Music

I feel strongly about a lot. It’s a tough world to hold convictions when capitalism is pillaging every facet of a society though.

Spotify, the terrible corporation that they are, unfortunately are the best game in town. But they’re not the only game in town. Last night, Neil Young basically said, “Fuck your shit and platforming of misinformation on a mass-scale. It’s either Young, or Rogan.” Referring to Joe Rogan, the has-been comedian, television host, and now massive podcast host platforming the worst people in the name of “free thinking.” He’s consistently got folks on their spreading misinformation that ends up killing people. Rogan doesn’t care, nor does Spotify under the guise of “free speech.”

So what did Spotify do? They didn’t have to think hard. They checked the numbers, and already knew the answer. Rogan pulls in more listeners (therefore money) globally than anyone on their platform as a podcast. So they chose Rogan. They immediately began removing Neil Young’s music on the platform. Strong stance there.

So what to do? I give Spotify (begrudgingly) $9.99 every month to listen ad-free, skipping what I want, and in order to listen offline in the rare instances I’m out of a connection. I love the algorithm. It feeds me music I love, new releases from artists I love, and I discover a lot of new music because of it.

But as I stated, it’s not the only game in town. I was referred to YouTube music. Admittedly, I knew little about it aside from when it was initially released. But now a few years later, it rivals Spotify in its abilities. It does all the same stuff. Algorithms feeding me stuff based on my likes, playlists, streaming on my phone etc. Ad free costs a few dollars more, but I’ll gladly pay it.

Now, YouTube is owned by Google, parent company ABC. Are they any fucking better than Spotify? Not at all. But Spotify touts, and has ALWAYS touted itself as the ultimate artist’s platform. Yet, it has never once paid artists what they deserve for how much they make on advertisements because of the the artist’s music. Daniel Ek makes millions a year. The company rakes in an absurd amount, which all gets excused by claiming it makes nothing after paying out to publishing companies for the rights. Bullshit. Total Bullshit.

Spotify has only grown in size over the last five years, yet no artist (except those massive ones signing equally bullshit deals) has seen an increase in royalty rate.

So this morning I took a stand with many others. Will it do much? Probably not. If a dozen or so other major artists took a stand, maybe something would be done. But I’m under no illusion Spotify will change anything. That being said, for now? I won’t be sending money to a company enabling “free-thinking” moronic, drug-addled meathead Neanderthals like Rogan.

But as I said, new boss, same as the old boss. So it’s all fucked. But I can sleep at night.