Why I Cancelled My Spotify Premium Account

...and other bits and pieces

Aug 20, 2020

Welcome to another edition of Music Is The Answer, the fortnightly newsletter from myself, Marcus Barnes.

Before I get started, I wanted to let you know that I will be publishing another edition next week and then resuming the fortnightly schedule after that. Reason being, I haven’t had time to get my techno reviews and mix done this past fortnight, so I’ll be putting those out next week, just before the month ends.

As always, any support is much appreciated, shares, comments, whatever you can do to let me know you’re with me…

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Bitty McLean

This edition of the newsletter is going to be ‘bitty’. I had a few ideas about topics I could cover for a larger chunk of writing but in the end I’m feeling drawn to share some bits and pieces that have been on my mind over the last fortnight.

No More Spotify Premium For Me

Firstly, I’ve cancelled my Spotify Premium subscription… hardly earth shattering news but I mention it because it’s something I’ve been thinking about doing for quite a while now. I had a free account for a long time and, to be perfectly honest, I never really used it that much. But sometime last year I decided that I would tick off a Premium account as a business expense and start exploring the streaming platform a little bit more.

A few years ago I worked at Deezer for a while, as UK & Ireland Editor, looking after playlists for what was one of their key territories back then. I can’t explain how much enjoyment and satisfaction I got from creating new playlists, and managing the existing ones. Every day at work was spent listening to a wide variety of music, from drill and grime to rock, indie and classical. I learned so much and it took me back to the days when I was working at the tabloids, keeping on top of the commercial charts as well as still keeping my ear to the ground with all the music that doesn’t quite make it into the mainstream.

Spoti-bye…

Last year I started exercising at home regularly, with a daily morning routine. Initially I used the same mix every day to train my mind to get used to this “boring” ritual. After a while I switched the music up and utilised my Spotify playlists and a few albums that I went back to time and again (Aril Brikha, salute!). Sometimes I’d use the mobile app when I was on the go as well.

Over the last six months or so though I’ve read so many articles that have been critical of Spotify, and streaming platforms in general, especially with regard to independent music. I realised I’d been ignorant of the way in which these platforms 1) dominate the industry and 2) have pretty despicable rates of pay. I mean, I’m sure I’d seen how low the stream rates were before I even signed up for a Premium account, but it wasn’t until I started to read what so many observers have said about Spotify that it became apparent that having a paid account with them was (in my view) part of the problem.

If you don’t know, according to reports, “As of January 2019, Spotify reports that it pays out between $0.00331 and $0.00437 per stream to rights holders.” You don’t need to be a qualified mathematician to work out that that means you need a hell of a lot of streams to make a decent living, especially if you’re not a multi-million dollar act. I’m not going to say much more than this as there are plenty of writers who’ve done a much better job of dissecting all of this, than I can (links to articles below).

Musician Zoë Keating has done some great work on this, revealing her earnings from Spotify on a regular basis, like here and here.

The infographic below gives you a clear idea of what all the big streaming platforms pay out...

What I will say is that I know that the music economy is not perfect. Streaming is of course better than people illegally downloading/streaming music for nothing, I understand that but all of the stuff I’ve read recently doesn’t sit well with me and my conscience couldn’t cope with it. I don’t want to get all self-righteous but it’s important that we vote with our money, after all that is where most of these companies get their power. My Amazon Prime subscription is next…

I don’t hate Spotify, I understand why it exists and it seems like they’re trying to do some good. I know a few people who work there and I even appeared on a live podcast at their HQ last year. But my morals won’t permit me to give them any more of my money right now.

