i saw this tweet of spotify’s ceo daniel ek (who, btw, never replied to my questions from part I, hehe) and felt the need to comment and share

well, so far my upcoming album costed me a bit more than 5000 euros, all of which were paid for studio rentals, fees for musicians and collaborators, logistic costs etc. not a single euro of this was used as my fee for my time and work. and the album is still far from being finished. i just ran out out of money and can’t afford further production.

it’s been a struggle working on this album, which i started recording in early 2022. but i feel like those songs must reach their listeners and i continue doing my best to finish this job. and if by ‘resurgence of stoicism’ mr. ek means that artists now learn than happiness is in virtue, not things or money, – well, he’s kinda right, but it’s more of a necessity in the face of crisis, than a philosophical enlightenment.

but what i read here is justification of spotify’s modus operandi.

it’s comforting for him to think ‘cost of creating content being close to zero’ when they take away incomes of new independent artists (i wrote about it here).

it’s comforting for him to fantasise about ‘resurgence of stoicism’ and imagining humble artists living on water and bread and selflessly creating ‘content’ for the virtuous mr. ek, making global history of music here, while Spotify confirmed record profits of over €1billion – following staff being laid off and subscription prices rising

what a pile of bullshit.

at the moment i’m working on withdrawing my music from spotify, and possibly some other streaming platforms as well, so if you want to have a fair continuous access to my art, please subscribe to mycelium – my own platform that allows me to avoid collaboration with such entities as spotify.

PS: loved this reply