The Shocking Story of Spotify

[@Volksgeist]

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[@slyknight8412]

I was watching @nathaniel drew earlier today and almost thought it was you and now I am watching you 😅

[@EmpressOfExile206]

I have a reverse question to t-swifts and others who paint Spotify "the villain"... They are already giving *_70% back_* to the artist (or owner of the licensing which isn't their fault if artist gave that up) That means they are only keeping a mere 30% in return *_for saving the industry_* and stopping all the $ being bled out by piracy where *nobody* gets paid‼️ And you want them to give up more 🤔 Question 1: What about *Spotify's* "fair compensation"? Question 2: Yes physical sales paid more but Spotify only keeps 30%... What % of the album sales were the record labels giving back to the artist they signed and practically owned during the old model? (I bet Spotify ain't so "evil" in comparison)

[@AdventureShock]

There are pros and cons to everything. The best part if streaming is definitely finding smaller/indie artists. In addition to that, it's easier than ever to get into new genres compared to radio

[@OWlsfordshire]

The people crying over it will never mention this part. Yes, Spotify could pay more, but the artists aren't being honest about their position either.

[@mazssj]

People have been discovering indie artists and bands in other ways long before streaming was a thing. Just because Spotify offers a lot more convenience does not mean that its that good for discoverability, this was the main draw for me once it was available in my country but all this algorithmic playlists and now AI generated playlists based on prompts will always leave people out and the algorithms are basically black boxes at this point.

[@OWlsfordshire]

@@mazssj Bullshit. The amount of music I listen to increased literally 100x over the last decade just by finding music through Spotify, KZbin, Pandora, etc. Spotify is by far the leader in visibility for new/small artists. Tik Tok is mostly meme trash.

[@mazssj]

@@OWlsfordshire A lot more music is being made today and a huge bump starting with the 90s because the production tools are a lot of more accessible there's a couple of examples in the video. Go and ask in the comments all these indie and new bands how they feel about Spotify and the streaming model in general. For the majority of them they survive through concerts and merchandising revenue steams over the longer term is still peanuts. Dont mistake the convenience you get as a user for a good deal for the indie and new artists/bands. You can even do the math on how much money these artists are getting from your streams still peanuts. If you really want to support smaller artists and care about if they continue or not go their concerts when possible and buy their merch thats how things are these days.

[@DueceSpice]

@@OWlsfordshireKZbin IS THE TOP FOR VISIBILITY AND TIK TOK.SPOTIFY SHOULD BE USED AS A MEDIAN TO GET PEOPLE TO YOUR SHOWS BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT MAKE MONEY FROM STREAMING UNLESS YOU ARE THE TOP 1%STREAMING NUMBERS DONT MATTER BECAUSE THERE ARE ARTIST WITH 10 MILLION STREAMS BUT 30K KZbin IAND TIK TOK NUMBERS..

[@DJ.Generation]

Most of these complaints are due to human greed by ALL parties (consumers, artists, labels, tech companies) and the oversaturation and lower quality of music now and also the general public and society having shorter attention spans due to social media and infinite content now. Spotify is just a cog in the overall machine of EVERYTHING getting worse over time. See movies, tv, fashion, politics, jobs, etc.

[@selesti.official]

i feel like “shuffle” is even rigged

[@nasheofficial]

yho facts! there was a point it kept pushing travis to me like damn, its sad nigga hours, why you tryna rage😅

[@KzudemRiM]

it's just your brain doing pattern recognition.

[@GalacticTommy]

Spotify shuffle is actually not random, it used to be but people complained about it being not random enough despite it being fully random so they changed it to not be random.

[@ahmedfiasco6412]

@@GalacticTommythat makes no sense😂 make it more random than random then

[@Maxikinz]

that was apple music not spotify@@GalacticTommy

[@Hollocus16]

For over 20 years, music listeners have been spoiled by free music, leading to the misconception that we don't need to pay for artists.

[@johnchedsey1306]

Because it's a business, the reality is that artists have to give away music to sell other things: tour shirts, posters, or whatever tangible thing people actually are willing to purchase. The business model permanently shifted over 2 decades ago. Record labels weren't even selling music. They were selling plastic discs that happened to have music on it. Turns out most people don't want the clutter of plastic discs or the hassle of storing them.

[@lobsterwhisperer7932]

Its been proven that artists will work for free, its all about the fame.

[@personzorz]

Am I the only one who still buys MP3s?

[@spark300c]

also making music is hobby and artist will make music for free. the problem art is subjective therefore its hard to know it worth. generally a song worth is cost to produce a song.

[@normandy2501]

​@@lobsterwhisperer7932 It's no different than being a tech intern at that point, and we already see how much people are starting to resent that process in the job market.

[@s4ds4d]

Your take on the discovery mode is exactly what's happening, we're all just opting in for discovery mode to avoid a disadvantage and that just gets them an extra 30% share of revenue from everyone

[@perfectallycromulent]

people were pounding out an album a year, sometimes two, in the 60s and 70s. they weren't laborious craftspeople toiling in obscurity for years to release perfect gems. they were workaholics on a mountain of cocaine.

