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Changes are coming to Spotify, the biggest music-streaming service on the market.
In a way, they always have been.
Its not Spotify morphing into its own record label, per se, but its also notnotthat.
Its also not quite Spotify advocating for artists rights either, as theyve so often been accused of neglecting.
So what is it?
And how might this next move affect you, the music listener?
So anyone can just put their music on Spotify?Not quite.
But,according to Spotify, in the next few months, more artists will get in.
Is it free?For now, yes, and thats the main appeal.
Just like releasing through any other partner, youll get paid when fans stream your music on Spotify.
Are they the only ones doing this?Nope.
(Its what birthed SoundCloud Rap and SoundCloud R&B, more or less.)
But unlike Spotifys new feature, they offer the direct upload in tiers.
And then theres YouTube, which remains free to upload but is also extra vigilant about copyright violations.
(That makes it much harder to use samples in your music.)
Another point in Spotifys favor is that you get access to all of Spotifys coveted data for free.
Spotify also isnt the first major streaming service to bypass labels.
But will you own your own music?Thats tricky.
stream, your music.
And any artist that wants to use the service must own the copyrights to the music they upload.
There is certainly a catch and that has to do with publishing.
ASCAP, BMI), mechanical rights societies (e.g.
Harry Fox), and/or music publishers.
And they strongly encourage songwriters to register their work with the appropriate societies.
Spotifys new initiative doesnt change that.
Wait wait wait but whats this I hear about Spotify owning my DNA?Hoo boy.
But no, that does not mean Spotify suddenly owns your DNA.
They dont even have access to it, according to astatement.
How exactly does an artist get paid using this?According to Spotify, via Spotify themselves.
Publishing royalties to various third-party rightsholders, however, are generally not paid to songwriters by Spotify directly.
But every artist has the opportunity to rake in 100 percent of their royalties.
(Similarly, Bandcamp asks for your Paypal information.)
There is apparently also a way to register yourself as a business, which makes payments a bit murkier.
At the end of the year, Stripe will send you an email containing information for filing your taxes.
Will Spotify let you upload just anything?Nope.
But its more an issue of ownership versus subject matter.
Like YouTube, Spotify wont let you upload anything that contains a copyright violation.
If your content is found to be infringing on copyright after it goes live, it will be removed.
Is Spotify basically a record label now?If you ask Spotify, theyll deny it.
We dont own any rights to any music, and were not acting like a record label.
Were not trying to be a label, and were not trying to compete with the labels.
We have what I would describe as a co-dependent relationship, hesaid.
But sometimes the middleman is necessary.
Every record label has a set marketing budget, chunks of which are allocated to promoting their signed artists.
No label, no distribution, nada.
Just you and your setup, essentially.
