Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Fuck Spotify

Maybe this is cranky old man talking, maybe it's last night's bourbon.

But fuck Spotify.

And I mean that in the nicest way possible.

Spotify is a European only streaming music service that allows you access to an unlimited stream of ad supported music. You can subscribe and get some sort of iPhone/Android app to listen to off line. And of course, if you like it, you can buy it.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - streaming music is bad for musicians, both financially and artistically. It promotes a singles driven culture, and the royalties you reap (especially independent artists) are very minor.

The problem is that there is no value on content (same thing for newspapers and print media online). And if the consumer doesn't value it, then he'll never give you any money for it.

The big four record companies (who all own a stake in Spotify in exchange for access to their catalog) haven't quite figured out that their sales keep dropping because they put less and less value on their content.

Spotify is just quicking their death. Don't buy in.

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