Why nothing Mr Spotify said is new – and why rather than get mad at old news, there are other things we as artists might do instead.
So Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said some things – some rather arrogant, tone-deaf things to be sure, but CEO-brand things nonetheless – and a bunch of people got mad. I got confused – not by Ek’s statements, but by the response.
You Can’t Record Music Every Three Or Four Years And Think That’s Going To Be Enough. The artists today that are making it realize that it’s about creating a continuous engagement with their fans. It is about putting the work in, about the storytelling around the album, and about keeping a continuous dialogue with your fans.
Why is everybody mad at this – now? He isn't saying anything we haven't heard from "industry professionals" for 20 years. It's not new, game-changing or industry-killing at all – it's actually, simply, depressingly, conservative.https://t.co/Am6bIKa7kd
— Ray Mann (@RayMann) August 8, 2020
The sad reality of being a musician has *for the better part of a century* been that your choices are: submit to the machine, or go rogue.
— Ray Mann (@RayMann) August 8, 2020
Is it arrogant? Absolutely.
Is it fair? Of course not.
Is it new? Not even a little bit.… or is the anger simply because it's now been stated bluntly by an individual? That it's easier to blame a systemic problem on a single villain?
— Ray Mann (@RayMann) August 8, 2020
One important means of survival for the apparatus (both major record companies and their partners) is a pejorative discourse with artists – one which makes us believe that we need them more than they need us.
It works best when they know what they're doing, and we don't.
— Ray Mann (@RayMann) August 8, 2020
I could go on even more about this – but I do want to end my rant with a positive, of sorts:
I think ppl getting mad at this are missing something far more important – the creative challenge this presents, to rethink / reinvent yr process and what it means.
— Ray Mann (@RayMann) August 8, 2020
While we don't need to submit to Spotify (or anyone), some of us might use its business model as a creative framework.
What kind of art can I create in this landscape? How different will it look to what I've created in the past? How will I evolve, maybe even thrive?
— Ray Mann (@RayMann) August 8, 2020
Or not. Explore.
Just don't waste time getting mad at one dude who's gotten rich off our backs. Because he's only one of many, he's not the first, the whole game is fk'd, and beautiful things still emerge from it.
— Ray Mann (@RayMann) August 8, 2020