My wife and I are full time musicians and have decided not to release our new album on audio only streaming platforms. None of them pay the artist fairly and if people want to listen to or music they will have to pay for the vinyl, CD or unlimited streaming and downloads from Bandcamp. I wrote a little piece on Substack about our dilemma: https://vibes.starlite-campbell.com/p/to-stream-or-not-to-stream
Our new record - including the production of physical product - cost around 10,000 Euro. We have our own analogue studio so there were no recording costs apart from depreciation and energy. When writing & recording we have to fund our living costs.
We choose this life - and overall its brilliant - but I have been a full time musician for 49 years and never known it as bad as this. People are losing their sense of value for music and have no appreciation of how much it costs to make a record. If there is an answer, I would love to hear it.
A lot of them DESERVE to be fired. They fucked up decades of stability and consistency in entertainment providing in North America and expect to be PAID for it? Fuck that.
Great and insightful article. Being "out of touch" I think is the key. It has amazed me throughout my career how people who have no passion about the business they are in, end up running the show.
Music is one of humanity's greatest gifts. It was given to us by a superordinate source and the great composers and musicians knew what to do with it. They made a living from it and shared it. It is a damn shame to see it as another commodity to be bought and sold as mere content.
What are your thoughts on what's next for discovery for those who do like music? Also, I'm noticing a rise in 'acoustic' things 'acoustic techno' for example... AI can't do any of that. Will people seek out what only people can do?
Jul 29, 2023·edited Jul 29, 2023Liked by Ted Gioia
Great article Ted. Loved the Hollywood strike reference. It struck a chord with me on many levels. #1. I work in Hollywood and the strike has me and my peers unemployed since May if not longer. #2 It deals with a confusing topic I’m trying to sort through… Ai, and societal needs vs corporate propensity.
I work in the art departments of film and TV, creating sets, props, murals, and etc. Recently I’ve been asked by my supervisors and bosses to use Ai in my art. I took a dive into Ai and had it create a design. In 30 seconds it finished a project and to my dismay, it looked great. No joke. I’ve never felt more dejected. My entire life, I’ve been studying design, art, techniques, history and culture in order to be a competitive and talented employee. I do that so I can profit and also, my company can profit from my skills. We all do this. We all have degrees, stay on top of techniques, education and trends in order to remain relevant. But now, what are we getting in return? The answer to me, seems like abandonment.
It’s such a convoluted and confusing topic. I know we the people, are getting the short, splintery, weathered end of the stick, while simultaneously being told, it’s the best part of the stick. I’m TOLD I’ve got this great product called Spotify, Apple Music, latest-greatest smart phone or _________ (Fill in the blank) but the reality is, we are being replaced, our needs are not being met and most of the products we buy have designed obsolescence built into it. I know Spotify and Apple Music are somewhat benign examples... but there are much more serious topics, education, workforce replacement, and something I’ll call lopsided economics. Where you enter into a relationship with an entity (company, product or whatever) and the vast majority of profits, benefits, data, and etc go to one party and it’s not us the consumer. This is a bad relationship, if was a marriage or a friendship, it would be doomed. It seems like companies have more legal rights and are more important than the people who comprise them.
How do we stop a paradigm workforce shift that is vastly faster, waiting in the wings, just as good and works for a fraction-of-a-fraction of the price? Combine that with a company's insatiable desire for the biggest return at the lowest cost, AND annex a society which now relies on that companies' products for survival, entertainment, education and more and we have a recipe for irrelevance.
I know somehow, this lopsided economic system, societal needs, corporate greed, designed product obsolescence and advent of Ai are all tied together to keep giving us the short, dirty, rotten, lousy Spotify recommendations - end of the stick. There is no need for companies to listen or change. Why should they? They have all the leverage they need, they have two hands, firmly griping the long end of the stick.
My apologies for the long rant… your article really hit home. Love reading your posts.
Want to love music again? Beyond the excellent recommendations Ted makes on this Substack, here are two other sources for falling in love again: Bandcamp and community-based radio stations. Two that are available online: KXCI and WERU. Human DJ's and unpredictable playlists.
I'm still looking for someone to explain how companies can be in the red for staggering sums month after month, year after year. Oh I know the answers, but they really don't explain anything. When did banks ever behave like this before? And there are more of these companies than ever, the problem gets worse instead of so-called very serious people asking a sane CFO or math professor, does any of this make any sense to you?
None of this shall end well. And the people who get fucked are the average joes and janes who have a solid resume and credit history and need a loan because almost nobody outside the 1 or 0.1 percent can pay cash for a home or new car.
Tangentially we have a serious problem. Revolutions are never led or sustained by the masses. They're too disorganized, the elites are the ones who have those skills. Usually the disgruntled ones who aren't allowed into the halls of power. So when they take over, nothing really ever changes.
None of it really matters because climate change will solve a lot of this for us, one way or another. Almost nobody will be pleased with the result. And there ain't a damn thing you can do about it either.