Some reading on this topic:

Spotify CEO talks Covid-19, artist incomes and podcasting (interview)

A Tale Of Two Ecosystems: On Bandcamp, Spotify And The Wide-Open Future

First Floor #46 – Streaming Can't Be "Fixed"

Why Spotify Is Not A Music Company

Lockdown was a boon for Spotify. Now musicians are fighting back

The Changing Economics Of Electronic Music: Part 1

Eye Of The Storm State Of Mind

This past couple of weeks have been insanely busy for me. Obviously, I am extremely grateful and not complaining at all. Just a statement of fact to take you into my world for a few minutes…

The past seven days in particular have been mental. Last Friday I went to interview The Blessed Madonna at her house and spent three hours chatting with her for a piece that’s out in The Guardian today (page 4 of the Film & Music section). It was great, but my deadline was Tuesday so didn’t have much time to turn it around. On top of that, I successfully pitched a piece on the impact of the horrific explosion in Beirut on their club scene, also to The Guardian. This has involved a series of interviews with people on the ground there, which as you can probably understand has involved a huge amount of emotional labour, listening to peoples’ harrowing stories and experiences. Not that my experience is in any way, shape or form comparable to theirs, of course. It’s been a lot of work, but it’s the absolute least I can do. Hearing about the shit they’re going through reminds me how fortunate I am to be sat here in the comfort of my little studio, healthy, able to work and safe in the knowledge that I have a nice, cosy home to return to when my work is done.

Besides those two pieces, there’s been a lot of other bits and pieces happening. Yesterday my brain absolutely friend by early afternoon, but you know what… I thrive on this. I haven’t been particularly stressed per se, I mean The Blessed Madonna piece was my first profile feature for The Guardian so I definitely felt massive pangs of anxiety about getting it right and pro-cras-tin-ated my sweet little arse off for most of Monday. But all that time I spent swerving the piece was important to the process. You’ve got to put yourself in that physical space so that inspiration materialises eventually. Steven Pressfield talks about this in his excellent book The War of Art, a quote that really resonated with me is, “The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.”

It’s been one of those situations where you just have to dive, headlong and tenacious, into everything in front of you, try to do your best and, hopefully, remember to eat and drink when you come up for air. The push and pull of pre and post-interview tension, juggling email threads, missed call tennis, going back and forth on Blessed Madonna drafts with The Guardian music editor, knocking out little bits of work in between, all of sudden remembering a few emails that you were supposed to reply to at the beginning of the month, putting all your energy into listening to peoples’ stories and absorbing the emotion to give them a clear channel to express themselves and then, when you’ve cleared through all of that, you have the illusory clean slate for a few minutes, a burst of productivity leads to you tying up a load of loose ends that have been hanging around for an eternity and somehow, amid all of this, you’re managing to formulate new pitches to send out.

It’s been a whirlwind. You’d never believe that my days are rather simply organised by handwritten lists on the sheets of lined paper in my A5 notebooks, and backed up by my trusty memory. This rudimentary system works for me. Here are a couple of examples of my innovative organisation method, implanted into my neural transmitters by an advanced race of humans from the year 2030… The future is here. (I’ve patented this process, so hands off Google!).

The whole thing has been draining, but there’s something about that hazy mix of intermittent focus, interviews, writing, pressure, intensity, adrenaline and, ultimately, ticking off all of the items on those little lists, that feels really good. So much going on, so much to process, so much to do… It’s not merely the achievement but the feeling that this is what journalism is about, one person making themselves a channel for information and other peoples’ stories.

The Art Of The Interview

I’ve been signed up to Media Masters for a while, and their podcasts drop into my inbox every single week. Almost every time a new podcast is sent through, I tell myself to make some time to have a listen because they always have such interesting members of the media on there. People at the top of their game; editors, directors, journalists with real depth of experience. Sadly, I never make time to listen to them… apart from this week, when I saw that they had Decca Atikenhead, Chief Interviewer at The Sunday Times. (Now there’s a fancy title that I would love to have, “Chief Interviewer”).

Here’s Decca with Grayson Perry in 2012

Titled The Art of the Perfect Interview, the podcast was ideal for me. I take great pride in being an accomplished interviewer, which is essentially the product of my naturally inquisitive/trustworthy/disarming nature, my ability to listen intently and the bizarre way I become a conduit for questions, that usually seem to just fall out of my mouth.

