We're All Dirtbags

“There is no ethical consumption under capitalism.”

It can be challenging to make personal ethical consumption decisions when systems are structured in a certain way, but does that mean we shouldn’t try? Are the fundamentals of music streaming making it impossible for ethical consumption of music this way? Are we forever stuck with a ‘lesser evil’? Or going 100% back to analog joy?

And as for dirtbags, no matter what we choose and why, we’ll find we’re hurting someone somewhere in the process, usually, the artists. But perhaps we can do a little better.

We’re exploring innovative new models and methods, and artist support models that actually reach their pockets. And, if you’re considering more ethical music streaming consumption, or are about |this| close to switching to an MP3 player, here’s some food for thought.

A very interesting panel conversation, Low Four Soundcheck: Swimming Upstream is 1 hour and 15 minutes of discussion about achieving a fairer platform economy for listeners and musicians. Of course, Queen of F-Spotify, Liz Pelly, was mentioned. Whose book, Mood Machine, is fantastic.

The panel is comprised of names you probably don’t know, but should if the economics of music streaming are your thing: Katherine Bassett, Dr. Raquel Campos Valverde, Tom Sharkett, Julia Toppin, and Dr. Maria Perevedentseva. Heavyweights in streaming economics and consumption academia, some with firsthand experience, on the artist side, some on the label side.

It’s long, so make yourself a drink and a snack before you watch it.

We might be too deep in streaming to roll it back, but not too far gone to demand better. If the video is too long, here is the TLDR:

The streaming economy was never designed for artists.

If bias is baked into the algorithm, fairness has to be coded back in.

Panel suggestions:

But are we already too deep in a world where profit always wins?

But what does all that mean for the average listener, like you or us?

We’re not bad people for loving convenience. But convenience has a body count.

The thing about music streaming is that it is convenient. It’s so easy, and we assume that paying our monthly subscription is enough. But by the time the money gets to the artist, it’s barely anything. Qobuz reports the highest payout of $18.73 per 1,000 plays to rights holders. Initially, Qobuz was significantly more expensive than Spotify; however, the difference is no longer as substantial. If artist support is your goal, then the price won’t matter. They’ve also just been ranked as the most ethical of the major streaming platforms. (Spotify is zero, in case you are wondering).

The idea of moving all of your playlists or having holes in your catalog shouldn’t be enough to hold you in place if you want to leave. Both are relatively minor issues. Music transfer services can help with the move.

The systemic issues lie between the platforms and the majors, but we’re complicit by paying our subscription fees; does that make us bad music fans? Does the ‘passive’ listening encourage us to care less? Maybe.

But what if you want to ditch all of them?

There are other options, like Nina, which offers an interesting new economic model: a community revenue share. Not only that, but if you buy a Release for $8, the artist gets $8. Curators can also create Hubs to write about Releases and make playlists. Paid tools are planned for in the future, but artists will always get 100% revenue. Note: Nina uses Solana, and Releases are semi-fungible tokens (like NFTs).

Bandcamp, which has made incredible strides, allows you to see on any given day how many records people have purchased (93,509 on November 4th). Bandcamp has long been an excellent platform for supporting artists. They have recently released Bandcamp Clubs. A subscribe-to-own experience, you’ll get Record of the Month, and cool communications from the curator. “It’s a more intentional way to discover music while directly supporting the artists, curators, and community behind it.”

“Music Done Right”, Audius. A community-run music platform that ‘connects’ artists and fans directly. The platform boasts some notable names in its support, including Nas, The Chainsmokers, and Pusha T. Listeners can discover new artists for free and collect and share tracks without any additional costs. They can tip the artists directly using $AUDIO.X ( ▲ 1.6% ) tokens.

Want something more interesting?

Boasting 10,520 artists, 1,789 labels, and 1,523 supporters, in a co-op. Say hello to Subvert. Their alpha platform is live for members-only testing. You can become a Founding Member, which will set you back $100, you’ll get a physical Zine and a membership certificate. It’s early days; no crypto, musicians and labels can join for free. They’re not quite ready yet, but these are ones to watch.

And finally, EVEN, a pay-what-you-want, pay-how-you-want platform. It offers 22 different ways to pay for the music you want, and it goes directly to the artists (because you’re buying directly from them). It’s community-focused, promising exclusive content, merch, and early access to artists’ work.

Will these give you the same experience as Spotify? No. You're trading convenience for ethics, catalog size for artist support, passive listening for intentional discovery. That's the actual choice.

What music streaming platforms offer you is a cheap(ish) point of entry, and over 100 million tracks. It’s right there, in your hand, any time you want it. It’s fast. At the tap of a button, you can have Taylor, Tyler, Kendrick, The Morbid Podcast, The Alchemist, anything you want. It sounds too good to be true, because it is, but not for us as listeners.

For us, it is more than we could’ve ever dreamed of. For artists, it’s a nightmare. They have to be there because their fans are, and accept the pitiful income as a result. However, there isn’t an ethical option that offers the same benefits as the other major streaming platforms. And therein lies the conundrum.

These platforms work if you're willing to:

Maybe the dirtbag in us isn’t the one using the platform, it’s the version pretending not to know better.

*Spotify Quote Source.

Until next time,