[@LILGHETTI]

Spotify literally sent me a strike claiming bot streams even though I didn't even know! Literally french montana and G-eazy have so much bots

[@wetwertwetrewrt]

it is rigged, big record labels use fake streams and bots everywhere, fake sales, everything is fake

[@Jack-jx6ln]

I don't necessarily view ease of making music as a good thing. So many artists today seem to have a much more watered down discography compared to past artists. And I think I big reason for that is that artists will put out their "bad" songs too now, releasing double albums with filler songs

[@hi-jg1lv]

I agree 100%, like he said in the video, an album used to define the stage the artist is going through (usually a little over a year before the next comes out). But now if they’re album doesn’t hit well, they’ll have another by the end of the year

[@nawsh2252]

My attitude has been evolving a lot lately as to how I interact with the music industry and how I have shifted my personal artistic goals. I started going hard with vinyl. Just started collecting a few months ago. I almost always buy merch at shows. I also just go to a lot of shows. I buy a lot of shirts. I quit my band and _not_ my day job. Going forward as a solo act or possibly a duo... 2024 is a new age.

[@SugarMilk99]

I hear ya! Yep, like I always say: There’s 2 sides to music: 1) There’s those who are here for the FUN & ENJOYMENT and 2) There’s those who are in it for the work - it’s a business (the music industry). It’s wise to have clarity with that 👍

[@hammersampson]

Music labels got tired of accepting $0.99 from iTunes, so they hatched a plan to accept $0.00001 per stream.😂😂😂

[@personzorz]

Am I the only one who still buys MP3s?

[@ajjahabi]

​@@personzorzYes you are

[@30769s]

I mean, constant payments of a fraction of a cent is better than a one time payment of 99c so

[@axethepenguin]

@@30769sno it isn’t????

[@Sitskier123]

As someone who had given up on the idea of doing music entirely, seeing so many artists be discovered and the success stories has made me start writing again. Obviously a success story is still few and far between, but I am hoping to find my way in the spotify and streaming landscape and see what happens. So we will see what happens!

[@KamariaNias]

Did you ever written songs a whatever available are in platforms such as KZbin , or your artist name , I'd like to listen to your songs .

[@TheAdiFans]

As someone who had given up too, this is a 1% industry, so the chance of you getting discovered is relatively low. I quit, started a new part-time job and will become an lawyer one day and I have never been feeling so fresh lately. Being in the music industry gave me DEPRESSION.

[@Sitskier123]

@@TheAdiFans I’m completely aware it is a 1% industry but I’m not making music to make it in the industry. I have other things going on and am doing well in other things too, but I love music and I want to make things for me. That doesn’t mean I won’t try to make it, but even if I don’t I just want to make music because it’s something I love. I’m glad you found another passion, but if music is something you love I hope you don’t let it leave your life completely because it is one of the greatest things we can do as human beings. Music connects all of us in the world and I if you have fully given up on it that you find your way back to it in some way.

[@myqaveli]

TikTok has helped many too

[@chrissims1957]

I think we’re missing one point. We created Napster which was a problem for the conventional music industry at the time then replaced it with Spotify to save the music industry.

[@chrisgaines6369]

I think the biggest thing hurting the music industry is fans being too cheap to support their artists music. I still buy CDs because no streaming service is going to take away any album or song that I love. Half the problem is people are cheapskates. They will think nothing of spending 20 or $30 on a single meal but they would never spend $10 on an album to all those music fans I say your posers. I canceled my subscription to Spotify about 3 years ago and I will never renew it. I kept noticing songs were missing from certain albums

[@baashasucks]

How old are you? I'd accuse you of being 16, but you buy CDs and you call people "posers" instead of "fake fans". Grow tf up. The world is bigger than a bloody CD.

[@sabinacizkova6048]

I have also problem with missing songs on albums, for example Slipknot, Lil Peep, Metallica..

[@chrisgaines6369]

@@sabinacizkova6048 they used to Hype big that they had every song ever but that is so far from the truth. Artist don't want to sell their soul for fractions of a cent

[@caseyjones3522]

"Half the problem is people are cheapskates" Its more than half the problem. The competition for these streaming platforms is piracy, where its stupid easy to get away with stealing music. If something is that easy to steal, it loses its value.

[@CamJames]

@@caseyjones3522 it's the entire problem. This system works because of consumers not actually caring about artists' livelihoods.

[@MaryHatake97]

Even my playlist with 600+ songs will tend to always play the same songs first when put on shuffle.

[@orcaunoo]

alwayssss. annoying af

[@ultimadum7785]

Gabbie Belle made a great video about this. Spotify's shuffle was never truly random, but rather they use an algorithm to determine the songs "you'll like the most" then it shuffles through those. It's an absolute joke.

[@jmccain753]

I thought I was the only one gettin that...man that really sucks..over 1000 songs and I hear the same 50 over and over

[@sb-di3of]

rookie numbers

[@capybara2244]

Yep I can agree actually,I keep getting the same few songs when I shuffle my Public Playlist of over 500-600 songs.....I forget some of the songs I put on it because I keep getting the same few. I get more variety in the app-made playlists than from my own created playlist atp.

[@orcaunoo]

physical music will become a thing again. genuine artists + listeners are tired 😩

[@DueceSpice]

BOPE..CONSUMERS ARE USED TO STREAMING..

[@Sacto1654]

I agree, especially with the pending revival of Compact Discs now that consumers are starting to find out vinyl records *DO* wear out.

[@tom7979]

Physical music still is a thing. CD and vinyl sales are on the uprise year on year.