I switched to Tidal and paid twice as much as the other services because they promised to send more money to the artists I listened to. Then they said that model was broken and they were going to send money to up and coming artists who don't get a lot of plays. Ergo, my ability to direct my money disappeared. I left the highest tier and now pay what the other services ask for. Chaos.
More high profile bands need to leave the streamers. I’m in a low profile band (read “unknown”) and will not continue allowing my work to be distributed on the big platforms. Nobody is going to be particularly moved by my decision! But if more well known artists would step up like Neil Young did and ditch the streamers, it might help a little.
I genuinely believe the current streaming model is causing serious cultural damage. At a minimum it would be good if they’d switch to a pro rata payout model to the artists. I’m not holding my breath.
Thanks for this piece. I look forward to the collapse of Spotify like I’m a French peasant in 1789.
I’ve been a Pandora listener for more that 20 years! Artist information is always front and center and I get to curate my feed. I learn about So many artists this way. I think they are too cheap and I would in fact pay more if they ask me to. No other service can touch them, and they’ve spoiled me for anything else.
I use Qobuz mostly. I got the email from Spotify about the price increase. I realized I hadn’t used it in a very long time. I will cancel it. One of the problems with Spotify is they can’t integrate with Roon which I use extensively at home. Tidal and Qobuz are integrated. I used to use both but noticed I spent most of my streaming time on Qobuz. If you want a good background music in curated form, try Radio Paradise. They are listener supported and have multiple channels, they call mixes, that are quite good.
I have noticed a severe expansion AI generated content showing up on my YouTube suggestions list. At first, I thought that some of these were just the most incredibly boring YouTubers, then I realized that the script used repetitive awkward phrasing and only a moderately convincing text to speech system. I have begun selecting the option of telling YouTube not to recommend the specific channels anymore. This is becoming absurd. I don't want bland AI generated nonsense, I need a vigorous human mind guiding the stories, the videos, and the music. Go ahead and spend your money Disney, Netflix, etc. You are not going to do anything but accelerate your losses.
I left Spotify for good when the news of the CEO investing in “intelligent weapons” broke. Although him calling Spotify “the product” when the product is THE MUSIC had already ticked me off. I was also tired of hearing the same damn songs on every playlist, which started to happen when they introduced personalized genre playlists. I also hated the app. I switched to Apple Music and the app is not a whole lot better. The search is terrible. But - surprise - the music is better! I’ve actually discovered some artists in the genres I listen to. Still, it could be so much better…
My wife and I are full time musicians and have decided not to release our new album on audio only streaming platforms. None of them pay the artist fairly and if people want to listen to or music they will have to pay for the vinyl, CD or unlimited streaming and downloads from Bandcamp. I wrote a little piece on Substack about our dilemma: https://vibes.starlite-campbell.com/p/to-stream-or-not-to-stream
Our new record - including the production of physical product - cost around 10,000 Euro. We have our own analogue studio so there were no recording costs apart from depreciation and energy. When writing & recording we have to fund our living costs.
We choose this life - and overall its brilliant - but I have been a full time musician for 49 years and never known it as bad as this. People are losing their sense of value for music and have no appreciation of how much it costs to make a record. If there is an answer, I would love to hear it.
A lot of them DESERVE to be fired. They fucked up decades of stability and consistency in entertainment providing in North America and expect to be PAID for it? Fuck that.
Great and insightful article. Being "out of touch" I think is the key. It has amazed me throughout my career how people who have no passion about the business they are in, end up running the show.
Music is one of humanity's greatest gifts. It was given to us by a superordinate source and the great composers and musicians knew what to do with it. They made a living from it and shared it. It is a damn shame to see it as another commodity to be bought and sold as mere content.
What are your thoughts on what's next for discovery for those who do like music? Also, I'm noticing a rise in 'acoustic' things 'acoustic techno' for example... AI can't do any of that. Will people seek out what only people can do?
Great article Ted. Loved the Hollywood strike reference. It struck a chord with me on many levels. #1. I work in Hollywood and the strike has me and my peers unemployed since May if not longer. #2 It deals with a confusing topic I’m trying to sort through… Ai, and societal needs vs corporate propensity.
I work in the art departments of film and TV, creating sets, props, murals, and etc. Recently I’ve been asked by my supervisors and bosses to use Ai in my art. I took a dive into Ai and had it create a design. In 30 seconds it finished a project and to my dismay, it looked great. No joke. I’ve never felt more dejected. My entire life, I’ve been studying design, art, techniques, history and culture in order to be a competitive and talented employee. I do that so I can profit and also, my company can profit from my skills. We all do this. We all have degrees, stay on top of techniques, education and trends in order to remain relevant. But now, what are we getting in return? The answer to me, seems like abandonment.
