After long deliberation, I’ve decided to pull my music from all major streaming platforms. Most folks already know why. Most folks are aware of the insultingly small amount the platforms pay artists. As my music approaches half a million streams, I find my pay to be about $1,500. That’s about 10% of what it costs to produce a record. It is unsustainable to produce music at a 90% loss. In fact, it’s insane. I recognized that half a million streams is not much compared to pop star numbers. I’m not a pop star, but I believe my work has value and I don’t believe Spotify/Apple Music compensates fairly for that value.
As a music lover and consumer, I have come to understand my own responsibility to support the creative work of others in a financially significant way. Without fair compensation, our new favorite bands will die before they ever become our new favorite bands. If our model only supports pop stars and AI tracks, then soon that is all we will have. I don’t want that, so I will personally be looking for ways to buy music fairly from the musicians I want to hear.
Honestly, low pay is the least disturbing part of our current streaming situation. Their algorithms already control what people hear. Now these companies are supporting the rise of AI generated music. There is no reason for them not to flood playlists with their own AI content, pushing real artists to the margins.
The rotten cherry on top is that Spotify actively invests in AI powered military drones. There you have it. My hard work and decades of dedication to crafting meaningful music is in the hands of people who would pay me next to nothing so they can take the profits and fuel military technology. Nope.
I think someday we will look on this time period the same way we look at music documentaries about rock bands that signed a bad deal. We are all shocked at how they were treated. We all wished someone had been in the room and told them not to sign away their publishing. Well, here we are…we have all signed a bad deal. I’d like to spend the next part of my career on my own terms.
It's scary to leave these streaming platforms. Leaving them will drastically reduce the number of people who hear my music. As I sat with this truth, another truth occurred to me: Many of the people hearing my music on these platforms aren’t really hearing it at all. My work to find the right words and the best sounds is lost in a sea of shuffling tracks and skip buttons. The rise of Spotify has led to the diminishment of people’s ability (including my own) to actually listen to music. Many folks won’t read to the bottom of this page, much less listen to an actual album from beginning to end.
So, I’m done with Spotify and Apple Music. I am redirecting energy spent on endless streaming promotion . I’m focusing on connecting with you, my smart, discerning, and attractive audience. I want to create real life experiences where we can connect. I want to sit in a circle and play songs with you. I want to play more shows and have those shows full of songs you can only hear at that time and that place. There is no substitute for live music and human connection. For folks who want to listen to my recordings, I will make them available on the artist friendly platform Bandcamp (click here). I will also post videos, lessons and other content on Patreon.
If you made it to the bottom of this page, you are amazing, and I’d like to meet you.