[@DueceSpice]

@@tom7979 YEAH FOR BIG ARTIST

[@capybara2244]

I can agree! I love physical music. I really enjoy Callback Music,it makes me happier than just music I listen to. I'd love to go to a concert for it

[@Santiago_MX]

I've also noticed that the roll-out strategy for smaller artists has changed. Before, artists used to have 1 or 2 radio singles to promote the album before it came out. Now, artists are doing a long, drawn out release where they'll release 2 songs as an EP, then another two songs as an EP with the first two songs at the end, then another 2 songs as a 3rd EP with the previous 4 songs globed on to the end. Finally, when they release their 12 song album, we've already overplayed half of it. It's clear this is also a symptom of the streaming era, where artist latch on to the hype of their "singles" by shipping a ton of EP's with the same recycled music that's going to be "released" on an album. I get why they do it, (more streams) but they are ruining the album experience for listeners. I want to be surprised and delighted when an album comes out. Instead, I've been listening to half the album for the last 3 months so when the full album does come out, I'm not as excited about the any of the new music. (Examples of this roll-out strategy: Caroline Polacheck's 'Desire, I want to turn into you' and Between Friends' 'I love my girl, she's my boy') Anyway, Great video!

[@thehearingaid]

It's not just that it's more streams as such, but if the album has tracks with higher streams I think that will also help it become more discoverable in playlists etc. when it drops.

[@angelicdiscipline8291]

* streaming is like radio play -- that is not the same as getting paid for the download of a song or album * streaming platforms have made the availability for consumers to access their preferred stations instead of relying on television or local radio to know what music has been released by the industry -- an independent artist must face the fact that a "gold selling record" was counted by in-store sales -- a consumer must understand that no artist gets paid a "living wage" stemming from a streaming platform -- both parties are being swept into a pay-to-play scenario (memberships for listeners & Playlist placements for artists) * if anything, we should learn a lesson about motivation -- music is not about being a one hit wonder -- the biggest company doesn't carry the best policies -- there is a bigger picture for any business to consider (an entrepreneur will focus on the global market instead of the tactics of just one practitioner)

[@MegaUtube99]

I think TikTok did a lot more damage personally, but maybe that’s just me…

[@xepturate]

Spotify is the TikTok kids fav streaming platform

[@YUGOPNIK]

Brilliant video. Artists, just like everyone else, adapt to what the system stimulates. Let's hope the artists themselves have as big of a say in that as possible ❤ Thanks for your work!

[@Boogalyhu]

Love your vids ✌🏽

[@dangerousd1312]

shoutout to the deprogram!

[@czxr_8]

One thing I think you forgot to mention is the new rules of payout next year. I'm a small, no name artist who may or may not be able to get 1000 streams on each of my songs. Since until that happens I won't get paid next year, I'd rather give away my music for free. If I can't make money off of it, you wont either. Ultimately though, capitalism is the real culprit. We all have less money while things cost more and more of those things are vying for our attention. So of course people are going to cut costs. It also doesn't help that we live in a society that devalues art as some frivolous thing so of course the people in the society will do the same. Lastly, one thing that doesn't get mentioned in the declining sales of music is the fact that in CDs heyday, a lot of older music was being reissued. Which probably contributed to the number of the past being so high. Don't use Spotify but I can say I do like the convenience of streaming but that also leads me to a lot of stuff I have that I've probably only listened to once

[@leomusicuk]

Good points here but also, the music industry isn’t music. Spotify isn’t music. Pop music is only one small part of music. Music is eternal. Everything’s not totally fucked, it’s always shifting, but it doesn’t have much of an impact on playing gigs in your community and developing yourself organically, and for that matter, using the internet in creative ways. It’s all still full of potential and excitement

[@CamJames]

This is an awfully naïve, yet beautifully optimistic way of looking at it. Spotify runs the music industry, he made that clear when he showed the stats. Spotify absolutely impacts your ability to book gigs and tour.

[@johnchedsey1306]

@@CamJames I think what this guy was pointing out is that the music industry is NOT music itself. Around 2000, there were so many people fearing that MP3s would cause people to stop making music period. Every time I go onto discogs or rateyourmusic to read lists, there's more bands releasing stuff than ever before. People will always be compelled to make music completely outside of the business aspect of it, which I believe is what the original comment was stating. Spotify will eventually be replaced in the industry, but music will continue being created, loved and performed.

[@thenewyorkhip-hopspot5485]

The discovery thing is a cool idea but the should limit it to artists with less than 5 mill monthly listeners

[@orcaunoo]

i like this

[@NORBZMUSIC]

Unpopular opinion - Spotify/Apple/Amazon/KZbinRed have changed my life. Hundreds of millions of streams, I operate as TONS of different artist names in tons of genres, I own my master, my own label, I keep 100% of what comes in, I sign new up and coming artists and make their dreams come true, it's really happening for me and it's only because the eco-system finally allows for indy people like me to operate this way without the majors. We are in a very hybrid environment, you can be a producer artist label owner and you are 100 artists on that label split testing your success paths fast. Don't let the eco-system scare you or think you're diluted, you've never had these opportunities, you just have to outsmart the typical artist rollout of yesteryear.

[@NORBZMUSIC]

I commented early in the video, so to add to the above: YES, the DSP's taught the creatives to make shorter stuff to get paid more/faster, then the market gets taught to like/want shorter stuff and it's a viral feedback loop. YES I have albums with 50-100 tracks, in a way that is seamless so the listener doesn't realize the track just changed, like a mixtape where you keep bobbing your head and I'm getting paid every few minutes x however many tracks I have. This applies more to beat tapes and ambience/things that can transition song to song by design. The only thing that packs that room at the awards shows, and the only thing that builds up the top 100 charts, is marketing budgets. The awards shows are congratulating those that spent the most on their artists to get the most streams/sales.. Having said that, the DSP's are still young, they are exploitable in grey ways, they are circa google 2010 SEO exploitable, they are broken and deregulated. They are abused by organized crime for f* sakes to wash bitcoin to bot farms to fake artist plays to distro payouts, and have been doing it for years. It's all still very broken and fixing it isn't prioritized because it's too lucrative staying broken for all involved and convenient to stay lost in plausible deniability as we all feed the system.

