This is a complicated subject. 1) Spotify is co-owner of Distro Kid and gets to dip into that income stream. If they cut off the small artists paying for the service, those artists will start dropping Distro Kid and Spotify will see a sharp reduction from that income stream. I guess doing away with the administrative costs of paying tens of thousands of small artists offsets Spotify's income stream from Distro Kid? 2) Going back to the 1980's artists had to rely on getting record contracts, most of which had very unfavorable terms for artists and left many of them deeply in debt. Otherwise, artists had to rely on open mics at little bars to generate any attention for their music. Later in the '80's, some artists tried selling cassette tapes they recorded on their Tascam PortaStudios at mech tables, or out of the trunks of their cars. 3) What Spotify is doing is already being done by KZread. I believe the threshold for monetization on KZread requires at least 1,000 subscribers. Below that, budding content creators get nothing.

They also just added audiobooks, which gives them a whole new set of people to fuck with.

YUP. More people need to talk about this. Spotify is all about making money for the people who run it, while screwing everyone else. Hopefully Apple and Amazon don't do the same thing. If they don't, they should point that out in their marketing. Every chance they GET.

Are you kidding me?!?! Ugh. Because Spotify isn’t stingy enough already…And yeah, it’s sad to see the age of the album (as a cohesive, intentional collection of music, lovingly created and curated by an artist) go by the wayside in favor of the single era. I miss the days where we went out and spent hard-earned allowance money on an entire record because we loved one song off the radio and the rest of the album was like opening your Christmas stocking. Sigh…

@wonderwheel80s

7 ай бұрын

In my genre, album mentality sticks. And if Spotify doesn't pay me, I'll leave it. Very simple.

Bandcamp, or vinyl for my releases. Vinyl mostly.

@Tiger.Arcade

7 ай бұрын

Respect ✊

yeah it feels just bad

Spotify can EAD

I'm old school. I think all music and art should only be available in hard copy. IP theft is real I've had people steal and claim my work several times.

@Tiger.Arcade

7 ай бұрын

Yikes! Sorry that happened to you

@wonderwheel80s

7 ай бұрын

Yeah, this happened to my mate, multiple times. They even released a CD with his recordings (of music written by him), without even giving him credit, let alone money.

@dankeplace

7 ай бұрын

I've had stuff stolen too, like my virginity, and my heart, which I left in San Francisco. What happens in Frisco, stays in Sisco.

@wonderwheel80s

7 ай бұрын

@@dankeplace well tbh I don't think you could even give your dick away paying.

What are you even talking about? They’re not talking about taking those songs off Spotify. They are talking about not paying for those songs. 1000 streams pays about $3.50. So, for artists who are now going to forgo that payment, they still get a place to play their music for fans and venues for free. Or for whatever distro kid costs. This is not a factor. Nobody is saying “oh my God I spent $5000 making my record and now I’m not going to get my $35 for the 10 songs“. I don’t know why you’re even talking about this. It has no impact on anything. I’m surprised Spotify pays anybody three dollars or less. It cost them more to do it.

@Tiger.Arcade

7 ай бұрын

You must’ve not listened. I never said they were going to take the songs off. And being on Spotify isn’t free. That’s where it is bothersome. Even if you’re getting paid nickels and dimes at least you are getting paid just like everyone else who is a “career-artist”.

@budgetkeyboardist

7 ай бұрын

No, it doesn't. They don't pay anything to CDBaby/DistroKid etc until a set amount is reached. The amount of money is irrelevant. If I took a dollar out of your wallet right now, would you say "It's only a dollar?" The money they steal from small artists annually will add up to millions.

@wonderwheel80s

7 ай бұрын

What are YOU talking about? Why on earth should I give my music away for free? Music making is not free, you know? It costs money and time. Of course they're not taking off songs, they're making money for free! We'll take down music from there, not them! "Nobody is saying “oh my God I spent $5000 making my record and now I’m not going to get my $35 for the 10 songs“. Well, I for one I'm saying that. Show some respect to other people work.

@wonderwheel80s

7 ай бұрын

@@dankeplace If you don't like it, don't listen to It. You freakin' idiot. EDIT: This dankeplace guy insulted me, and then removed his comment.

I posted the official link, but the comment was removed. Anyway, I just wanted to say that if people who has less than 1000 streams for track remove said tracks from Spotify, Spotify will back off, because no one will benefit from that decision. No rocket science, just simple math.

@Tiger.Arcade

7 ай бұрын

Haha this is a fair point. However, I never mentioned they would come after anyone at all. The music will stay up there. Just not receive royalties.

@wonderwheel80s

7 ай бұрын

@@Tiger.Arcade Yeah, of course, and thank you for your video by the way, i forgot that part. I was suggesting WE remove our music from there. No revenue, no point. I'd rather give it for free, without generating revenue for someone else. Just screw them

@Tiger.Arcade

7 ай бұрын

@@wonderwheel80s 💯