The Spotify Dilemma

I’m having an internal conflict over the use of Spotify as a means for me to get my music out into the world. Spotify has become the dominant means through which recorded music is distributed and listened to. As artists, our spotify presence has become a big part of our resume for getting gigs at bigger venues/festivals and to reach new audiences and potential fans. Certainly it’s possible to build a career without using Spotify but it would be a handicap. I had qualms initially about uploading my stuff to Spotify, related to their low payouts to artists but eventually decided I’d rather have my music be more accessible. 

More recently I’ve been learning about using Meta Ads to drive Spotify streams, which I’ve heard from multiple sources is an effective way to get numbers up and more importantly to get new active listeners and potential fans. I subscribed to the “Million Streams Membership,” with Two Story Media, to learn how to run effective meta ads (among other things; they also have a free newsletter which I recommend to artists or anyone interested in music marketing).

Soon after this, Daniel Ek, the founder of Spotify, made news headlines for selling -700 Million dollars worth of Spotify shares and investing that into Helsing, a private AI Defense Company, which he’s also the chair of (Defense in stars because it’s used to attack as well). I understand that war is a part of the world that we live in but, as much as possible, I’d like to not be supporting it and I definitely don’t want to support people in profiting off of the creation of weapons. I say “as much as possible” because in order to live in this country, we all have to pay taxes (even if it’s just sales taxes), which means we’re supporting the biggest warmonger of all, our government. With private companies, like Spotify, though, we have a choice to support or not.

As of now, I still have my Spotify membership, and still use their services as a listener. I also still have my music up and don’t plan to take it down (at least not right now). There are, of course, other streaming platforms out there. My older brother Peter has touted Tidal, which does boast a better audio fidelity than Spotify. These other services don’t have the ubiquity that Spotify does but if enough people choose other options then it’s possible that can change. It reminds me of the two party system where people are afraid to vote for 3rd parties because they think “Oh they’re never gonna win,” so then they never do.

Then of course there’s the question of the moral integrity of these other companies. And once we open up that can of worms, we can talk about Meta and how they’re creating their own AI Defense business, Anduril. It’s at the point where there’s so many corporations, of varying levels of morality, embedded into our society that it’s really impossible to know if the dollars we spend are getting used to kill people in far off countries or not. That said, we can do the best we can and when something is glaring us in the face it’s worth considering our alignment, at the very least.

Where do I go from here? Paying Spotify $12 a month is one thing, but actively advertising my music on their service is another level of involvement where I’m actually encouraging others to use it as well. I do believe in my music and the positivity that it can bring to the world, so maybe it’s worth it and then when I have more clout I can take a stance? I still need to let these ideas percolate a bit before I decide exactly what I’m gonna do. What do you think? As an artist, or a listener, or otherwise? I’d definitely love to hear some other perspectives and hope that maybe this is helpful for someone else who’s thinking about this too.