[@shamanic_nostalgia]

Yeah personally I love Spotify

[@venuslove-i1v]

That's why music is garbage. No one cares to actually perfect the craft because they can just stream crap.

[@johncombo]

@@venuslove-i1v Anytime i see people calling some music garbage, its a big red flag. Anyone with half a brain can see that whats garbage for someone is a gem for someone else and thats the way it is and how doesnt understand this is a fool.

[@venuslove-i1v]

@@NORBZMUSIC Music artists these days will stream a song too easily. There is hardly any good music bubbling to the top. And even those artists also lack performance value. They don't know how to stand on a stage and perform. They all act like wallflowers. All attention is considered good attention. The bar is set low because if everything can be streamed without perfecting anything, why perfect anything? Back then people actually played their own instruments and if they didn't sing they took dance. They had to perfect their craft in some way in order to give their very best. Today, you don't have to do that to get exposure. Sure for better or worse with Spotify, we get to hear more artists outside of the USA who are very talented. But I think Spotify is beginning to be oversaturated and eventually the bubble will burst (like it has with anything that has become that way). Will it stop people from doing it? Of course not, not until Spotify bursts and people have no choice but to go elsewhere. AI won't stop either until the bubble has burst. Such is the nature of progress. But it does help for people to be warned about taking thing too far and to understand how the value or quality of something can change based on it.

[@DalesBadBug]

I'm glad I stuck to the Underground even when some of my top favorite underground artists went Mainstream. I do things the Old way (merch/cd's) and only use streaming to get my stuff heard and fandom gained.

[@mileswittig8744]

Your video essays are so informative and non-biased, and this one is a perfect example. I feel like I learn a ton of interesting things with each video of yours. Keep up the good work!

[@JankeyCreator]

Non biased?!? This fisher price charm wearing 'creator' starts off by insulting dudes appearance because he is bald.

[@Highnessessse]

You are kidding?

[@frederikobe4064]

I think you missed a key point when talking about the fairness of the payout spotify gives to artists - the majority of spotify's revenue goes to the labels, not the artist. BECAUSE OF THAT, SPOTIFY CANNOT PAY OUT ANY MORE TO ARTISTS, BECAUSE THEIR BUSINESS WOULD NOT FUNCTION ANYMORE OTHERWISE. SO IN ALL REGARDS, IT SHOULD BE THE LABELS THAT SHOULD TAKE A SMALLER CUT, NOT SPOTIFY.

[@entropii]

real.

[@Live.Music.Moments]

This.

[@neezysucks]

​@@entropii nice pfp

[@caseyjones3522]

ok but Spotify agreed to the terms with the majors, so they made their bed and now they lie in it.

[@Live.Music.Moments]

@@caseyjones3522 without Spotify we'd still be downloading songs illegally and no one would get a cent.

[@L1STERINE]

I think Spotify has made music waaaay more accessible. There are countless artists I would have never knew about thanks to their generated playlists and recommendations. Any time I'm going to the shop or driving to work I'm listening to music on Spotify. I do think artists get paid nothing compared to their streaming numbers. If they paid artists more, I think the platform would dig it's way out of the hole they're in. Great video Volk, keep them coming.

[@TheIandian]

The only way they can pay artists more is if customers are willing to pay more for their subscriptions. And we are the customers

[@arisumego]

@@TheIandianthis is false lol. they can afford to pay waaaaay more as it is. do your research brother

[@Bluemusic66]

@@arisumegooh really? Tell me how much they can pay? They pay 70% back. Even if they pay 100% (which they can’t) it would make fuck all difference. Before making a comment make sure you know what you’re talking about.

[@clytemnestra]

I agree with most of your points but I think the shortening of songs is a bonus and the quality of the song is a separate issue. The Beatles average length of song is between 2-3 minutes. I think the shortening of songs is good even if a lot of the incentives causing the shift aren’t good. I always felt like there was a lot of filler in the 2000s to make a song longer and seem more worth the $1.29.

[@mo7beats976]

You should make a video about how tiktok and reels actually fucked the music

[@Thespeedrap]

I agree with you Tiktok is wack as fuck as not just that the quality is bad as well.

[@GravityDontMeanTooMuchTooMe]

Fr, the first names that come in mind when someone says this is tx2 and mgk! I hate especially tx2!

[@ProcrastPerfection]

I can’t find ANY new music on Spotify. I used to. New Music Friday used to be great. But now that the money has left the only people making music are hacks and 14 yos. I’ve heard good shit from KZbinrs and Influencers and that’s it.

[@someones_here]

10:32 I'm someone who listens to albums all the way through, and for Utopia I had a plane flight so I listened to it uninterrupted, and other than K-Pop, I think the album was the right length. Every song was produced well, has replay value, and fits into the theme of the album, from start to finish.

[@RikodiusRex]

Old town road was made for 25$. So. Did the money go to trent reznor because that instrumental belongs to him. The song used in Old Town Road is "34 Ghosts IV".

[@HandyAndyTechTips]

Great video. For music fans, I think a combination of streaming for music discovery and purchasing your all time favourites on physical media (CD / vinyl) is the way to go. Then both consumers and artists get a decent deal.

