Piracy took off because the ability to outright download any song you want within minutes was so much better than anything else available. Spotify dominated because it allowed for streaming, which again, much easier than downloading and wading through lists to get the right song.
Ultimately, utility wins. If I care about musicians, what is my option? I could download from Bandcamp, but that reduces the usability of just streaming, and most artists aren’t on Bandcamp. I could support their gigs, but frankly, Spotify does a decent job of this already by telling me when my favourite artists are touring. Any alternative needs to be as usable, but public about giving a shit about musicians.
With all that said, I’d say that most people don’t give a shit about musicians anyway. Hundreds of artists have come to prominence during the Spotify era, and they seem to be doing just fine, and while I’m being purposely facetious in this example, when most people are struggling in their own jobs due to rising costs, they probably don’t have fucks to give about musicians.
You can’t have it both ways.
Piracy took off because the ability to outright download any song you want within minutes was so much better than anything else available. Spotify dominated because it allowed for streaming, which again, much easier than downloading and wading through lists to get the right song.
Ultimately, utility wins. If I care about musicians, what is my option? I could download from Bandcamp, but that reduces the usability of just streaming, and most artists aren’t on Bandcamp. I could support their gigs, but frankly, Spotify does a decent job of this already by telling me when my favourite artists are touring. Any alternative needs to be as usable, but public about giving a shit about musicians.
With all that said, I’d say that most people don’t give a shit about musicians anyway. Hundreds of artists have come to prominence during the Spotify era, and they seem to be doing just fine, and while I’m being purposely facetious in this example, when most people are struggling in their own jobs due to rising costs, they probably don’t have fucks to give about musicians.