this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2023
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[–] Bimbleby@lemmy.world 18 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (4 children)

Depends doesn’t it? If I make a song that is listened to zero times, I wouldn’t expect to get a payout that equals Spotify subscriber income split by amount of songs. Disregarding the popularity.

The entertainment business, is a one-to-many business and money follows whomever sits at the top of the pyramid. And it was the exactly the same before the streaming era.

[–] Quatity_Control@lemm.ee 0 points 9 months ago (3 children)

If you make a great song, and Dua Lipa makes a crap song, which one would be featured and added into playlists by Spotify's algorithms? It's not a level playing field. It doesn't promote content that isn't already popular.

[–] Bimbleby@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I'm sure that songs that tend to become popular are probably promoted first. And I think we agree that you can always do more work to showcase lesser known artists.

But with that said, it has never been easier to get your music published. And any idiot can make their music globally available. Which is a win for smaller artists.

And the songs that Spotify put in my Discover Weekly list, often has less than 10.000 plays. So in that regard their algorithm work in the unknown artists favour.

[–] Quatity_Control@lemm.ee 2 points 9 months ago

You mention your discover weekly. Do you know how that algorithm works? It suggests songs that you have not played, that other people who played songs that you played. It's the same positive feedback loop. It's songs already popular that it promotes to be played more. Which makes them more popular so it recommends them more. And thus you end up with the most steamed artists only making 15% of the content.

Does it work? Passably. For the majority, mostly generic listeners. Is it a fair way to structure a platform and to dispense payments? No. A great business model however.

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