Take ten minutes to make Spotify sad
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For most bands, the only dependable, recurring income outside of touring is streaming revenue. And still, for some reason, most people use Spotify to stream music.
On top of not paying artists well, championing AI music, and the CEO's connection to military technology, Spotify runs ads for 🧊.
Much like my general rule for festivals who allow military recruitment: people who advertise for ICE shouldn't get my money.
I've been using Tidal for a while now, but still had playlists on Spotify that I don't pay for. Yesterday, I took ten minutes and $5.50 and migrated all of them to Tidal.
Here's how you do it:
- If you use Tidal, go to Transfer Music.
- It points you to TuneMyMusic where you need to sign up for a premium service ($5.50/month) to transfer more than 500 songs. I signed up then cancelled it immediately afterwards.
- Wait maybe 5-10 minutes for everything to transfer over. Done.
If you use Qobuz, these are the instructions to transfer playlists for free.
Personally, I use Tidal because I know from my own royalty statements that they pay artists significantly more than other streaming services. 👍
Qobuz is also another, less expensive option. I've also confirmed that the most recent Worriers records are on Qobuz.
Best case scenario, everyone buys the records they like, but I also understand how reality (and capitalism) works.
And if you've been listening to podcasts on Spotify, I recommend the app Pocket Casts instead.
We don't have control over much these days, and there's little that I think truly gets the attention of billionaires, but when we have the opportunity to impact their profits, I think we should!
We can do better. You CAN do better. Fuck Spotify.
If you want to read a book on how Spotify's business model is changing our collective consciousness and the general landscape for musicians, Liz Pelly's Mood Machine is a great place to start.
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