It’s no secret these days that the music industry FUCKING BLOWS! Artists like The Alchemist, Deerhoof, Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Neil Young, even Taylor Swift have boycotted Spotify and/or the music industry for various reasons. That’s not to say they don’t still create music or tour (I honestly couldn’t see a world where the Swifties don’t get new tunes from the reason they exist). Alchemist stated, “FUCK THE MUSIC INDUSTRY!” Very heavy words from an artist that has been in the game for quite a while and seen what most would consider to be great successes.

With Spotify being one of, if not the largest purveyor of music and podcasts, but also the least likely to give artists on the platform a pay day, it’s no wonder people are truly pissed off. It also doesn’t help that all eyes are on Spotify. There are other platforms! Nonetheless, in recent headlines, the CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek, has struck a deal with military tech investment companies using profits earned from Spotify. This move, along with many other shit ones, has been enough for a lot of artists to straight up remove their entire catalogue from the platform if they haven’t already, with other artists following suit in the wake of it all. 

This is not to say that artists shouldn’t put their music on digital platforms like Spotify. It's mostly understood that it is very difficult to get music out there, let alone the time and financial investment to create it, and Spotify has a very direct line to potential fans. So, why wouldn’t a new artist put their work out there on it? That’s like saying an artist should never post to Instagram, YouTube, or Tik-Tok because their CEO’s are money grubbing dick-wads that steal your work for their AI bots. They are, but these are also the platforms that grant access to the masses around the world that just might be hold the key to some form of success outside our personal studios. And in all seriousness it's nice to see that someone other than your mother likes your work. It's one of those little nudges that helps creative people keep moving forward.

I digress, with all the news around CEO's, and the advancements in generative AI now more directly effecting the music industry, creative industry, and people’s livelihoods, we are left to wonder how do we get through this? Many people have taken it upon themselves to start creating dream projects with the AI tools that we all have access to. A creative director has created an over 8 minute short film that actually views like something you would see at a film festival. It's weird, stirring, and has a cohesive storyline with consistent characters. If that's not impressive, one company has tackled it with a suspected AI music phenomenon, “The Velvet Sundown” a band that has appeared seemingly out of thin air, and has stirred the oceans of music begging the question, is this truly the work of some AI savant? Or is it just conveniently placed headlines and stories as part of a very amazing marketing tactic? A story which leads into how we may actually get through it all, by learning how to work with AI as it is meant to be used. As a tool to help create efficiency, speed, and realize if an idea can truly live up to itself the way it does in our minds. That, and to write that dating profile you just can’t seem to lock-down. AI certainly has the potential to leave you in the dust much like the accountants of the 1970s and 80s that refused to learn Excel spreadsheets, or even the photographers that remained true to their film only and manual processes when digital cameras came out. It took about 30 years, but hey film is back! Maybe it will be similar with AI?

If you are a musician or recording artist, there are other platforms to look into. Tidal, Apple Music, Qobuz, or Deezer. All of which pay artists more than Spotify and have better quality audio. 

Things shift, develop and as we learn more about it outside of the raging headlines across the Wild West of the internet Pigeon Magazine will do its best to keep this updated.

sources: @siicksaadwoorld , Music Business Worldwide, Daily Mail, Ranker