[@sidzero]

The music industry needed to be fucked. They're an extortion racket, nothing more. You couldn't be a professional musician unless you accept their ridiculous contract terms, giving up 80% or more of all money you make from your music and your shows, and that doesn't include the money they take to pay back the predatory loans they force on you to start your career, and worse, they offer practically nothing in return for all of this. Access to their connections, and that's it. Everything else you still need to do on your own. Look up the Payola Scandal sometime if you want a history lesson on just how awful the music industry is and has always been.

[@k-isfor-kristina]

It's a cardinal sin that both this video and your last Virgil one have less than 100k views. Your videos are excellent. Weird thumbnail on this one tho, didn't realize it was a volksgeist video until I played it.

[@Volksgeist]

How do you think it could be better?

[@he_annu]

Well, many people hates Spotify I get it. Coz go to stores buying CD's is another level of happiness and that's help the artist earn more money. But not every country's people on earth can't do this. Not every country you can get all original copies of CD's like in most Asian countries people waited years for their favourite artist's new Album's CD back then. But now Spotify makes it easy for us who live in small and unknown country. Now we can get new music same time as USA, UK thanks to Spotify for that. Maybe Spotify is villain on some story but it is Hero in my story.

[@venuslove-i1v]

It's great for consumers, bad for artists. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

[@nodnoh-2174]

A lot of blame people are trying to put on Spotify is actually on the consumers. They don't want to pay for albums, period. That's not Spotifys problem and the consumers are justified in their way. The only reason artists think its not fair is because before, they could trick people into buying a trash album for $20 as long as they had one decent hit. Now, we can all see the numbers. People don't listen to all those songs and it only takes hours to know an album sucks.

[@mazssj]

Corporations like Spotify shape the listening habits of a large number of people and the targets artist have when create. Starting with the 90s sailing the high seas became an option for more people and a lot less people got ripped by buying thashy albums. Also word of mouth has always been a thing.

[@nodnoh-2174]

@mazssj listeners being directed to certain music is normal and part of business regardless of the company. Word of mouth in the 90/00s didn't spread as fast as today. First week sales is the biggest week. Sure, subsequent weeks may fall off by the grift is already done by that point.

[@Zackadeles]

SoundCloud is what Spotify wanted to be, but of course, that was never going to happen because look what happened to SoundCloud

[@xepturate]

SoundCloud is better than Spotify in every way it blows my mind that normies can’t see it

[@CamJames]

@@xepturate musician here and I disagree. Soundcloud is less advanced in every possible way as far as catering to consumers' needs. If you mean it's better for artists, then maybe.

[@Zackadeles]

@unf4172 I agree with you, I just hate how Spotify played then game better and for the most part won, despite lacking any quality in regards to the content on Spotifys platform

[@xepturate]

@@Zackadeles yeah but the problem is they don’t have to win, if you want more music and want new and upcoming talent they HAVE to lose, bc it’s only going to get worse and worse, these companies give no fucks about the art

[@GravityDontMeanTooMuchTooMe]

I used to use SoundCloud but I think I need premium or something to listen to *I brought you my bullets, you brought me your love* and I listen to music for free so I use KZbin Now instead

[@k-isfor-kristina]

They should change the pay structure to just reflect the total hours of playtime. If it's a 2 minute song streamed 100 times it should earn the same amount as a 5 minute song streamed in full 40 times. If it's a filler track on an album that always gets skipped, then there shouldn't be incentive to make junk songs like that.

[@J_Pizzle4shizzle]

I hope spotify is still going to be around in the future, it would be so devastating if i didn’t have access to my spotify library as i got older, it took forever to find the songs that i like and would stink if i lost them

[@quas3728]

lol that problem never go away even If spotify is fine. because artists can delete their catalog from streaming any time

[@airyanawaejah2323]

The only way to preserve is buying physical

[@Space97.]

​@@airyanawaejah2323why it cost way more to buy each song/album individually instead of just getting access to it for free with ads or paying premium

[@megaliths]

Spotify will die like Napster. Theres so much room for something new to emerge. Ultimately though artists just need promotion platforms where we sell and engage directly with fans.

[@Vos4002]

This is a really well-made video. Nice💪🏼

[@RohitBhuta]

Amazing video, and important news for Spotify and the Music Industry. I hope something change's positively for artists.

[@iamthamanic]

The concept of Spotify would be dope without the majors and when the artist would get paid directly by listeners and not from the big pot

[@k-isfor-kristina]

In 5 years we're not even gonna have songs, artists are gonna split their songs into multiple 30-second tracks verse-chorus-verse so that the chorus or the viral feature gets a ridiculous amount of replay

[@Apophis392]

Saying that “Spotify fucked the music industry” is like saying that Amazon fucked retail. It didn’t, it took it over because it gave the consumer a better service. Humanity is consuming more music than ever before because of streaming.

[@Thespeedrap]

More like greedy corporate people controlling the narrative instead of vice versa.

[@Tianysaurus]

Artists don’t get paid though 😅

[@Legato6669]

⁠​⁠@@Tianysaurus”Artists don’t get paid” ? Who tf are you to speak for other artists? And how did you come to this conclusion? I get paid and I know of many other artists that do as well. If you’re NOT getting paid … find out why. If it’s lack of streams - 🔁 loop your own music to test out the payment system for yourself. Youll learn a lot by doing instead of whining on social media lol! 4000 streams pays for your Spotify subscription. If you can’t coup 4000 streams per month between YOU and your fans - stay a hobbyist✌️

[@eltata1475]

yeah this comment is useless, we're not uploading to spotify to pay for our subscription, we're trying to make a living. Idk if you're an artist, but telling another artist to stay a hobbyist is asshole behaviour.@@Legato6669

[@BIGBamBam86]

@@Tianysaurusthey get paid enough.

