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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

#61

Post by znpy »

snailmailman wrote: post #27
jzzskijj wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 that have been taken off the platform. It shows up in the list greyed out. A lot of good songs too. This probably has more to do with publishers and licensing contracts than artists pulling their music off from platforms. Sometimes even bigger artists' albums disappear when publisher is so…

It’s infuriating. Spotify for instance had some Spotify exclusive “DJ mixes” that were all an hour of well-mixed playlists. Spotify got artists to curate them and would have “XYZ’s DJ Mix”. They were perfect for seamless music listening at the gym. No breaks between songs. Non stop music. I listened to them all the time. But one day a few months ago they all just vanished. Every one. I had added several to my Spotify…

Frankly, this is why I always ignored Spotify and other streaming services and keep a jolly roger above my head.

If you had pirated or ripped those mixes off Spotify, you'd still have them. And you probably paid enough months of subscription to feel okay with that.

Because in the end https://xkcd.com/488/

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#62

Post by basisword »

ojosilva wrote: post #51
VS1999 wrote: post #8

How much of an issue is this? Does it work like ad revenue on youtube? If something has under 1k streams I have to assume that was only a few dollars hobbyists get occasionally, if even that.

As a side-gig musician and composer - my wife and I as a matter of fact - this is a non-issue. It's a few bucks a year, maybe $5 to $15, depending if we release some new album. It's symbolic, not even a tip, and we can't cash it until it reaches I think $60 or more iirc. 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…

>> 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 exist. People subscribe to Spotify and listen to their ads in exchange for unlimited music access. So Spotify is making money from your music.

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#63

Post by silisili »

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.

It depends on the amount here, which I'm still not actually sure of.

Lots of companies today only pay you out once you reach $X, usually some nominal amount. It sounds like that could be the case here.

Why deal with payment processors, billing disputes, etc for a customer only earning pennies?

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#64

Post by vvillena »

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…

> There’s at least a few dozen songs in my Spotify library that have been taken off the platform. It shows up in the list greyed out.

As infuriating as this is, it's the reason I still use Spotify. A music service that hides their catalog changes by subtly modifying my playlists is a no-go. Having the songs still appear lets me know, as it gives me the opportunity to find those songs elsewhere.

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#65

Post by countmora »

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 think royalties from <1k streams are basically nothing anyway. Giving up the ability to distribute your music for free and reach more people would be a terrible idea.

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#66

Post by snailmailman »

input_sh wrote: post #57
snailmailman wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s infuriating. Spotify for instance had some Spotify exclusive “DJ mixes” that were all an hour of well-mixed playlists. Spotify got artists to curate them and would have “XYZ’s DJ Mix”. They were perfect for seamless music listening at the gym. No breaks between songs. Non stop music. I listened to them all the time. But one day a few months ago they all just vanished. Every one. I had added several to my Spotify…

You should know: Apple Music filled that niche to perfection. Hands down, better than it ever was on Spotify. More choices, easier discovery, more collaboration with external brands, etc. https://music.apple.com/us/curator/apple-music-dj-mixes/1441...

Interesting! I’ll definitely take a look. I’ve been meaning to try Apple Music.

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#67

Post by xlbuttplug2 »

Minor49er wrote: post #31
Lacerda69 wrote: post #3

And the enshitification begins. Remember that you as users are next. Find a sustainable alternative now. I personally recommend bandcamp + youtube combo. Yt to explore and find new music, Bc to buy the music I enjoy and __own__ it.

Discogs and RYM are great for discovery. Slsk is also still alive and well

sputnikmusic is my go-to.

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#68

Post by whstl »

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.

Similar experiences (but from a few years ago).

Even people who have Spotify end up buying stuff in Bandcamp, anyway. I never had merch but had CDs, and sometimes people would buy two physical copies, one to gift.

For me there was never any difference between Spotify and piracy.

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#69

Post by SSLy »

kredd wrote: post #20
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’m not sure how it can affect those artists given it’s like $0.5 for 1k streams. I mean, I guess if they have 100 songs all at like 999 streams, that’s about $50 loss/year if they never pass that threshold. It sucks obviously, but not enough to for artists to pull out. My understanding is they’re playing a cat-and-mouse game with auto generated content, that syphons away some percentage of the royalties.

I though labels job was to prevent content like that

Re: Spotify demonetizes all tracks under 1k streams

#70

Post by dieselgate »

znpy wrote: post #61
snailmailman wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s infuriating. Spotify for instance had some Spotify exclusive “DJ mixes” that were all an hour of well-mixed playlists. Spotify got artists to curate them and would have “XYZ’s DJ Mix”. They were perfect for seamless music listening at the gym. No breaks between songs. Non stop music. I listened to them all the time. But one day a few months ago they all just vanished. Every one. I had added several to my Spotify…

Frankly, this is why I always ignored Spotify and other streaming services and keep a jolly roger above my head. If you had pirated or ripped those mixes off Spotify, you'd still have them. And you probably paid enough months of subscription to feel okay with that. Because in the end https://xkcd.com/488/

Thanks for the comic link and enjoy the riff off the book title “steal this book”.

Just looked into deleting my Spotify account through the app and appears that’s not an (obvious?) option. Ugh

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