Music

We often criticize Spotify for not caring enough about artists, but it seems like web3 platforms might care even less

We often criticize Spotify for not caring enough about artists, but it seems like web3 platforms might care even less

https://x.com/ImanEurope/status/1813366973797126181

The internet and affordable hardware has significantly lowered the barriers to music creation, reducing the leverage held by record labels. However, the challenge remains in distribution. New artists can't afford to miss out on platforms like Spotify or YouTube, where most fans are. 

With better tools, artists should be able to build stronger relationships with their superfans in ways that Spotify and YouTube don't allow. If emerging artists who gain popularity start distributing exclusive content directly to fans and collectors (content that isn't available on Spotify or YouTube), the influence of these platforms and record labels will gradually diminish. It's the existing catalog that has conditioned us to rely on them

There are crooks on both sides. A lot of these problems lead back to psychology. Fans are used to convenience of unlimited music for $10/month. Artists are “used to”fractions of pennies per stream. 

Until there is a long-lived movement around a specific product, or a boycott by headlining artists, the streaming model will be extremely difficult to uproot. Though, I am personally excited for when it finally happens.

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I agree. Navigating the Spotify app can be frustrating. With so much content available, they could do a much better job organizing and displaying everything

Spotify don’t even care enough to have a good brand or user interface either tho, what the hell is their icon even supposed to be? WiFi signal? How does that signify listening to music or podcasts for that matter. 🤭

How do you discover new music and artists on Spotify? Is it usually through playlists, search, or another part of the app?

I’ve been paying spotify for over a decade now and the amount of new music & artists i’ve discovered is astronomical. I would then follow these artists on their socials, buy some of their merch, go to their shows and support every opportunity I got. Theirs a lot of different opinions about music monetization, ultimately the work the artist puts in is what pays off.