Spotify Wrapped thoughts

I know I usually don't use Patreon for this type of content, but every year when I see artist getting all stats-crazy, I can't help feeling something…so here's a few thoughts. I wanted to put them somewhere. I'm fully in the music industry myself, and this is as much about music industry as it gets.

So, screw your Spotify Wrapped stats.

Give me stats of an actually healthy service any day over that. Give me actually healthy music-industry metrics.
It’s disheartening so many artists promote the company that, out of so many services, actually treats them pretty much the worst.

I know Spotify making the sharing of stats so easy to do and good-looking is a primary reason here, but still…feel free to do some thinking about this.
Posting those numbers promote the company and hardly you.
It’s almost like sort of promoting the company of a really bad employer just to somehow underline your achievements. Oh, and the employer did nothing to gain you any of that.
You’re just using his platform to promote yourself, and there’s no way you don’t promote his company while doing that.
You promoted the service of that bad employer. It’s the employer who invented the product that’s made it possible for artists to earn even less and less, and that’s just more for him.

If the state of music industry was different and even 1/4 of your streamers chipped in and paid you a fiver for your productions (look at your stats and do the math), it’d be much more money for you…but out of all services, at the end of the year we choose to promote Spotify instead? Food for thought.

So while Daniel Ek is absolutely filthy rich and *could* pay you better, he absolutely won’t.
For example, he tried to buy Arsenal FC. Heh.
And now he’s invested hefty amounts in AI weaponry tech. Yes, weaponry. With the money you earned for him.
This is that craze that happens when you just have way, way too much money but you’re not in it for the betterment of the people whose content is the only product you sell. Or people in general.
Your music, his sales, his maximum gains, your minimal gains.
We’re getting a fraction of what we *should* get.

Also, finally about the whole numbers game.
You do not have to try and validate your art by posting those numbers.
Back in the days, when music industry was in a healthier state and artists got paid more, none of that numbers nonsense was happening.
Can you imagine that? Think about it. There were no end-of-the-year stats flexing. Music did the talking, and people were happy to pay for music.

Electronic music culture – which to me always felt like an anti-pop underground punk movement – has become 100% like pop culture: numbers seem to mean way too much in everything.
The more we celebrate the importance of numbers (esp. Spotify numbers…) in validating our art, the more we emphasize a race to the bottom.

Aren’t there healthier ways to do say “I had a nice year as a musician?” and “Thanks for all the support?”

E.g., big up to Bandcamp, for example, and people who use it.
Big up to everybody who released music this year as well as people who bought music…let's keep this music industry thing rolling.

PS: New content soon…thanks for a great year here in Patreon, even without posting numbers! :P