Lately I noticed there is some talk about Spotify, and the way artists do not see a penny from the streams they see people are listening to. The other day I was at a concert of Goethes Erben, a German darkwave avant-garde singer (I promise I will get back to that later, as I bought some records). He claimed he would not make any more records because of Spotify and the lack of benefits coming from it.
I’ve heard it before. We can all claim that the only people getting rich off the backs of the artists are the record executives behind it, or worse, the risk investors the move like evil shadows behind them. And we can start a rant about how the poor artists are being exploited again.
Spotify started as a fairly decent way to make money, especially for smaller artists. I mean: you cut out the middle man right? There is no need for expensive shopkeepers, distribution, marketing campaigns if you can all do it by yourself, right? Wrong. What was once good has been twisted around to a planet sized money making machine.
So it happens again. This is not the first time it happens, nor will it be the last. The battle between the have and the have-nots does not combine well with the romantic image music, or art in a wider sense, is giving you. It is just too cynical.
Of course all of this has nothing to do with the beautiful Roberta Alexandra.