Why Spotify Is Bad
Remember Napster? Remember how everyone went on about how evil it was and how none of us should use it?
Spotify is just as bad. In fact, in many ways Spotify is worse than Napster.
At least Napster was up front about stealing artist’s music. Spotify masquerades as a ‘music service’ when it does nothing but a disservice to musicians and music fans alike.
A Business Insider report from 2020 found artists earn as little as $0.0033 per stream from Spotify and the other streaming services, who all offer very similar compensation. Spotify on the other hand turned over around 3 billion dollars in revenue last quarter, but most musicians with modest streaming activity are struggling to make ends meet.
The fact that despite these huge revenues Spotify still cannot turn a profit is another matter entirely.
Musicians rely on their fans and the music buying public to buy their music and merchandise for an income, without which they would be unable to spend time writing songs and recording them for release. Why should the money generated from this music go to some billionaire CEO’s?
If you can’t buy the music, don’t listen to it.
With literally billions of songs at one’s fingertips it’s easy to forget how much effort went into the music you are listening to. Song writing sessions, playing live to hone one’s craft, touring and travelling in vans up and down the country — the graft that went into that stream is considerable.
With Spotify Etc You Are Merely Renting The Music.
A Spotify subscription is just that, a rental purchase. You never own the music. All those years of paying a subscription and you never actually own any of the music. Doesn’t make sense does it?
Alternatives are available. Bandcamp for example, pay artists on their platform minus 20%, which covers the cost of running and promoting the site — which in turn benefits artists anyway.
Then there’s good old fashioned CD and vinyl purchases, available from the artists’ own website or social media (and Bandcamp!) where the lion’s share of the money goes to the artist. And you own that music forever (with a free digital download in high resolution usually chucked in).
I know where I’d rather spend my money.
So next time you hear a new song you like or a new band comes to your attention, don’t add them to a Spotify playlist — buy the song directly from their website, social media channel or Bandcamp page.
Support your favourite artists, don’t line the pockets of greedy CEO’s who’ve never set foot in a recording studio.
