cause smaller musicians to decide to pull their stuff off Spotify? I listen to a lot of music on Spotify. And some of it is from smaller indie artists. Not a huge amount, but I’ve definitely listened to songs that are in that It surprises me how much of my Spotify library is no longer available. There’s at least a few dozen songs in my Spotify library…

I am in a small and new band. In 2023 we earned roughly 500 Euros via Bandcamp (digital, physical and merch) 300 Euros selling merch on gigs 2000 Euros playing gigs 20 Cents on Spotify There is no monetary reason to be on spotify, the only reason we are on there is because fans asked.

I buy my music at bandcamp and other sites. I always feel a bit angry if an artists doesn't offer a proper download for their music.

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#218

Post by Cthulhu_ »

logro wrote: post #146

I think "theft" closer describes this rather than "demonetization"

Nah; the artists entered an agreement with Spotify, it's legally on board. If the artist believes Spotify breached contract they can either end it one-sidedly, or try and sue but I'm confident Spotify's side is rock solid.

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#219

Post by meindnoch »

atoav wrote: post #114
runiq wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm intrigued. What's your bandcamp page? :)

Warning — we are probably pretty niche with our noisy music, but here ya go: https://maschinkaput.bandcamp.com/

Nice! Reminds me of Nazoranai.

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#220

Post by TomK32 »

shmageggy wrote: post #189
iamacyborg wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just cancel your Spotify subscription. I did, and now use a combination of Roon and Tidal. I have a much better listening and discovery experience through Roon and artists get paid more with Tidal.

If only Tidal (or Qobuz, or...) would implement a Connect feature that allows me to control my PC desktop from mobile, then I would, but it's been on the "promised features" list for years now. It's a deal-breaker for me.

Did you try KDEConnect?
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