I found it reassuring and fascinating to hear Decca’s experience and perspectives. She’s on another level. A powerhouse interviewer who does proper sit down, face-to-face chats with Prime Ministers, Presidents, world-famous pop stars; Piers Morgan, Tony Blair, Sadiq Khan, Nicola Sturgeon, Jamie Oliver, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton… the list goes on and on.

Decca also talks about the utterly gut-wrenching death of her ex, who died on a family holiday trying to save one of their sons from drowning. Very impressive and inspiring, and she comes across as such a lovely person, too.

Give it a listen if you can, highly recommended. Her book All at Sea is out now.

Who Knew Jamiroquai Were A Bit Political? (SPOILER ALERT: I Didn’t)

When Jamiroquai released ‘We’re Too Young To Die’ I was 11. I remember my cousin Nathan and I absolutely cracking up at the scat-esque chorus “Doo-do-do-doooo-dah-dah-doh-dah-dah-doooh-daaah”. Very amusing when you’re that age. Besides that, we were also very entertained by his ‘silly’ fashion sense. Kids will be kids eh.

I liked their music, I was never a super fan of the group but they had funk and their releases were always a bit different to anything else that was around. Anyway, the other day someone posted the lyrics to ‘Virtual Insanity’ in the comments of a YouTube video I was watching (I forget what the video was about, but it was something to do with the current state of the world…) and I was amazed at how prophetic the lyrics were.

I never listen to the words of songs. I’m one of those people who can never quite catch the words enough to appreciate their meaning, I hear the words but they’re like another layer of instrumentation for me. When Jamiroquai were big, I was only just starting to attach myself to music in a personal way, I was too young to really be bothered about them and I definitely didn’t pay attention to the lyrics (apart from that chorus, hehe!). Anyway, after seeing the lyrics on that YouTube video, I went searching out interviews with Jay Kay and got to learn that a lot of their music featured political commentary. Have a read of the song’s lyrics here.

Big up Jamiroquai. The two-part interview below is brilliant. I know some people don’t like Jay Kay very much but he is unapologetically who he is and I really enjoyed this interview, the story about the purple Lamborghini an especially brilliant example of nineties excess.

One For The Vinyl Lovers

I saw this a few months ago and have been meaning to feature it in my newsletter ever since. This is a typically cute, ingenious novelty toy from a Japanese company. After watching the video I get the impression it’s not the best quality but nevertheless a fun gadget for people who love their vinyl. If you read the comments, someone recommends a technique that could apparently improve the quality of the pressings… Oh, and Jeff Mills had a hand in this.

Also, I love the guy’s reaction every time he plays one of his newly-cut records.

Mix Recommendations

Gotta say, it’s an absolutely top quality selection of mixes this week.

Dwson at Hallo Montag - Soulful nourishing deep house from a rising South African star, who I’ll be writing about soon.
RA Sessions: Kerri Chandler - Reel-To-Reel Session - This is just bananas. Kerri is such a king… humble and as true to the game as you can be.
Alex Attias - Stay Home Mix 2 (Hip Hop & Rap) - A load of rap tunes that I just love love LOVE.
Trans-Central Connection (1996) - Silky, jazzy, cosmic DnB from the golden era.
Nordic Trax Radio #131 - DJ Heather & Mark Farina - Live in Vancouver - Could not stop boppin’ in my seat to this one. This is ideal when you’re in need of a little pep.
Para One - Drexciya Mix on Rinse France - Two hours of magical electro and techno from Drexciya and various offshoots/inspirations.
Logical Progression Level 3 (CD 1) (1998) - Another stunning upload from the Ambiance channel.
Kerri Chandler live @ GASM, London, Ladbroke Grove 1994 - Back to the king and back to the glorious mid-nineties for a killer session cut from a six-hour set.

Before I Go

I’ve had this tune on repeat all week long: Sexy, sleazy, New York City nightcrawler rudeness… Shouts to Todd Terry!

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Music Is The Answer