There is much happening right now that I will share with you soon. Bare Wood 2 is finished and I am very, very happy with it. It’s been a beautiful weekend. The light outside is incredible. It’s been raining a little every day. It’s all good.
I also came across the following video and would love to hear what you think of it.
Honestly, when I listen to this I am convinced that men are an evolutionary dead end. For more context and background read this post at Music Technology Policy.
Now I am going to bake my bread and make risotto for dinner. That’ll set me right.
How about that exciting, energetic hailstorm this afternoon?!! I brought my plants indoors and listened to the Buffalo stampede across the roof! It felt like someone was fast pitching hundreds of 1-inch hardballs at the windows. As These hailstones landed on the earth, they bounced up and flew in every direction! Wowee! Then all was well again, as the sun appeared and soon turned into a fiery red disc.
My heart is extremely disturbed about the abusive treatment of performing artists on streaming services. It seems to call for some Copyright and other legal actions to control this exploitation. Look at the troubles social media is having, though not the Same issues as music streaming. How can this be controlled. The answer seems to be escaping all the experts who are well-motivated. They are like David facing the Goliath of Greed and arrogance.
One good Point, the internet streaming is great advertising. It introduces the public to artists that May be somewhat unknown as yet. When I began to explore YouTube looking for more and more of your music, I Set about buying as many of your CD’s as I could find, so I could have them permanently on my systems. And your streamed live concerts were wonderful. I was always happy to pay the modest amount for These concerts. I think the artists have to make a Big noise persistently to gain public awareness. Science endeavors also have always had problems with funding their research and development: money sources always want immediate return on investment.
Now I am going to have a dish of French Vanilla ice cream with chocolate Sauce. That will Set me right. :-)
What riles me most is the tone of the Spotify engineer’s reply to the woman. He calls musicians entitled, claims that an engineer is an artist, and comes across like a smug bastard.
Jim Anderson says, “The problem is this: Spotify was created to solve a problem. The problem was this: piracy and music distribution. The problem was to get artists’ music out there. The problem was not to pay people money.”
Two comments:
… THAT’S obviously false: Spotify was created to make the founders money. As much money as possible. To claim anything otherwise is sophistry. Now he got away with it in front of everyone at SyncSummit, but this is obviously the case.
Second, Spotify IS inclined to pay well for “talent” they perceive will meet the item above: in May of 2020, Joe Rogan announced he was moving to Spotify for $100 million dollars. Now, what does that say? To me, it says that Spotify, in fact, WILL pay large $$$$ for people/talent THEY perceive will create more subscriptions and make the founders more money.
The only logical conclusion is artists being “paid well” is viewed by Spotify management as an unacceptable level of financial leakage.
Finally … Jim knows this, but is sufficiently dishonest in public as to not admit it on mic…. The ability for Spotify to change the micropayment ratio is absolutely trivial should they choose to do so. To move from $0.003 or $0.0084 per stream to $0.01 is quite literally the click of a button.
The premise that they don’t exist to “pay people money” and to do so is to engage in an “entitlement” exercise is dissembling on Jim’s part. He knows this.
I do find it completely ironic that the employees of Spotify are so vehement about Joe Rogan and his views, but they have absolutely no ethical problem (apparently) with what they (Spotify) do to artists. Especially independent ones.
Ek was part of Pirate Bay. Perhaps Anderson was involved with it as well. Spotify was created to replace Pirate Bay with something better because it was legal. I read that when Spotify started they used hundred of thousands of songs without a license. It’s the old adage that do something and ask forgiveness if you get caught is easier than asking permission in the first place. Spotify is Pirates claiming to help rid you of your possessions.
It’s interesting that you write this: in my first draft of my comment, I said”
“Spotify is legalised piracy” … but thought, “no, that’s hyperbolic” … I guess not.
“What goes around eventually comes around.” (Energetically)
Whether it’s “legalized piracy” by “smug bastards” that are helping run and keep the “digital plantation owners” oozing with enough “stolen money” for hundreds of lifetimes, or some other form of obvious corruption, it will eventually “fall apart” in some way because it is out of integrity and dishonest. Blood money Is blood money. I know this sounds so simple, and doesn’t come close logically to “solving” the huge problem. But perhaps “men are an evolutionary dead-end” is untrue. Perhaps it is the old distorted “masculine energy” of Believing in and acting out force and dominance and a lust for power & control just because one can……which is found in both ggenders—distortion, fear and corruption could be in and perpetuated by both ggenders.
So my thought is not so much about the obvious problem that you and others speak about, but more about Solutions. There is a river flowing a direction, strongly. The laws of earthly physics flow with it, but the “quantum laws” of things like cause and effect, and vibration of things are independent, and ultimately do not support distorted, energy. So with that in mind, even our intentions count. Perhaps it’s time to give more of our energy attention to brand new ways-of-being that support new solutions instead of fear, judgement, shame,, blame, control, and others that none of us have thought about yet? (e.g. bread-baking; ice-cream sundae-making; risotto-eating ;)
Our imaginations are limitless—this is how Artists keep flowing with new music and ideas that support these “pirates” in the first place! Maybe there are New Ways we all can and are shifting towards that can “Feed” more “SynergisticSolutions” in Dissolving the “problem?” Think Uber and Lyft! They went right around conventional taxi service without “hurting” anyone! “Outsmart” the “digital plantation owners” at their own “game”, without power, control, logic or negative intention. This is not a chess game they understand. Perhaps this IS the “New Way.” Stop “resistance”, and just go around the “rock or pirates.” There Is a Solution. And I have no idea what it is yet…but maybe You or someone else does have an out.of.the.box idea that can be expanded…. Maybe it could begin with the musician.s union? Do you have one? Similar to the film industry…
With loving gratitude and kindness, sets me right ;)