Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Swedish composer becomes Spotify's most-famous musician you've never heard of

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 90 posts

Re: Swedish composer becomes Spotify's most-famous musician you've never heard of

#41

Post by mihalycsaba »

hobs wrote: post #5
spiderice wrote: post #3

> A “secret” composer who has released music under hundreds of different names has been identified as Sweden’s most-listened-to artist on Spotify – pulling in more plays than Britney Spears or Abba. Wow.. this is sketchy as hell.

The only thing that's sketchy is Spotify directing everyone to the same content, making stuff that appeals to the audience isn't against the rules.

Maybe, this is what people actually want to listen to and the algorithm is just doing what it's supposed to. I see people listening to these no name artists, the most boring unimaginative generic contemporary music. Maybe this guy just really knows what the average listener likes. In my opinion Spotify's algorithm is the best in knowing what I will like and probably will replay, I don't think it would work this well if they were manually directing us towards artists.

Re: Swedish composer becomes Spotify's most-famous musician you've never heard of

#42

Post by kristiandupont »

edu wrote: post #17
hobs wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only thing that's sketchy is Spotify directing everyone to the same content, making stuff that appeals to the audience isn't against the rules.

Agree. Actually I’m feed quite feed up with Spotify, and this week decided to get a proper HiRes audio and buy music from places like BandCamp or the CD edition and ripping it. I miss curating my collection and playlists. It seems that the convenience of having almost all music available in a couple of clicks is making the listening experience less valuable.

I know it's a hipster thing, but if you feel like this, consider getting a record player if you haven't.

I still use Spotify for background music but when I cook or am in another situation where I want to appreciate the music, I put on a record and it feels a lot better. There are a number of psychological effects in play there, like the fact that I am forced to listen to the tracks in the set order, that I've made a commitment by purchasing the record and that it adds atmosphere to the room to have a visibly rotating disc.

Re: Swedish composer becomes Spotify's most-famous musician you've never heard of

#44

Post by pastage »

tolerantgravity wrote: post #12
petesergeant wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there the suggestion that he’s getting a sweetheart deal there? I missed it if so

No, this is just an evidence-free speculative conspiracy theory that is now my new head-canon

There are contracts that have been seen by major news outlets but they have not been confirmed/commented on by Spotify.

Re: Swedish composer becomes Spotify's most-famous musician you've never heard of

#45

Post by falserum »

BriggyDwiggs42 wrote: post #20
andsoitis wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He seems to be essentially releasing content PURELY to make the algorithms light up That’s art.

Wait, isnt that sort of the exact opposite?

I think what parent meant was, all poplar art tries to sarisfy some “algorithm”. (Algorithm of what will masses listen to)

20 years ago that was trying to pick good ratios of bass, haircut, and marketing to get into mtv top ten.

Re: Swedish composer becomes Spotify's most-famous musician you've never heard of

#46

Post by edu »

kristiandupont wrote: post #42
edu wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree. Actually I’m feed quite feed up with Spotify, and this week decided to get a proper HiRes audio and buy music from places like BandCamp or the CD edition and ripping it. I miss curating my collection and playlists. It seems that the convenience of having almost all music available in a couple of clicks is making the listening experience less valuable.

I know it's a hipster thing, but if you feel like this, consider getting a record player if you haven't. I still use Spotify for background music but when I cook or am in another situation where I want to appreciate the music, I put on a record and it feels a lot better. There are a number of psychological effects in play there, like the fact that I am forced to listen to the tracks in the set order, that I've made a…

Yes, I own one already and I’m building my record collection slowly. Also the large artworks are wonderful.

Re: Swedish composer becomes Spotify's most-famous musician you've never heard of

#47

Post by juitpykyk »

publius_0xf3 wrote: post #32

Okay, what is it with Swedes min-maxing their way to the top of pop music? How do they do it? Even Pewdiepie is like another case of chasing algorithmic success.

My conspiracy theory is that the weather is so depressing that you stay inside and make music.

Maybe this also explains UK success in music :)

Re: Swedish composer becomes Spotify's most-famous musician you've never heard of

#48

Post by juitpykyk »

pests wrote: post #26
andsoitis wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He seems to be essentially releasing content PURELY to make the algorithms light up That’s art.

Maybe if it's intentional. Making a statement by hitting the algo buttons. And I'm not saying he's not. But do we call it art if it's fraud? Isn't a lot of HN readers against AI generated spam and SEO spun content? I don't call those art, and I'm not sure yet what to call thos composer.

What's the fraud if people like it?

You are entering into the hundreds year old "what is art" debate.

Re: Swedish composer becomes Spotify's most-famous musician you've never heard of

#49

Post by hhmc »

juitpykyk wrote: post #47
publius_0xf3 wrote: post #32

Okay, what is it with Swedes min-maxing their way to the top of pop music? How do they do it? Even Pewdiepie is like another case of chasing algorithmic success.

My conspiracy theory is that the weather is so depressing that you stay inside and make music. Maybe this also explains UK success in music :)

Why is this conspiratorial? It’s simply a theory, no?

Re: Swedish composer becomes Spotify's most-famous musician you've never heard of

#50

Post by wasmitnetzen »

alexey-salmin wrote: post #21

> How much Röhr, who has worked as a conductor on pop stars’ tours and on TV, has earned from his agreement with Spotify is not known. However, his private company reportedly made 32.7mn kronor (£2.4m) in 2022, when it had a record year. Doesn't look much

Those 32 mSEK is the turnover, not profits. The profits are a mere 27 mSEK.[1] And he runs two more companies[2][3] that made another 21 mSEK.

[1]: https://www.allabolag.se/5569664575/j-pipe-productions-ab

[2]: https://www.allabolag.se/5566338496/j-pipe-music-ab

[3]: https://www.allabolag.se/5593406852/j-pipe-holding-ab

Post reply on HN