What Can I Do About Spotify?

In the wake of two volatile essays that I published on the dangers of Spotify, folks in my life have asked, "But, what am I supposed to do about it?" Fair enough. Here are some answers.

I stirred up quite a shitstorm with my piece on Spotify Wrapped that was released in early December. My attempt to truly explore the economic realities of digital music streaming, and Spotify specifically, was met with a fair amount of quick rebuke and a small portion of hesitant support. It quickly became one of the most read articles on WAIM thus far and sparked myriad conversations with people in my day to day life.

In an effort to clarify my point, and further aim your collective ire at Spotify, I published a follow-up piece in which I offered five ideas that could be implemented to help musicians be paid more fairly. That was met with another healthy round of discussion and debate, much of it positive, and open to the idea of fighting toward a better system.

Still, I am asked regularly what one person can achieve. It’s the old feeling of one person cannot beat a huge Goliath such as Spotify. Yet, as a collective, our voices can move mountains. The only way for a change in this arena to occur is for us to force it. Here are a handful of ways that we can do just that.

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Tidal and Apple Music pay more than three times what Spotify pays per song. Switching to one of these streamers is a big boost for artists.

1. Switch To Apple Music or Tidal

The simplest and most effective way to help musicians be paid more fairly is to switch to a digital streamer that pays more than the one you’re currently using. Essentially, Spotify’s base rate is roughly $0.0033 per song or one third of a penny per spin. Apple is currently paying about a penny a song. Tidal pays even a bit more than that.

Simply moving away from Spotify to a provider paying one cent or more will triple your dollars paid to artists. It will also send a direct message to Spotify that you value music and the artists that make it. If you’re given the opportunity to tell Spotify why you are choosing to leave, give them this reason alone. Tell them you chose a provider that pays artists more fairly.

But Matty, I thought all digital streaming was bad?

Digital streaming needs regulation and oversight with the issue of fair pay and artist equity at the center of the discussion. Streaming is here to stay. That doesn’t mean it has to continue to be driven by a company like Spotify and the offensively low rates of royalties it pays its artists.

Not only will this help to get artists paid a bit more, but it will also take money away from causes that Spotify and its CEO Daniel Ek have championed like Joe Rogan and AI Defense Contractors. Your monthly subscription dollars are more likely to go to musicians than to a podcaster who defies science and a CEO who appears to be a war profiteer.

But Matty, I already have my stats and my plays, and my favorites and playlists and my whole musical life wrapped up in Spotify? I can’t switch!

I think if you can ask artists to get paid a fraction of a cent to give you their life’s work, you can rebuild a few mixtapes. No one said there wouldn't be some sacrifices. This one is not that great, if you’re being honest with yourself. It won’t even cost you more money.

Make the switch today, please.

Once artists begin to get paid fairly, prices are going to rise. We need to be willing to accept that if we care about musicians and the lives they lead.

2. Be Willing To Spend More For Digital Music

I have a much more in-depth piece on this coming soon, but this ethos is key to a more robust and fair musical economy. This is some hard news to swallow, but you should be paying more for the vast majority of the history of recorded music than you currently are.

As I have said repeatedly, digital streaming is here to stay. And it should be. It has the potential to be good for the environment, the consumer, the artist, and even the corporations who populate the music business. It just needs to be built on a system with more fairness and transparency for the people who create the art that makes the entire machine operate.

Hard research will need to be done by more accomplished data scientists than I am, but it doesn't take a Fulbright level scholar to see that raising the per song rate and keeping the full inventory the same is going to raise the cost of a monthly subscription. We need to learn quickly to be okay with that.

There is truly not other analog in the world that works the way digital ,music does. Try to rent any movie you want with just one Netflix subscription. It won’t even come close. I spend more than $100 a month in movie and TV streaming subscriptions, yet I still am often forced to rent movies. Music does not work like this at all. New hot record, hard to find old single, doesn't matter. It’s all there and it’s included for no extra charge.

While I have no firm idea yet what the best pricing structure moving forward is, there is very little chance it is going to continue to be all the music you want all the time for $20/month or less.

Upon publishing those first two pieces, I was inundated with music fans who virtue signaled hither and yon to prove how much they had shelled out for concert tickets, merch, and vinyl. That’s all wonderful, but those are additional expenses and should be treated as such. The question is, are you willing to spend more on the music itself, and if so, how much more?

There is no way to know what the threshold is but once it gets too costly, folks are likely to go back to stealing music the way we did before digital streaming became de rigueur. What’s the ceiling? Is it $30/month? $50? More?

The point is that musicians are forced to thread a needle that no other industry is threading at the moment. Offer the product too cheaply and the musicians will starve. Charge too much and the theft will just return once again. There has to be an equitable way to do this. Part of that means we all need to be ready for the cost of our subscriptions to go up.

Just a few of the items available for purchase directly off my record label’s website. Ordering directly from bands and small labels is a huge way to support artists directly and effectively.

