re: Spotify gets better and better

What's the difference b/w Spotify & Google Play Music? I am trying to decide which to go with.

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How is something that is great for fans terrible for artists?

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I heard that Spotify paid a lump sum on their licencing agreements and got a steal. I think it translates into less royalties going to artists. Maybe someone else here can explain better.

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How is something that is great for fans terrible for artists?

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Derek Webb lays it out perfectly.

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For example, I am paid $0.00029 per stream of a song on Spotify, and even this amount depends on whether the song is being streamed by a paid user or someone using the service for free. This means it will take upwards of 3,500 streams of a single song on Spotify to earn $1.00 versus that same revenue for one iTunes song purchase (not to mention the fact that Spotify refuses to pay the same amount to independent artists as they pay major labels, unlike iTunes).

Most would argue that it’s apples and oranges (no pun intended): iTunes is a digital storefront for artists while services like Spotify are about discovery. People will argue that low-cost streaming is good for the market, that it’s good for the artists, and that it’s still better than people taking your music for free from BitTorrent. But I tend to disagree on almost every point, mainly because it’s just not that simple. It’s true that iTunes is a place for people to purchase music, but it offers all the same benefits of Spotify in terms of discovery. And while Spotify is claiming to occupy the discovery space, it’s clear that the service is operating functionally as a storefront, since people are streaming music as an alternative to purchasing that same music.

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The problem is that musicians are still wistfully longing for the glory days when an artist could make a significant amount of money off of an album.

Those days are long gone and they're not coming back. You're best bet is to go with services like spotify, expand your fan base and become road warriors. Or if that's not acceptable I hear McDonald's is hiring, go join the workforce.

My personal opinion is that the days of creating one amazing song, blasting it on the radio for weeks, and building buzz around an album only to find that released single the only worthwhile song on the entire album is done.

Artists have to be accountable for creating an entire album because the internet makes it too easy for everyone to hear it before even putting up the money.

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because the internet makes it too easy for everyone to hear it before even putting up the money.

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I think the internet is what created the problem you're talking about in the first place.

Most people my age and younger (26) download one song they like. shite half my friends don't own a full album of their favorite musicians.

I don't have many friends who REALLY like music the way I do. In fact, I have one.

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I think the internet is what created the problem you're talking about in the first place.

Most people my age and younger (26) download one song they like. shite half my friends don't own a full album of their favorite musicians.

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See, this is where you and I differ because I don't feel it's a problem. Back in the day (and I'm 27 but have lived a lifetime through live concerts and record shops) artists could release a full album and, before the internet, you had to own the album or have a friend who bought it to know what was on it.

Now, I'm not talking about the 60s/70s when there was a love for music and all artists cared what was put out with their name on the front. No, this was an age in the 90s/early 2000s when the record labels were more interested in making millions off one-hit wonders and would sign up the hottest thing and churn out an album in two weeks.

Nowadays, if you want people to buy your album/see you show, you better pony up quality music. In my opinion, I'll give you the 1 or 2 crap songs you generically have on an album but 90% of that album better be quality songs.

No offense, but thats just stupid

that's your personal view because you seem to be a bit of music enthusiast. Saying its disrespectful seems a bit much.

and its not a "problem" people are no longer being fooled into buying entire albums with only 1 or 2 songs worth a shite on them.

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and its not a "problem" people are no longer being fooled into buying entire albums with only 1 or 2 songs worth a shite on them.

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I didn't say that. I wouldn't buy the album or the song.