The Spotify Dilemma

[Aleatoriac]

I can't imagine how artists can live off of streaming income.

That's the real problem. We can all rationalize, point to supply and demand and so on... But at the end of the day - someone produces, someone consumes - a middle man rakes in the cash - and the producer doesn't get paid.

That ain't capitalism. And it ain't even remotely ethical, fair, moral, etc... Motherfuckers.

Now this being KVR I'm sure some f**king upstart will tell me to "stop whining" - And to you let me pre-empt your vacuous fallacy of relative privation... An honest assessment of the situation isn't whining, don't ya' know

[incubus]

Wasn't it taylor swift that started a big thing about this years ago?

Personally, I have no clue as I'm a level below amateur, but it's almost as if they started out "strong" and then left people hanging in the wind for whatever the next trend is.

EDIT: One other thing.....

Isn't this just part of the "business model" for this era? It changes so fast and is so fickle there is no way to have a solid "win" for anyone?

[dayjob]

Here is some good information for those who don't understand what I am talking about.

http://diymusician.cdbaby.com/music-pro ... followers/

Artist curated playlists are a great way to actually make something substantial from Spotify as an indie artist. Spotify is not going away they're actually making huge waves. As much as I want to hate them I feel it's important for us to claim our space on there.

this all just sounds like ways to get more people using spotify. there's nothing in there about why it's actually good for an artist except "he preached and i was converted".

i'd rather spend time directing people to bandcamp where i have direct control over every aspect and i'm not just creating content for a streaming service to make money but rather to help build a place that is actually a good deal for artists.

that link you posted is just hype about "ZOMG DO THESE THINGS AND BUILD A FOLLOWING AND GET YOUR SONGS SHARED AND YOU COULD GO VIRAL". it reads like marketing from 10 years ago for myspace.

i get it. it's probably worth doing for some people. it's basically the radio for a bunch of people while they're at work. it's another social network on which to try and fight through the signal to noise ratio and build an audience...

edit: reading your other post.. if you're getting syncs on shows and getting things placed often then sure.. spotify is just another place to be heard.. a place where someone who heard your song on CNN or whatever can search for your music. why not.. no harm i guess. it's a different kind of game/hustle/strategy. not suitable to everyone

[waiting man]

Am I the only one who finds this thread depressing?

Spotiwhat?

Algae-rhythms?!?

[andrew71]

Apologies for raising this thread from the dead...

Does anyone have any up to date tips for gaining listeners/followers on Spotify, short of using paid (and probably dodgy) services?

If anyone would like to follow me, my artist link is https://open.spotify.com/artist/1ftUz2n8dR4FxyhHZ6aanl

[AsPeeXXXVIII]

Thank Christ I've stayed away from Spotify.

[ellarah]

Hi there!

I would love to help but I can't get registerd on Spotify in my Country.

It just says that this service is not available in your (my) country.

Wonder what other chamnnels or route I can take to generate some small passive income with my music. ...

Regards
Surreal

You can submit your music to Spotify and others through your distribution account/company ... with or without having a listener account.

...

ETA: I missed the 2nd page at first, lol. I'm getting caught up now.

So is that just two Spotify artists linked here so far? Am I missing anyone? I followed you two and started to listen. Spotify gets glitchy when I open web links and I had to end up rebooting --- oh, now there's an ad after 1 song, haha. It might take time to get to the second artist's songs BUT I've followed already.

Congrats, you are both doing really well IMHO.

I think, for now, I will be another one not sharing my artist link because I'm too embarrassed!!!

I'm still starting up though way too slowly so far. I plan to change that in 2018 and it's going ok (except for the human social aspect). Waiting for mixing and mastering rn now and hope to release more through the year. Then maybe I could worry about this though this biz stuff I know way too well too early hahahaha. Someday it might actually help.

[ellarah]

Important clarification and good news for CD Baby users!!

Apparently we can just go ahead and verify our artist pages if we use CD Baby. Log in to CDBaby, click Tools & Promotion, Spotify for Artists, and it's mostly straight forward from there.

The header image size thing is a bit wonky but I made it work by making my picture 1 pixel extra wide and tall, haha. Buggy. I also couldn't type into the bio area or find my playlist yet (though I just changed its name so hopefully that's why).

The site might work better on some browsers.

[Jace-BeOS]

i don't see what the dilemma is.. they don't pay anyone. i don't use it. i still have an old ipod w/my music and a bunch of playlists. i make my own.. i don't need their shitty algorithm to do it for me.

when did music become so passive as a listener? i guess the radio is passive and this is no different but if that's the case then i'll double down on not caring about spotify because the radio sucks too and i haven't listened to radio in years either.

so why should i care about the "new radio" that is spotify? they don't pay artists. streaming is pretty much a scam for independent artists especially. if you're posting on KVR about spotify then you too are an independent artist and have to have more plays than taylor swift just to make minimum wage.. your'e better off putting your music on bandcamp and finding your audience.

you're pissing in the wind.

This nicely sums up my feelings about radio and streaming services. I don't make music to appeal to the masses, so there's no way any of this is relevant to me as an artist. I hate the radio for multiple reasons and streaming services aren't any different in my observations, so they're also irrelevant to me as a consumer.

[samsam]

From the artist point of view, Spotify may well suck but from a consumer point of view, Spotify is lush.

I pay relatively little per month for a family of accounts, can search for tons of music old and new, can download so I can listen offline. Absolutely love it.

Listening to 15 years of the Bunker right now, dark teccy stuff.

[music_boy]

Done!

Here's mine:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1E8slBJPNvUSPpRIh3xtkI

Cheers

[satumma]

I submitted my album through Distrokid and they offered to set up an verified artist page as part of the process. So I think the topic is a bit old in that regard.

However. There is no reason why people can't put up their artists links to share with people. I worked on my album for years. I am proud of it and I want as many people as possible to hear it. It might not be you cup of tea but there's a global audience available and if I can eventually reach a respectable number of people that connect with my music I will be eternally pleased.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6oWBaig ... yK5QaFQz7w

Also, I have created a collaborative playlist for the KVR community. If you've posted you link already you should already be added. If you want to be added you should be able to do so directly. If not, email me at satumma @gmail.com

https://open.spotify.com/user/satumma/p ... gF4lVPtZDg

Happy listening. Good luck.

[satumma]

Done!

Here's mine:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1E8slBJPNvUSPpRIh3xtkI

Cheers

Listened, nice work.

[woggle]

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6cbbq2Z ... XQxwHQWjqg

is one, and here is the other

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0nGpUwb ... Tp53JegsSg

[satumma]

Very nice, added to the playlist

thanks to anyone else adding their own music as well. Don't forget to hit follow so that the playlist will get some traction as well.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6cbbq2Z ... XQxwHQWjqg

is one, and here is the other

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0nGpUwb ... Tp53JegsSg