[@monaural2.988]

There might be 60,000 songs added everyday, but how many of those are even worth clicking on? Release all out of print music from the 50s, 60s & 70s!!

[@Amphibax]

Our world is always changing and either you change with it or you gonna lose. That just how it works. And in the end most people are in the Industry to make money if we really want some change we need the biggest artists to make a change for it. Nobody cares about the small artists and most people don't know and often don't care how the industry works. They get their music mostly for nearly free so why should they have any incentive to change it? For the average consumer its the best time to listen to music.

[@CamJames]

This is ultimately the only perspective that matters. The world has changed and it will never go back.

[@sense6552]

5:50 another thing to add about this. Billboard now counts equivalent album sales based on free and premium streams. So premium (paid) streams are worth more than listening to it for free. So an album who’s majority of streams come from free listeners, would sell less equivilant units than an album who’s majority streams are from paid users

[@abigailwindle1862]

What about SZA teasing an album for 7 years and dropping singles. Then finally SOS with an extensive 23 track cohesive story line. It's a long album and the songs are 2-3 minutes long while some run closer to 4. I believe SZA is changing the music industry with her experimental beats, albums that don't age and complete quality projects

[@rizlahillofficial]

The Beatles White Album Is The Only Great Exception To The Rule Of A 30+ Song Album ❤❤❤❤x

[@raygrooves2666]

Back in the vinyl days you could press up vinyl 12inch white labels for 3 pounds each and sell them for 6 through the record shops sale or return, record shops everywhere, many were specialist dance shops.You could make good money. Now I make music only for the enjoyment of it as streaming revenue is a joke. Also no dj can mix in a 2 min song, so even that is being destroyed.

[@NihilQuest]

9:50 - LOL, no. Vinyl is about 44 minutes long at max. Yes, there were longer records, but they were double albums (like The Wall). CD is in this ballpark though.

[@greyeclipze]

$crim is dropping a 40 song album plus a deluxe and you fucking know imma bout to be listening to that shit over and over for months

[@CaptHiltz]

In order for streaming royalties to be part of a living wage income you would basically have to either saved enough to live off of for several years or have an investor because you couldn't work a regular job full time. Maybe part time but either way you would need 8 to 10 hours a day to write, record, rehearse and then promote and find playlists and other outlets in order to get that streaming revenue. A lot of artists don't have a background or education in marketing. You can't rely on any of the online promo advice. Almost all of it is too vague or incorrect. If you can't properly find ways to get listeners then game over. It doesn't matter how good you are. I don't know if this is Spotify's fault necessarily. The way people expect music to be has changed and I don't feel that change is for the good.

[@ClyDIley]

Musicians... you'll get paid when you either make something good enough to compete in spotify's market, or create a market of your own and figure out how to monetize it, its that simple. If you dont like that, fine, get out. Your privaleged enough to have happened being skilled in a creative domain that can even be monetized in the first place.

[@Bangerz1985]

The Sound Quality a CD and Vinyl holds, Spotify could never give no matter if they go HiFi or anything. This is where Tidal gets it right.

[@adi._op]

1:14 alien looking tech guy 😭😂

[@ShoenTripp-gm1po]

I use Apple Music but the one thing I like about Spotify that is lacking in Apple Music is the ability to hand off from one device to another, ie: Playing a song on an iPad but when you leave, you have the ability to finish the song on another device like iPhone or android device.

[@browk2512]

Ok, there are a couple corrections to be made here. You say artists make between 4-6 dollars per 1000 streams. For $4 , you would get to $5000 per month at 1.25 million streams. At $5, that would be 1 million streams, and at $6 that would be 833k streams. However, some sources have royalties going down as low as $3, which would be 1.6 million streams. Given this range, 2 million streams could make anywhere from $6000 to $12000. When you start the section about album equivalent units, you say that 1500 streams counts as a sale, but on screen it says 15000 streams counts as a sale. In reality, the newest rate is 3750 ad supported streams or 1250 paid subscription streams. Using your ratio of 220 million paying customers to 280 million ad based users, this would mean 2650 average streams is equivalent to 1 album sale. This is equivalent to anywhere from $7.95 per sale to $15.90 per sale, not $5. Going platinum would then be ~2.65 billion streams, earning from nearly $8 million to nearly $16 million. I'm not sure where you got 1 billion streams considering your number is either 1500 or 15000, which would be 1.5 billion or 15 billion respectively. This next part is probably the most important: with the CD revenue, a significant amount of that $15 million is going towards producing and distributing the CD. The customer pays $15, yes, but much of that $15 goes to paying the employees of the store, the profits made by the store, the shipping associated with getting the CD there, the cost of the case and the disc itself, etc. In the streaming numbers, all of those costs are already accounted for, not only because it is a digital item without physical costs, but because the numbers you're dealing with have already accounted for the cut that spotify takes. I don't think this really changes anything about the narrative of the video, just a few differences in the numbers. The fact that 25% of users will skip a song within 5 seconds is crazy, I did not know that.

[@caseyjones3522]

"The customer pays $15, yes, but much of that $15 goes to paying the employees of the store, the profits made by the store, the shipping associated with getting the CD there, the cost of the case and the disc itself" Why are we even talking about physical media here? You can easily do paid downloads from Amazon and Bandcamp and most of that money goes to the artist.

