13/06/2024
People who dont believe artists deserve to be paid fairly but still consume that art are hypocrites
I feel so sad about Spotify CEO Daniel Ek saying the cost of creating “content” is close to zero…For multiple reasons
(There’s many types of creators on Spotify, but I’ll speak as a songwriter & artist bc that’s what I know. And I’ll focus on the cost of creating songs as that’s the “content” I put on Spotify -we can talk another day about the cost of everything else😂)
Ok, here we go.
Firstly, Daniel’s comment implies that making content is my goal
It is not.
Creating work that fully expresses my voice, sharing it with people to (hopefully) have a positive impact, paying my bills & having enough for retirement is my goal. “Content” is one vehicle to (maybe) help me get there
Me creating “content” is DANIEL’S goal for me so that his business remains viable
Which brings me to my second point:
“close to zero” is simply not true.
My album DEAR JOHN cost around $20,000 to make. It took three months.
(btw time IS money bc time I spend creating is time I can’t work to earn real life cash)
But it’s not just about time & money for each “piece of content”
I wrote my first song at 14. I’m now 40. I’ve been fine tuning my songwriting, arranging, production & performance skills for 26 years - all at my own cost
So DEAR JOHN (recorded in 2020 & my best work, if using the above goal of positive impact) actually took me 23 years to make
Imagine not paying a CEO, with 23 years experience, fairly for his work 🙄
I love that my music is globally accessible and, right now, if I take it off Spotify I cut off my nose to spite my face
I want to create & share my work and I’m even happy to do it on a budget
(This morning I shot a film clip in my neighbours bathroom. My partner filmed it for free & I spent $24 on red lipstick. That’s “close to zero” for you)
But -whether it’s time or money- making songs costs. And making videos to promote those songs (& actually get them streamed) costs too
So if one platform provides all the worlds music to most of the worlds people, and the musicians themselves are required to work harder and harder to get that music heard, while earning less and less - well, that’s not a business model to be celebrated. That’s exploitation.