It’s all over blogs and shit that musicians should hate Spotify and other music streaming businesses because they do not compensate artists enough. My heroes Thom Yorke, David Byrne, and Nigel Godrich have all made written statements condemning Spotify, claiming they hurt the blooming artist. These three [white men] have been my heroes, my inspiration. Somehow though, for the first time I find myself strongly disagreeing with their statements. I believe we are in a digital age, where information is shared equally by all. Should we not have access to music the way we have access to books? Could our society not be improved by the socialization of enjoying others’ music?
David Byrne, of the band Talking Heads, wrote last week in a New York Times Op – Ed, “In the future, if artists have to rely almost exclusively on the income from these services, they'll be out of work within a year.” Yes, of course times change,but in my opinion, that just means that the artists’ service should change too. In art school, I learned from an established professor that a great artist uses what they have, that they conquer their limitations. When David Byrne mentions these future artists, it is assuming that they make their music using fancy studios, full orchestras, and the latest equipment. Musicians now shouldn’t sit on their ass and complain about how they don’t have enough money to rent a studio, rather they should prove they are worth listeners' time and make something with what they have.
Take me for example, I would love to have a full band and studio time, but I don’t have the money, so I just use my slow and decaying 4 year old slow laptop, and I make it work because that’s what a great artist does. Byrne fails to see the possibility that a different kind of musician could become prevalent. Musicians are already starting to become known for their resourcefulness and DIY quirks and charms that happen under the circumstance of a DIY budget are appreciated. This is the whole point of hipsters, isn’t it?
Nigel Godrich was quoted in a lengthy blogpost saying, “Smaller artists who are not in the position to charge anything like the Rolling Stones or Madonna [on merchandise and concert tickets] are not the ones that benefit…” blah blah blah. Yes ok, just making good music doesn’t sell anymore. So artists should find something that does. This is the whole point of merchandise. I put up my songs for free on bandcamp (when they aren’t a sarcastic $500), but every now and then I get someone who gives me some dough, just because they enjoyed the service I gave them and felt they could help out. It’s like busking, and it isn’t a disrespectful way to be an artist in my opinion. But this occasional generosity doesn’t in any way come near to the amount that I have made by selling T shirts, posters, and albums. How closed off and stubborn does a musician have to be, to not be able to make a package or some type of physical representation of what their music is, and then offer that to fans in exchange of money?
Or if not a physical copy of something, artists should just focus on the experiential aspect of listening to music, by making concerts so good and so different that people would be willing to pay for it through ticket sales. What even is music and why should it be considered a different medium than merchandise and performances? It’s all the same. Being considered an indie/pop musician today is an art form in itself.
I leave you, Buffalo aspiring musicians like myself, with this: if you want to navigate the world, adapt to it. There will be more musicians out there than in the past, there will be a surge in creative expression, but if you want to get anywhere with it you need to set yourself aside by being truly out of the box. The box being preconceived notions of what is required of you.
~ Post by Shawn Lewis/Lesionread
We are in a digital age where information should be shared equally by all for the profit of some huge corporation based in Sweden.
Yeah, really! Rich guys in gucci suits selling advertising on streaming services or illegal downloading websites should be making money off of music, not the artists that create it!
good post, nice to see someone disagree with the big names and then develop their idea so that I can understand why your do. Thanks