It’s such a convoluted and confusing topic. I know we the people, are getting the short, splintery, weathered end of the stick, while simultaneously being told, it’s the best part of the stick. I’m TOLD I’ve got this great product called Spotify, Apple Music, latest-greatest smart phone or _________ (Fill in the blank) but the reality is, we are being replaced, our needs are not being met and most of the products we buy have designed obsolescence built into it. I know Spotify and Apple Music are somewhat benign examples... but there are much more serious topics, education, workforce replacement, and something I’ll call lopsided economics. Where you enter into a relationship with an entity (company, product or whatever) and the vast majority of profits, benefits, data, and etc go to one party and it’s not us the consumer. This is a bad relationship, if was a marriage or a friendship, it would be doomed. It seems like companies have more legal rights and are more important than the people who comprise them.
How do we stop a paradigm workforce shift that is vastly faster, waiting in the wings, just as good and works for a fraction-of-a-fraction of the price? Combine that with a company's insatiable desire for the biggest return at the lowest cost, AND annex a society which now relies on that companies' products for survival, entertainment, education and more and we have a recipe for irrelevance.
I know somehow, this lopsided economic system, societal needs, corporate greed, designed product obsolescence and advent of Ai are all tied together to keep giving us the short, dirty, rotten, lousy Spotify recommendations - end of the stick. There is no need for companies to listen or change. Why should they? They have all the leverage they need, they have two hands, firmly griping the long end of the stick.
My apologies for the long rant… your article really hit home. Love reading your posts.
Thanks for being quality and not being Ai!
Remain Humane!
Want to love music again? Beyond the excellent recommendations Ted makes on this Substack, here are two other sources for falling in love again: Bandcamp and community-based radio stations. Two that are available online: KXCI and WERU. Human DJ's and unpredictable playlists.
I'm still looking for someone to explain how companies can be in the red for staggering sums month after month, year after year. Oh I know the answers, but they really don't explain anything. When did banks ever behave like this before? And there are more of these companies than ever, the problem gets worse instead of so-called very serious people asking a sane CFO or math professor, does any of this make any sense to you?
None of this shall end well. And the people who get fucked are the average joes and janes who have a solid resume and credit history and need a loan because almost nobody outside the 1 or 0.1 percent can pay cash for a home or new car.
Tangentially we have a serious problem. Revolutions are never led or sustained by the masses. They're too disorganized, the elites are the ones who have those skills. Usually the disgruntled ones who aren't allowed into the halls of power. So when they take over, nothing really ever changes.
None of it really matters because climate change will solve a lot of this for us, one way or another. Almost nobody will be pleased with the result. And there ain't a damn thing you can do about it either.
I switched to Tidal and paid twice as much as the other services because they promised to send more money to the artists I listened to. Then they said that model was broken and they were going to send money to up and coming artists who don't get a lot of plays. Ergo, my ability to direct my money disappeared. I left the highest tier and now pay what the other services ask for. Chaos.
"Joan Is Awful", the first episode of Black Mirror Season 6, predicted all of this.
More high profile bands need to leave the streamers. I’m in a low profile band (read “unknown”) and will not continue allowing my work to be distributed on the big platforms. Nobody is going to be particularly moved by my decision! But if more well known artists would step up like Neil Young did and ditch the streamers, it might help a little.
I genuinely believe the current streaming model is causing serious cultural damage. At a minimum it would be good if they’d switch to a pro rata payout model to the artists. I’m not holding my breath.
Thanks for this piece. I look forward to the collapse of Spotify like I’m a French peasant in 1789.
Definitely a malaise in culture, entertainment and politics. So many incompetent people in charge and even more so in middle management.
Your “hot and cool” theory is great and along with Peter Turchin explains a lot of what is going on.
I’ve been a Pandora listener for more that 20 years! Artist information is always front and center and I get to curate my feed. I learn about So many artists this way. I think they are too cheap and I would in fact pay more if they ask me to. No other service can touch them, and they’ve spoiled me for anything else.
I use Qobuz mostly. I got the email from Spotify about the price increase. I realized I hadn’t used it in a very long time. I will cancel it. One of the problems with Spotify is they can’t integrate with Roon which I use extensively at home. Tidal and Qobuz are integrated. I used to use both but noticed I spent most of my streaming time on Qobuz. If you want a good background music in curated form, try Radio Paradise. They are listener supported and have multiple channels, they call mixes, that are quite good.
I have noticed a severe expansion AI generated content showing up on my YouTube suggestions list. At first, I thought that some of these were just the most incredibly boring YouTubers, then I realized that the script used repetitive awkward phrasing and only a moderately convincing text to speech system. I have begun selecting the option of telling YouTube not to recommend the specific channels anymore. This is becoming absurd. I don't want bland AI generated nonsense, I need a vigorous human mind guiding the stories, the videos, and the music. Go ahead and spend your money Disney, Netflix, etc. You are not going to do anything but accelerate your losses.
I left Spotify for good when the news of the CEO investing in “intelligent weapons” broke. Although him calling Spotify “the product” when the product is THE MUSIC had already ticked me off. I was also tired of hearing the same damn songs on every playlist, which started to happen when they introduced personalized genre playlists. I also hated the app. I switched to Apple Music and the app is not a whole lot better. The search is terrible. But - surprise - the music is better! I’ve actually discovered some artists in the genres I listen to. Still, it could be so much better…