Spotify and the Dark Arts
What your prefects aren’t telling you
Hey, I’m Alex! Sometimes I blog, other times I rap. Feel free to check out my NoiseTrade Page if you get bored. You can download free music, and sign up for more #FreconFriday episodes.
Why didn’t Coldplay want to release Ghost Stories on Spotify? Did Gwenyth Paltrow have too much stake in the company*? There are many hypotheses, but at the end of the day, the band still opted to blacklist the streaming site.
The move made waves — countless blogs covered the snub, defining it as just another example of record labels fighting back against the streaming service and it’s unfair payout. The exact quote was pretty telling —- “Coldplay has decided not to make Ghost Stories available on Spotify and other streaming services.” So money.
All of that got me thinking. I’ve been streaming music for a couple of years now…is this service really that beneficial to the music industry? To me as an artist? Potentially. As a free service to any and all users (myself included?) Not so much. In fact, I think free streaming services like Pandora and Spotify represent the most recent dagger into the filleted heart of the record industry.
So I wrote a really long blog post about how I thought Spotify was taking advantage of content that didn’t belong to them. How they were taking advantage of artists and labels alike, all while still spurning a profit of roughly 60 million a year. I talked about how the record industries weren’t getting enough royalties out of the deal and thus weren’t able to pay their artists. I talked about how the average artist only makes 4-8k for every 1 million streams. I talked about how streaming was murdering the act of the album sale. I spent 4 hours doing it. It was awesome. I had sweet pictures, including the evolution of Bulbasaur and a dolphin jet boat. I don’t feel the need to elaborate much there, pretty straightforward — awesome.
I had this as a closing line:
What if they [major labels] are simply not paying artists? What if they’re making a decent amount of money off of streaming and not passing on the savings? Well, then I would say this; Karma has already taken care of the record industry once, I’m sure it’s happy to do it again.
I thought I was being pretty fair. I mean, basically I was entraining the idea that somehow even in all of this mess, even after the crushing blow of illegal downloading, the record industry was actually just making itself out to be the victim while it was still somehow profiting massively. Nice guy Alex. Being open. Just a formality. Great way to close the post — let’s wrap this bad boy up and get out of here!
As I was putting the finishing touches on my piece de resistance, I was searching for images and stumbled upon this article: http://tapeop.com/blog/2014/06/25/why-and-how-spotify-managed-get-such-low-royalty-r/
AND I THOUGHT TO MYSELF, WELL ISN’T THAT NICE.
To summarize:
In exchange for access to the music catalogs the labels own, Spotify gave the labels Spotify stock. Said stock is sequestered into the labels financial structure in a way that gives artists no access to the proceeds of this deal. Labels then agree to the lowest royalty rate in history, leaving even the biggest artists to collect paltry sums while Spotify and the labels build stock equity on their (the artists’) backs.
I’ve never been a fan of the RIAA. I grew up loathing them. They represented everything I hated about establishment and big business. They were excessive, they were deceptive and they represented collective entities that constantly took advantage of honest, open and genuine artists. I mean, how dick do you have to be to take advantage of an artist? I can assure you, it’s not very difficult to do. I imagine it’s similar to taking candy from a baby, although I’d be quite surprised myself to see a baby eating candy, especially in this day and age of health conscious eating.
However, as I’ve grown, I’ve come to understand their desire to survive as a business has morphed into this innate, venial lust for completely and utter greed. There is no honor among thieves, and the record industry is the biggest Thieves Den I have ever experienced.
But then I started thinking about it a bit more. This is way more than a Thieves Den. Thieves just steal. The kind of deception that these major labels showcase on a constant basis — that’s something far more sinister. It’s reminiscent of this undeniable propensity for evil. For that reason, I have no choice but to make the following statement:
Major labels are Voldemort
Even when they are at their lowest point, major labels continue to utilize all of their strength for pure evil. Even when they are at their weakest, they continue to take advantage of those weaker than them. They continue to manipulate, deceive and destroy. They don’t take the time to reflect, nor do they attempt to change for the better. Instead, like a parasite, they find willing and able hosts to feed off of while they gain strength.
For that reason, I have no choice but to make the following statement:
Spotify is Professor Quirrell
Spotify is just as guilty by association. It too has the capacity for evil, but unlike Voldemort, Spotify doesn’t have the strength or ability to act on its own. It’s merely the host — it provides sustenance while Voldemort can get stronger. This vile, vat of an entity provides no inherent value or contribution to anything aside from being a means to an end. It’s a pathetic vessel of evil: an oil tanker sitting on top of a school of baby dolphins, a Boeing 747 filled with blood diamonds.
So that begs the question. Who is there to stick up for what is good? Who is there to defend against evil, against cowardice and against deception?
You, the artist, are Harry Potter.
You’ve heard all of this before. You’ve got the proverbial scar on your head. And unfortunately, there will come a time, where you must fail. Chances are, you’ve already experienced it. Chances are, you experience it on a daily basis. You kick and claw your way through the social media jungle as you try to turn heads and ears. You put every dollar you have into pushing your content out to the masses. You are your own label. You are alone and no one expects you to succeed because no one is able to help you. You, the artist, must fail so that Voldemort can be weakened. You must fail so that Voldemort can finally be turned into a mortal.
The thing about the exchange of commodities, is that a business is only as strong as its revenue stream. If we as a collective of artists are to do anything to stop this Voldemort of an industry from continuing to Avada Kedavra our fellow friends, we too must suffer.
As painful as it has been to watch indie labels crumble as the album sales bubble popped, and as painful as it has been to watch as the masses translate the ability to download music for free to an entitlement to free music, it continues to be a necessary pain. Artists will have to continue to suffer and continue to have to find their own success, away from major labels, in order to shift the balance of power. The only thing that makes major labels a viable force is their ability to make money. Once that stream is sufficiently threatened, only then will they begin to make changes.
The internet has done a glorious thing for artists, it’s given us freedom. As difficult as it may seem, now is the age for the one man label. You have the ability to produce content, to reach booking agents, to reach press outlets. You can build your own following through traditional grassroots tactics and when you do, you can utilize services like TuneCore to distribute your music on your own. No, it’s not easy doing it on your own, but you can do it and you can be successful at it. More importantly, you’re not entirely on your own. You have other artists, likeminded in their struggle and resolve to connect with. We need to stick together.
So let this serve as your rallying cry. Don’t give up. Keep going. Now, more so than any other time, is your time. You’ve got the Sorcerers Stone. You’re up against Professor Quirrell. Don’t let Voldemort win. Pick up your wand.
