Spotify Sucks… Redux
I’ve already beaten a dying horse about the new Spotify payment plan, and why it made a significant difference to me. I said what I did, I removed 135 tracks that would likely have made $150 for the year with just a few hundred streams. Removed them because with the new system, they’d earn $0.00. Fuck Spotify for that move, they’re not gonna exploit my work and not pay for it. I explained, too, that Spotify is the main source of listeners, and of revenue despite them being the lowest pay scale (AFAIK).
Who are the people who listen to music and how do they listen?
- Purchase mp3 files for local device
- Purchase vinyl (or CD)
- Streaming
For the creator of music, the streaming services are the easiest way to get recorded music out the the public audience. Physical items like CD or vinyl are costly to produce, unless you have an online fan base and/or are performing regularly. You can also sell media and merch on various online platforms like Bandcamp, as well as downloadable content. There are several new platforms beginning through a grass roots movement as well, but it will be a while before they have the traffic required for discovery.
After releasing my latest album with saxophonist Alex Nyman, it was released on Apple, Pandora, YouTube, Tidal, Deezer and… Spotify. However, I was asked to provide a way to purchase the music using PayPal. Although you can do this on Bandcamp, I decided try something new. It’s a service often used for podcasts or other activity, where you can tip people you appreciate. You can also sell downloadable media. That service is called Ko-fi. Here’s what the new album looks like on Ko-fi.
Buyers can pay more if they care to, and so far they generally have.
The decision to put your music up for sale, other than in person at venues, is not easy. Whether it’s for sale on Apple/iTunes, Bandcamp, Ko-fi, or any of the other numerous ways to buy online, you have to somehow drive people to that sales platform. You also have to decide about letting them listen to a preview, how many times, etc. Sending people to streaming platforms represent the same challenge, how to expose the site without advertising. Some, like Bandcamp, have discovery “channels” that allow members to find new music. Others have playlists (see the first graphic about Spotify playlists), but Spotify is the only platform that has an easy way to pitch new music to regular playlists.
Spotify playlists is a whole topic in itself, but the basic thing is, there are public playlists with hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands of subscribers. Although in the 1st graphic, other listener’s playlists are only 6%, getting on a good non-Spotify playlist gives a big boost. Dailyplaylists.com is an easy way to reach those listener’s playlists. There’s a whole tactic in doing that, and many playlists have very specific tastes your music needs to match. This is something you’ll have to explore, in order to understand it.
I’m writing this to help creators understand the amount of work there is, once you have the music recorded, mixed ready to distribute. I’ve seen hundreds of very good bands and artists on Spotify who have low numbers of listeners.
I have a track on Spotify that is an instrumental cover. It somehow got on a Spotify editorial playlist. In the first 18 months, it will have reached 100,000 streams. The ten best-performing tracks on my Spotify profile account for 400,000 streams. All of them have had good success on playlists. In the past 28 days, four tracks on two playlists have averaged 60 streams per day. I think you can see how I have a love-hate relationship with Spotify?
