A huge beef of mine is music news & reviews sites that offer up Spotify playlists embedded in their articles as a means of promoting music. The only thing this actually winds up promoting is Spotify itself. Is it too much to ask for these publications, who ostensibly are there to help promote music and musicians, to take a stand against the vehemently anti-musician Spotify? What is our best case to present to them in this matter? What can we suggest to them?
We (that is, the music PR firm I co-own, DogRanchMusicPR.com) often ask platforms to post alternative links to Spotify. Most are happy to do so. When possible we use Bandcamp links, since musicians make the most from direct-to-fan interactions there.
Thank you. I know some folks have become skeptical about Bandcamp since it's gone through some corporate-ownership changes, but as far as I can tell, it is still the best platform out there for everyday musicians making work, and that's what I always recommend as well.
Between 2015-22, the time I was actively and exclusively selling my music on Bandcamp, I generated the equivalent of roughly 24 million Spotify streams through direct sales, after fees. My music has always been ‘extremely’ niche. This income paid my rent, and sometimes more. Before Bandcamp, I released around 20 LPs and CDs on international labels. While I still receive royalties from some of those releases, the income pales in comparison to what I earned on Bandcamp. While I’m no longer selling my music, Bandcamp is still my go-to for buying music, even though I’m not happy with the changes the company has made in recent years.
For streaming, Qobuz is still the most ethical DSP. At ~ $0.0187 per stream, they pay nearly 6.5x what Spotify does. Notably, Qobuz pays for every stream. They were also the first platform to introduce lossless streaming (in 2007) and, in 2014, full-res masters, the way it should be. People should support them more, but most prefer the big, obvious choices, even though they're not much better than Spotify. After all, these platforms can only get as big as we allow them to be.
A huge beef of mine is music news & reviews sites that offer up Spotify playlists embedded in their articles as a means of promoting music. The only thing this actually winds up promoting is Spotify itself. Is it too much to ask for these publications, who ostensibly are there to help promote music and musicians, to take a stand against the vehemently anti-musician Spotify? What is our best case to present to them in this matter? What can we suggest to them?
Thank you for that jaw-dropping chart..
We (that is, the music PR firm I co-own, DogRanchMusicPR.com) often ask platforms to post alternative links to Spotify. Most are happy to do so. When possible we use Bandcamp links, since musicians make the most from direct-to-fan interactions there.
Thank you. I know some folks have become skeptical about Bandcamp since it's gone through some corporate-ownership changes, but as far as I can tell, it is still the best platform out there for everyday musicians making work, and that's what I always recommend as well.
Between 2015-22, the time I was actively and exclusively selling my music on Bandcamp, I generated the equivalent of roughly 24 million Spotify streams through direct sales, after fees. My music has always been ‘extremely’ niche. This income paid my rent, and sometimes more. Before Bandcamp, I released around 20 LPs and CDs on international labels. While I still receive royalties from some of those releases, the income pales in comparison to what I earned on Bandcamp. While I’m no longer selling my music, Bandcamp is still my go-to for buying music, even though I’m not happy with the changes the company has made in recent years.
For streaming, Qobuz is still the most ethical DSP. At ~ $0.0187 per stream, they pay nearly 6.5x what Spotify does. Notably, Qobuz pays for every stream. They were also the first platform to introduce lossless streaming (in 2007) and, in 2014, full-res masters, the way it should be. People should support them more, but most prefer the big, obvious choices, even though they're not much better than Spotify. After all, these platforms can only get as big as we allow them to be.
And public radio leads with it "find us on Spotify, ... or wherever you get your podcasts"