Interesting, though I wonder what they propose as an alternative for allowing discoverability. Do they just want platforms that give artists better terms, like Bandcamp? Or are they proposing moving away from online platforms altogether, in which case I guess we would go back to radio to find new stuff?
As a consumer, my primary objection to streaming platforms is that you don't own any of the stuff you pay for. That's obviously different to these artists' main objection, but if the solution they propose (whether it's switching to Bandcamp or something else) also addresses that concern I could get on board with it (and will always have sympathy for artists who want a bigger cut vs the middle man).
I do still pay for Spotify despite that objection. I find it provides just enough value to justify the cost. I have found it good for discoverability and, unlike other streaming services, Spotify gives me access to pretty much any music I might like to listen to. (Others with more niche tastes might disagree.)
Not owning what I stream sucks but I listen to a lot of music that I absolutely could not afford to pay $10+ per album for, nor $1-$3 per single for. Fortunately I own Massive Attack from the pre-streaming era but now I really have to go out of my way to listen to King Giz. No hate on either party for dropping the platform and I appreciate the stance being taken, but now I just don’t listen to King Giz because it would involve hoops.
Apple Music gave me a 90 day trial as soon as this Spotify snafu started, and it imported all but maybe 50 of my 5000+ songs from Spotify without issue, including King Gizz. I haven't touched Spotify so far this month, and I think I'm going to cancel it. I would say the music discovery features on Music are worse, but I also haven't tried to use them much yet. (That, and Spotify had gone massively downhill, I'd be lucky to get one or two new songs a month I liked with their recommendation pipeline. Which is a shame, because it used to be one of the best for me.)
That’s missing the point no? It seems to me that the movement in the article is against unlimited music streaming, just as much from Spotify as Apple Music.
Last.fm and similar platforms provide intentional discoverability for people who care enough to put in the work. Only radio and Spotify have provided the unintentional discoverability that I crave.
Way back last fm had a plugin for Spotify and I started finding new music at a rate I haven't since downloading peoples Napster libraries when I wanted just one song, figuring they liked stuff I had a probability of liking as well.
I think having some intentionality and work in discovery is probably the answer to the wave of AI slop songs filling up streaming services which rely on an algorithm just shoving the song in front of people who aren’t paying attention.
As a consumer, my primary objection to streaming platforms is that you don't own any of the stuff you pay for. That's obviously different to these artists' main objection, but if the solution they propose (whether it's switching to Bandcamp or something else) also addresses that concern I could get on board with it (and will always have sympathy for artists who want a bigger cut vs the middle man).
I do still pay for Spotify despite that objection. I find it provides just enough value to justify the cost. I have found it good for discoverability and, unlike other streaming services, Spotify gives me access to pretty much any music I might like to listen to. (Others with more niche tastes might disagree.)