An article from a few weeks back in NME caught my eye, and got me wondering. Is Spotify killing music? We don't really think of that as our favourite band bring out a new album; while we see our bank balance as £0.00; therefore we go on Spotify to listen to it- for free. You're probably the same as me- we all of a sudden get into a trap of listening to all those albums that are out that week, pledging to buy them later on- but we never do.
If you don't know what Spotify is then you must be living on a different planet! Spotify is heaven for music lovers! With every album; EP; single in its database including my mums bad glam rock taste from her youth. Try it out if you can... type in yours/your mums/your dads favourite band and at least one result will be listed and then you can listen to it right there and then for the price of zil. All that is very convenient considering the amount of music there is out there at the moment, and you can't buy every single track you like if you're a skint student like me. But those people who make the music that we dance; cry; smile to... what are they getting out of it?
Well, UK indie band Friendly Fires currently get half a penny for their tracks played on Spotify with their manager Phil Morals saying "No-one's making a f***ing penny." All the while the record companies get an 18% share in Spotify as a whole (which is a very profitable business) suggesting music won't die out- our lives won't become a soundless hole just yet- because the big bosses are still making money from it all. It's just in all of this the people who matter are being forgotten- the creators of our favourite songs.
Concerns for new music artists were already big considering illegal downloading. The majority of money they make comes from touring which is also under threat because of the recession. It's all one big catch 22.
But then again times need to change and Spotify is seen as the future of accessible music to all. It's a hard issue with good and bad sides.What do you think? Is it the future or end of music as we know it?
Beth x
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To be honest, if one of my favourite bands release a new album, I try and make sure I definitely get a hard copy of the album. But if I hear of, say, one song by an artist, I won't got out and buy the album if that's the only thing I like. I'll find a way of getting the one song.
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