Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist | 
pick#tuesdaytunes @TieDyeDude
I always felt a little guilty for using Spotify given the little to no pay that artists receive. But Pelly's book details a long list of other problematic behavior. I never listen to the Spotify-made lists much, but they are a huge part of their business model. Artists get added to them based on less than transparent ways involving their record labels or sometimes from the artists themselves paying for the privilege 👇
Billypar Or some artists agree to make generic 'chill vibes' music for small amounts of money and without their identity linked, which supplants authentic ambient artists from playlists. And if all that's not bad enough, there's a whole phony music pseudoscience underlying all this that tries to identify the least offensive, most homogeneous music possible to promote while generating ever increasing fake subgenre labels to trick people into thinking 👇 3d
Billypar they've discovered some kind of new, niche musical scene that doesn't exist. The whole thing is demoralizing, and it sounds like Spotify's employees who may have joined out of a genuine love of music are becoming increasingly disillusioned with their tech-bro leadership. I may be too addicted to delete my account, but this definitely reminded me of how important it is for music fans to find other ways to support our favorite artists. 3d
CSeydel It‘s so frustrating because they really have a good service. I don‘t feel guilty about making playlists and listening to them — much of what I listen to on Spotify, I already own on CD or cassette (or both!), anyway — but I‘ve definitely started to be more cautious about Spotify-supplied playlists. And more intentional about buying concert tickets and merch rather than just streaming. 3d
See All 6 Comments
Billypar @CSeydel Yeah, concert tickets and merch are really the best ways. I also do like Bandcamp - I think the streaming payment is only marginally better, but it's great for discovering new indie artists and makes it easy to buy their songs, albums, and merch. 2d
CSeydel @Billypar Yes, everyone always recommends Bandcamp, and I made an account. I‘m sure it‘s better for discovering new artists, but most of the artists I usually listen to aren‘t on there - I thought it would be a replacement for Spotify, but it‘s very different. 2d
Billypar @CSeydel Oh yeah, it doesn't replace Spotify by a longshot for me either. But I'm very happy with the artists/albums I have found there. 2d