[@browk2512]

Because that's the comparison Volksgeist made.

[@dolphinitely_bro3944]

Fricc the music industry, put the money in the hands of the artist. Those huge artist you mentioned that speak out against spotify because they are under contract by the huge labels, they have to promote them

[@Sunflower89-c8w]

Spotify is a service for one , like yourself & myself , to listen to music much more easily . When I was younger , CD was the only way to listen to music . But now , I get to listen to music much more easily . It's service that provided value to me . I don't see Spotify killing the music industry .

[@official_sh4d]

This is probably the most detailed video I've seen regarding this subject! Great job on this one! 👍

[@alex_oaiza]

Great video!! Well organized and thought out! Super balanced view as well! Keep that shit up! And to all my fellow artists! Keep making art! Because it’s what the world needs! In a world run by likes, money, and algorithms art is the only thing that can transcend time! Keep dreaming, keep creating! I’m right there with you all ✨❤️‍🔥

[@venuslove-i1v]

Spotify is great for listeners of music, but not so great for artists who want to make a living for their music. On one hand, it is accessible to many different people from all around the world...on the other hand being able to just upload music with no filter doesn't push artists to do more and perfect their craft. Plus, Gen Z and alpha have the attention span of a flea...that is why songs don't last longer than 2 minutes. They'll have 20 songs (like you said), but each of those songs won't last longer than 2 minutes. They are actually not longer, they are shorter. I remember songs back in the day would be up to 6 minutes long. They would have three to four verses, a hook or a bridge, and even a chorus. Songs today hardly have any of it. I think because music was the main form of entertainment so people listened more intently. Now there is so much to distract listeners that music is just background noise.

[@precioussoulmj07]

Taylor Shit is the biggest example of a crap artist who's way too overrated in the present times.

[@v1ku390]

I’m gen Z but my attention span is still good guess I’m an exception Also I really do hate how newer songs are only 2 minutes or less which is why I’m just going back to listening to artists who made my childhood basically F+TM and Katy Perry and probably stick to their music for the rest of my life since odetari and newer music is just overrated and short and lame

[@Morganstudios]

Yep the real problem is people not being willing to pay for content. Companies that make movies/tv can fight back better creating their own streaming services besides Netflix. Music artists haven't been able to pull that off.

[@BG4life13]

but Spotify is a great platform for artists to advertise and sell merch. you can see upcoming concerts and you can purchase CD's And clothing mugs ect.. I wouldn't say it's completely unfair, however the problem here is the greediness of the industry. The big record labels have been robbing artists for years, even before Spotify. Spotify just made it easier to distribute music to the masses, independent artists can hop on their create a following and make a decent living selling merch ect.. the music indestry has always been unfair. Spotify itself has bearly managed to stay up right, and honestly if they go bankrupt it would hurt the labels more then help. you'd think they would try to be more fair but business is business.

[@RootsVibes]

YES you can blame artists for doing whatever means necessary to make more money... I believe this goes both ways

[@DJ.Generation]

The point i think people are missing is yes Spotify hasade artist get lessusic from their albums but the elephant in the room is if they didn't exist, then people would still be pirating and artists would have ZERO income from the same album

[@CoasterMan13Official]

I have been able to find some stable ground as a consumer by using music streaming as a medium for discovery, and downloading the music I do like in FLAC format (FLAC is like mp3, but lossless, and better!)

[@CountCocofang]

Truth of the matter is that the integrity of mainstream music died a long time ago. It died when Elvis Presley got promoted as the King of Rock'n'Roll instead of more talented artists that weren't considered as marketable. It died when boybands were cynically manufactured in the 90s to sell products to specific target audiences. It died when Disney child actresses got transitioned into pop music careers. It died when studios started using marketing budgets to have radio stations, shopping malls and now websites play certain songs. It died with TikTok brainrot content. It dies every time someone makes the decision to have artistic vision take a backseat to sales and popularity.

[@jmusick848]

maybe there should be major label streaming services and indie artist streaming services

[@ipiap]

Democracy is a good thing: in politics. In the field of arts the dictatorship of talent, skills, professional approach, craftsmanship etc. should rule. None of these is necessary today to get successful. Going to the record store back then, carefully choosing an album, the ceremony of listening to it for the first time with excitement, but then trying not to play it too often initially so that the novelty of it would stay longer, but learning all songs by heart after a while. Even the disappointments were part of the experience, of which there weren't many.

[@Shortary]

Well researched video, I love it. Good job.

[@iUsedToBeAMusician]

You enlightened me. I have been thinking that 2:00 songs were a creative choice.

[@NeoLyn]

I support streaming ,actually i thanks those guys behind the platforms for making it easy for us... you have access to millions of music easly and you can upload easly....❤❤ as for the rest its just evolution bro ...listining to Mozart and beethoven with Usb or CD in 2023 is crazy.

[@masterkruiger8169]

Love your content bro, keep going!

[@spark300c]

I think problem is the lack of ads to drive high revenue. the problem sub format the more songs there are the less musicians get pays. with adds you always get paid per stream no matter how many songs there are on Spotify.

[@MF-Venom]

Any joey badass , jpegmafia and earl sweatshirt fans here? I i want to get into them, any songs for a first time listener/ beginner?

[@cloudedmind7690]

Scaring the hoes is great start for jepegmafia even though it’s a callab album

[@MF-Venom]

@@cloudedmind7690 collab of jpegmafia and who?

