An interesting article has recently come across my desk.
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It is an interesting article but inconclusive at best. Spotify / Amazon / Appl Music will certainly be replaced and hopefully with something that is more artist friendly but the individual artists still need some service to promote themselves to a larger audience.
Napster had a huge impact
https://share.google/aimode/Vw48vxs9BgcSnWD7o
Interesting read.
"We are witnessing the death of the āMass Audienceā and the birth of the āMicro-Community.ā
Artists have been using social media to build communities for years.
Iām curious to see how this plays out. Time will tell.
Quote:
āThe artists who will survive the next five years are the ones who are quietly shifting their focus away from the āATM Machine.ā They are building their own cultural hangars.ā
And thatās ok for me, iām on the sideline cheering, but my question is: where can i find these hangars?
Iād prefer one or two sites, maybe, a huge database that i can search, to find the artists hangar and where to visit it.
I donāt want my inbox clogged up with a gazillion newsletters, telling me thereās a new release, for instance.
And thereās a part two:
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I wonder if we go full circle here. In my teens I found all my music from magazines like Kerrang and Metal Hammer and maybe weāll end up going back around to something like that.
Even with streaming discovery of new music is a problem. I donāt stream a lot but Iāve found very few new bands as a result of it - maybe Iām just old and set in my ways 
I dallied with Amazon and Spotify. I loved the immediacy. And then I found myslef listening to stuff without paying attention. Something good would come on and Iād go, āMmm, whoās thatā and either not check, or check and forget. I did discover some great artists - and went out and bought the vinyls. But thereās something about an algorithm choosing my music for me. Iām back to basics now. Digital music I own, CDs and vinyls, listening to music in the way the artist (OK, or maybe the publisher) intended. Am I missing out on some new finds? Yep, for sure. Is putting on a physical medium a thousand times more rewarding? Yep.
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I wonāt miss Spotify if it goes away. I recently read āThe Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlistā and if before I was ambivalent or curious about it, the book made me think itās not a good thing for music or musicians.
That aside, I started collecting vinyl a couple of years ago and more recently started buying CDs again. I do use Apple Music to help me discover music, but Iāll then buy a physical copy if I can or purchase an album on BandCamp. It made me realize that I missed the actual activity of music discovery: doing research, discovering a bandās or artistās influences or other similar bands, reading discerning music writing in magazines, talking to people and recommending music and getting music recommended to me.
I used to go down to the music store every Tuesday (the day new albums used to appear on the racks) and take chances on things, and listen to the whole album. And Iād actually listen because Iād invested some money in that so I was going to give it a chance, not just hit skip if the first fifteen seconds didnāt grab me. Those were the days!
EDIT TO ADD: I also have to sayā¦ I am not sure if Iāve ever cared about building a community with the artists or bands I like. I donāt and have never needed every little update about what theyāre doing. The indie snob in me, though, does get a bit nostalgic for the days when having a particular bandās t-shirt or new album first was something of a status symbol or shibboleth. Even as my musical tastes have broadened in my middle age, I miss the days when it took effort to stay on top of things.
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Itās interesting how everyone wants all their music to be free and easily accessible (even if just to decide what to buy/support), but hates the large providers for not paying the artists.
There are more bands/musicians now than at any time ever before. Many on your doorstep.
Why do people feel artists/musicians have a right to be paid, any more than other folk for doing what they love?
Sure, if you can build a viable business model around recording, performing, hocking merch, teaching and good olā begging for money (e.g. Patreon), you might be able to make a living out of it, but thatās the hard work youāre paid for. Not for the music making.
Of course, Universal Basic Income would allow everyone to indulge in a much creativity as we would likeā¦
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Iāve found a lot of new music on Pandora, particularly when I fiddle with the playing mode on my 50 or so āstationsā. Were it to die, I would miss it.
Jim Hallās Concierto de Aranjuez greeted me on day one of Pandora use (in 2001) --I immediately bought the CD , Iāve used Pandora since, particularly while on those dreadful business trips. Iāve probably purchased 100+ CDs of music I was introduced to on Pandora.
Growing up LPs and FM radio were my streaming services WBCN, WERS, WBUR, WGBH, etc. They played interesting, eclectic music. The DJs would play many songs before interrupting, and didnāt use signal compression, ads were rare or non-existent. Lots of live music. There are a lot of low power FM stations in the US that still embody the zeitgeist of that era, powered by volunteers with their quirky tastes in music. Mercifully, most of them stream as well. Finding those stations reminds me of my time in Peace Corps when shortwave was my connection to the outside world, hunting for stations when the ionosphere was cooperative and I liked what they played. Short Wave radio is a blast, and is also great in that it is most probably not in an echo chamber that youāre already in.
Support public radio!
They play real music, they host up and coming (and still going-for that matter) musicians live.
Support live music
Make your own music with friends and strangers
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All the radio stations around me all play the same music as all the radio stations in the other towns near me, and the towns that are far from me, too. I donāt think DJs donāt have any say in what they playāthey just fill the air and introduce the songs that some corporate algorithm (Iām sure) has pre-selected for them to play between ads. There are also a lot fewer venues for live music, and a lot fewer music stores than there used to be (let alone ones that will let you sample an album before you buy it).
When my work schedule allowed, I used to listen to KEXP for hours every morning. It was great (and I imagine it still is). It was my favourite way to discover new songs and artists. I wish there were more stations like that (or that I had a job that allowed to to just throw on headphones and listen to music all morning while I worked).
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Hunt for the low power FM stations. They are staffed by volunteers. Theyāre hit or miss, but the crews running them are ordinary folks, they donāt get paid to play certain songs, so they play their stuff.
The public radio stations have more regular shows, and at least the ones up in the Northeast of the US, have quite an eclectic selection. I have a few shows that I regularly listen to as I like their choices of music.
You can tell the big-box radio stations as you scroll the dialāwith signal compression they just jump out at you. Those are the ones that serve up the pablum.
I sometimes listen to KEXP as well.
Itās worthwhile supporting a station that supports indie artists
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Pandora is what I use as well, especially for learning new songs. I like being able to query just about any song and replay it over and over drilling into details for transcribing. The lyrics are often available which is super helpful. I remember getting an album or an 8 track tape, listening to the music and not really knowing what the words were! The Internet has really helped society understand the messages being relayed. It seems like things used to take so long to catch on. Now itās like the snap of a finger!
Iāve never been a big streamer of music. I tried spotify but that didnāt last. Never cared for it and especially not now that I know how they pay a pittance for plays and other issues surrounding it.
I do use Pandora some. Not a ton, but occasionally. Iāve found new stuff there occasionally. I find more new stuff listening to my local public radio station (WNCW), who also streams. I have taken to buying physical media where I can or buying digital when I canāt (preference for bandcamp first, then itunes if I canāt find it there). My area has some cool music shops where I can find lots of eclectic cds, which is what I tend to buy. I do want to buy a modern radio/music player, though. Thereās been some cool vinyl Iāve passed on because I donāt have a record player. And itās currently annoying to play the cds I have at home.
I have my music collection on a thumb drive which is what I mostly listen to while driving. If not listening to that, itāll be the local public radio station. None of the other music options really work well given that I drive into the mtns. Internet definitely cuts out. And most of the other radio stations cut out once you get into the hills/mtns also.
Bandcamp is probably the premier place for independent artists. I follow a few musicians on there. There have a very strict policy on AI:
Cheers,
Keith
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