3. Direct Artist Interaction

When I say that you need to “pay for the music” I do not want to make it seem that you should be discouraged from buying tickets, clothing, and physical media directly from your favorite artists or from a locally owned record shop. You should absolutely go and buy as many of these things as you can. There are a few caveats I would offer as well as a couple of helpful hints for you to get the most bang for your buck in helping artists.

• Order from artists directly. Okay, I want you to support your local shops, but as it regards musicians being paid, the best way to ensure bang for your buck in supporting your favorite bands is to get t-shirts and merch from them directly, preferably at the show if you can. Buying online through a band’s website is cool too and most appreciated. In most cases almost all of the proceeds that an artist will be eligible for can be achieved by ordering this way. Even for Taylor Swift this is true.

• Shop Local. Buying vinyl and CDs from a local shop is the best option for recorded music as it helps to support both the artist and a key cultural component of your community; your local record store. Key to note that used album sales will not benefit the artist you are hoping to support.

• Find bands in your area that you either enjoy or that sound interesting. Typically a cursory reading of the local events calendar or your region’s art’s and culture magazine will give you a couple of places to start. Go see a show by a band you know nothing about. Stopping for just half an hour and paying a $5.00 cover can give a young band a sense of purpose and momentum. Foster that whenever you’re able.

• Bandcamp is a remarkable resource for finding and supporting bands. Each month they offer Bandcamp Friday where Bandcamp waives their typical fee of 15% on digital items, and 100% of the proceeds go directly to the artist. Bandcamp offers consumers a great resource for seeking out new bands, especially if you’re looking for artists in a specific area. It’s a great way to find new music in your region.
  
  For musicians it is a way to host music with no upfront costs and to sell and release digital music quickly and with the opportunity to make some income. Many artists on Bandcamp even offer “Pay What You Want” titles that will offer you the chance to download for no money at all or you can feel free to support at whatever monetary level you are comfortable. It’s way for artists to generate money and for consumers to support bands they love.

• Find a way to tip your favorite acts through Venmo, PayPal, and CashApp. Almost all of your favorite artists would be willing to accept a tip from you and more than you might think, would even be willing to personally answer an email to get it from you. Don’t be shy, but don’t use this tip as a way to ingratiate yourself either. That said, many of the bands you love may have a virtual tip jar on their website. Even if they don’t have one, if you reached out and said, “I’d love to send $10 to the band”, they’d find a way to get it from you. This is great if you just want to say a quick thank you with a few bucks, or if you’d like to make a financial contribution but don’t need your life cluttered with more swag.

Organizations like The Future Of Music Coalition and Artists Rights Alliance are fighting to see artists get paid more fairly and lead better, healthier lives.

4. Educate Yourself

I have been talking about this issue for years. For some people in my life, I have been talking too loudly for too long and they would love it if I would simply shut up. Sadly for them, that is very unlikely for me on this issue. Digital streaming is here to stay, and until artists are paid fairly, so is my shouting to the rooftops about the unfairness of it.

We could all benefit in understanding more deeply where our music comes from and who is getting paid for it. That responsibility doesn't just lie with me as someone who covers the issue, but with you as a consumer of the product, and a driver of that economy.

There is certainly a lot to learn on the issue, but I would suggest that you read some of what singer/songwriter David Lowery of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven has had to say on this issue, as well as his views on the general state of making a living as a musician in this new era.

I just recorded a podcast with data researcher Chris Dalla Riva who not only works in the digital streaming industry, but is also a musician himself. He has done a ton of great work on understanding the science behind the economics of digital streaming.

Drummer Damon Krukowski of Damon and Naomi and Galaxie 500 has also written extensively on this subject. These are just a few of the voices of musicians and data researchers working to truly understand the ins and outs of this complex new universe.

Even the charity organization UNESCO, the group behind World Heritage Sites and the child poverty program UNICEF have published a paper to begin studying the effects of digital streaming on larger musical cultures and their possible revenue streams.

5. Advocate. Advocate. Advocate.

Once you have made it this far, your mission is to spread the word. The more we learn together, the more knowledge we can spread. The faster that knowledge spreads, the more likely it becomes that artists will begin to see fair payment structures.

Doing the things listed above will require some time, attention, and a bit of money. It’s likely that you are already spending the money, but you lack the attention and intention behind your listening and spending. Be more aware and share that awareness with the people in your life.

Once you make the switch away from Spotify, ask the other folks in your life to do the same. Provide them with all of the tools I have given you here on the Substack. Go find other research that supports artists getting paid more fairly. Communicate with your elected representatives and ask them if they have considered this issue for legislation. If so, what have they done? If not, would they consider taking a look?

I am unsure of the proper structure that will be required to negotiate all of this work, but there are groups like Artists Rights Alliance and Future Of Music Coalition that are leading the fight. Be sure to follow what they are working on and fighting for as we move forward.

It is going to take a unified chorus of voices for this to change and you MUST be a part of that. You can keep the digital streaming and a clean conscience, but it will cost you a bit of time, money, and intention.

I would love to hear from each of you as you ditch Spotify and move to Apple or Tidal.

Will you make the switch? Will you tell your friends and family to do the same? If not, what’s stopping you?

Cheers,
Matty C

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