[@Tae223s]

Doris is more mainstream friendly for new listeners but if you want peak Earl I suggest Some rap songs and that new project he did with the alchemist

[@curly-d23]

@@cloudedmind7690 You’re right. _Scaring the Hoes_ is a great litmus test for a first-time listener 😂👌

[@AdventureShock]

Earl sweatshirt's album "Some Rap Songs" has lo-fi beats. The production on that is my favorite

[@Thespeedrap]

What killed the music business 1 bit word GREEDY corporate offices.

[@zerohours.]

Soulseek was a place to find the rarest electronic music back in the 2000s

[@refraysmusic]

fr

[@erdnasiul87]

It's about time for EVERYBODY to say it out loud: Lars Ulrich, you were right! Sorry to mock you. Not only he was right, things end up even worse that was imagine back then.

[@ComeJesusChrist]

I don’t appreciate the profanity in the title, but the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that just as it is with IT startups and companies like PayPal, Tesla, WeWork, AirBnB, Über and others, the elite, through various companies like Napster and Spotify pushed the digital convenience transformation to serve their own purposes and to further facilitate the digital imprisonment of us. The music market is a stable market, the legal and infrastructural/financial framework was established a long time ago, the rulers get their royalties and share of the profit with overall control of the market, regardless of the format and whether it’s physical or digital.

[@aldoo4640]

Feel like the albums being so long is the reason why recently we just can’t a say a album released in the past year or 2 is a all time great since there will always be some filler tracks which makes us call the album mid or alright but not great

[@ize1000009]

Bro, what albums are you listening to? I have the exact opposite problem, albums having like 5 songs or less each not more than 3 minutes. The total length of the album is shorter than Bohemian Rapsody.

[@adamstarks8682]

13:47 I mean, intros and outros do kind of kill replayability, it is interesting to listen to the first few times but outros especially just make you wanna skip

[@MarcPlaysDrums]

The problem with your argument is you gave two examples of the exceptions. The general rule is that most artists won’t get that kind of luck and don’t get it twisted, there were most definitely examples of people getting breaks and hitting it big like Nas X and that other guy did. And as far as changing music, people were doing the same thing back in the day…it was called a double album and it counted as two album sales. Today they’re making 20 song albums and guess what, they’re still considered double albums. Albums aren’t considered albums by how many songs, they’re considered albums by how many minutes. And thirdly songs were always 3:30 max because of radio airplay time. The shorter the song the more plays…it’s always been like that. Artists got paid by spins…stream counts aren’t any different. Spotify “saved” the music industry by devaluing the music. By paying artists peanuts they gave it less value making it less likely to be pirated. So much so that Apple followed suit by getting rid of ITunes because with ITunes you actually bought and downloaded the music but it was still able to be pirated because if I downloaded albums I could upload the m4a files to whichever site I wanted making it available to everyone for free. Spotify did away with that by making it so you can only stream music, not buy it outright and download it and in exchange paying artists crap to use their platform.

[@24Carrot]

Hey Volks, great vid ofc, been a fan of ur guys work since the understanding Earl vid. I love you vids, and they inspired me make my own vids, get more into more music, appreciate music, and eventually journey my way to making music. So thank you for what you do ❤ P.S. I copped the chain and can’t wait to get it :))

[@melorhy925]

Very informative video of of the current music industry landscape.

[@retromusings]

This video is really interesting. I had never thought of Spotify in this manner.

[@thabreez456]

The headband looks great !

[@amazanta1605]

When’s the bandanna drop coming

[@jimmygreer2140]

I feel like the music industry has been effed by Apple and Consumers. People have gotten used to horrible quality because they would rather have airpods than real quality multi-driver ear buds. And then that translates to them being fine with absolute ish quality digital streams like Spotify. So these consumers don't understand how amazing HQ music can be. Music that comes from physical copies or digital FLAC lossless files. So support your artists by getting the best sounding versions you can own. And I'm sure it all evens out in the end. 10 bucks a month. 120 a year. Or just 1 purchase of 20-40 and you own it for life.

[@lowkeyfallasleep9511]

Spotify favorite features: Wrapped Radio technology Finding indie artists based on listening to more indie artists

[@MelanieMaguire]

The length of songs - the Beatles singles in the early 60's were usually less than 3 mins. Was that due to Spotify too?

[@angermanagementstudios]

I buy vinyl and cds still. I have Apple Music to check out a taste of an album/ artist and then buy it on physical media. The big record labels are still the gatekeepers chaps, just like it’s always been.

[@klaustrofobeats42]

We all chained by capitalism and as a normal act of survival we adapted trough environment. I think we can’t escape capitalism order, us artists, in special the working class kind, need to work hard to escape hard labor and timing consuming jobs to have time to create our art indeed the actual practice of deliver short time consuming music is the way that we find to link the songs with the fast way of life that we all living including our needs to digest the maximum information trough out the day.

[@Yelamar1]

Your videos are so underrated

[@Sacto1654]

Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music may not be perfect, but at least you're not subject to the whims of iHeart Media (as Clear Channel is known since 2013) deciding what you _should_ be listening to. You can (usually) find music from most artists on these services, and frankly, a lot of music that were not hits initially in the USA are being discovered now. Look at Madonna's _Confessions on a Dance Floor_ , one of her very best albums; Clear Channel effectively banned her after the _American LIfe_ controversy, and only many years later is this album finally being discovered by American listeners as they find it on streaming music services and often on KZbin.