Music today; esp. Spotify by Steve April on The Pipeline at IndieMusicPeople

Music today; esp. Spotify
The Infinity Chamber ?
"Nothing screams artistic growth like tirelessly grovelling for feedback from random opinionated halfwits on the internet. After all, who better to shape your creative voice than a guy with three followers, a superiority complex, and a Spotify playlist called "Vibes 4 Life"? It’s absolutely vital that independent musicians abandon their instincts, water down their originality, and hang on every passing thought of self-appointed tastemakers who just discovered free-credits last week. Because real development, obviously, comes not from years of lived experience, trial and error, or inner conviction—but from simping hard enough for algorithm-chasers in the hope of being deemed “playlistable.”

Thank the heavens for www.indiemusicpeople.com...

We are grand...

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Lars Mars

9/3/2025 6:18:11 AM

Amen Steve..

Glenn

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Steve April

9/4/2025 2:02:32 AM

Lars, yeah, Amen..."

Anyone recall Major Lance, in the early 60s, and the song "Amen..." great song...

Also did "Um um um um um"...

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Chris Hance

9/5/2025 2:56:48 AM

Yup Spotify is the pits,
I had a program which could let you dowmload anything from Spotify for free without an account,
Somehow after a few months they sussed me out and blocked the program, so no more freebies for me,
There's something about Spotify that reeks.

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Francesca Tamellini

9/9/2025 9:29:03 AM

However, Spotify do pay, albeit a trifling amount, per stream. Youtube found a different excuse each month to avoid paying me. I agree with the comments on the knuckle draggers who appoint themselves arbiters of taste - maybe someone could start a purely imp playlist - but it would need people with proper promotional abilities to get it moving and I am not volunteering!

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Steve April

9/9/2025 9:34:44 PM

The labels own Spotify, they are the major investors.

Indie artists are gradually experiencing major withdrawal of $s e.g. Spotify no longer pays a penny if plays are under 1,000 on a song.

Spotify exists for labels to hawk their "Artists", and these labels (billion dollar corp.) are free to pad the stats of performers in their "stable."

Consumers are oblivious, indie artists will become/already are an afterthought to Spotify.

Any $s they can save not paying them Spotify will do that imhv...

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Father Time

9/9/2025 9:45:44 PM

I personally believe that that site is basically an exploitation site where many gain an income by selling playlist placement. We tried as a band to go thru their promotion ringer and found it hokey as fuck, we were obviously scammed.

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Bryon Tosoff

9/9/2025 10:43:03 PM

Facts about Spotify ownership

How the ownership and voting shares of Spotify is distributed

Spotify is publicly owned, with co-founder Daniel Ek and co-founder Martin Lorentzon being significant individual shareholders

Institutional investors are:

Baillie Gifford, BlackRock, and Tencent, collectively hold the majority of the company's stock.

Institutional investors hold the largest portion of shares, but the founders' combined ownership and voting rights give them considerable control over the company's direction.

Spotify's largest institutional shareholders include Baillie Gifford & Co., which owns a 14.5% stake. T. Rowe Price, which owns 6.18%, and Morgan Stanley, which owns 3.66%. Chinese tech and music giant Tencent owns 8.61% of shares, and Sony Group Corporation owns a 2.65%.

Individual Owners:

Daniel Ek:is one of the co-founders he is also the CEO and chairman of the board and holds the largest individual stake in Spotify, controlling a significant portion of the company's outstanding shares and voting rights.

Martin Lorentzon is the other co-founder and is also a major individual shareholder and through complex holdings via entities like Amaltea S.à r.l.,(registered in Luxembourg) holds a substantial voting interest.

Institutional Owners:

Baillie Gifford & Co.:

A Scottish investment management firm that is one of the largest institutional shareholders.

BlackRock Inc.:

A major asset management firm that is another significant institutional investor in Spotify.

Tencent Holdings Limited:
A Chinese tech and music giant that also holds a considerable stake
in the company.

Morgan Stanley:
A prominent financial services firm with significant shareholdings in Spotify.

Sony and Universal Music Group:
Two major record companies that jointly hold a substantial portion of Spotify's shares.

Overall Ownership Structure:

Institutional Dominance:
A large majority of Spotify's shares are held by institutional investors, which includes asset management firms, mutual funds, and other financial institutions.

Founders' Control:

Despite the large institutional ownership, the founders, Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, maintain significant control over the company's decisions through their combined shareholdings and voting power.

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Steve April

9/9/2025 10:57:11 PM

In December 2024, Harper’s Magazine released a report alleging that Spotify was padding out playlists with ghost artists created by production companies in order to minimise royalty costs and increase profits. According to the report, the practiced started in 2017 with a program called Perfect Content Fit (PFC).[146]

Donald Trump donation
In 2025, Spotify donated $150,000 to President Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony, as well as hosted an inauguration-related brunch.[147][148]

--wikipedia

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