Spotify is never going to get rid of Joe Rogan.
The truth has now outed:
"'In 2019, our music and podcasting catalog was not that differentiated, and because of this we were locked out of deals with some critical hardware partners like Amazon, Google, and even Tesla,' Ek said. 'They had or were working to build their own streaming services with essentially the same content, so there was really no reason for them to integrate our service.'"
lat.ms/3LiO1cO
As I always say, distribution is king. You may have the greatest product extant, but if no one can consume it, or if it's hard to find, you're dead in the water.
These tech titans are evil. For a while there they were exalted. But most people today know that they are cutthroat operators. My best example of this is Bill Gates, who insisted Dell and other computer manufacturers pay for Windows EVEN IF IT WASN'T INSTALLED ON THE MACHINE! Yes, maybe you wanted Linux. You could get that, but you'd pay for Windows anyway.
And now, it's taken nearly forty years, but Bill Gates is a pariah. Turns out he's a creep. A nerd who never learned the boundaries, since he had bread and status he thought he had sexual power, he started hitting on everything that moved, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS MARRIED!
Karma, it's a bitch.
Will karma kill Mark Zuckerberg? Well, he took a hit last week, and the pile-on has been incredible, people were just waiting for this moment.
But of all the tech titans, the one with the smallest footprint and the least amount of power is Daniel Ek.
You can get his music from multiple platforms. He can compete on algorithms and playlists, but that's not enough of a differentiation to dominate.
Although Spotify does dominate in a way, that's where the most listening transpires, it's where the biggest music fans are. But now some of these fans are pissed and are ankling the service in the wake of Neil Young and his compatriots removing their music from the platform. That's right, CSNY & Nils Lofgren, who plays with Young. And India.Arie.
They've achieved their goal. You've got to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. The concept of getting rid of Rogan is a specious one, because of the above. Spotify needs Rogan for DISTRIBUTION! If you control the most popular podcast in the world, exclusively, other platforms need to make a deal with you. People want to hear Rogan via Alexa. And Tesla owners may not be that angry they've got no AM, but no Rogan? Why? It makes no sense to them.
So now these other platforms need to make Spotify available. They've got no choice, you can't get Rogan and other exclusive Spotify podcasts anywhere else.
Exclusivity. Apple was asleep at the wheel. They had first mover advantage, after all, they call it a PODcast! But they let their platform languish, and then Spotify came in, which needed podcasts, which Apple did not, and the green logo company bought the sphere in plain sight.
Everybody else saw podcasts as an open platform. Daniel Ek saw the power of exclusivity.
And he finally has a foot in the door and he's going to pull it out? NO WAY!
Not that Spotify should not be considered a publisher. Along with Facebook and the other social media platforms. Someone's got to take the tech titans' fingers out of this dike, let the water flow, leave them no choice but to admit they're publishers and need to oversee the content on their platforms.
But for now...Joe Rogan is on the run. He's going to think twice before he hosts a misinformation spewing nincompoop. He'll never use the n-word again. And if he does, HE'S TOAST! All those people defending Joe...once the n-word story came out they reneged, or went silent. You can't be aligned with the n-word unless you're Black, you cannot explain your usage of the term away, you've just got to shut up and be silent, AS IT SHOULD BE!
As for further misinformation, what Neil Young and his compadres should do is put their music back on Spotify and with the funds they now earn pay someone to listen to each and every Rogan podcast, and then blow the whistle if Joe crosses the line. That's how you win here, hold Rogan's feet to the fire. Because Ek is not giving him up unless he crosses the line, and when someone does this, after being warned, they're abandoned, repeat your bad behavior when the whole world is watching and there's no forgiveness, YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER!
And believe me, Joe Rogan hasn't been sleeping too well, and is thinking about who he is booking and what he says in the future. You may not know this if you've never been in the public crosshairs, but anybody who has does.
As for all the b.s. about Spotify payments... CAN EVERYBODY STFU?!!
There are only a hundred cents in a dollar, Spotify is already paying seventy to rights holders, they can't pay you more than they take in, NEVER EVER!
And let's stop talking about penny rates per stream...THAT'S NOT HOW THEY'RE CALCULATED! It's a percentage, which changes based on the number of subscribers. It's not written in stone, never was.
And if we're bitching about the value of a Spotify stream, why not the payment for a terrestrial radio spin...which presently is NOTHING for the recording in the U.S. And this shouldn't be so, but in truth all online outfits pay for use of the recording, including Spotify, and terrestrial radio keeps fading, it may end up being mostly talk.
So let me see... You want more money. And Spotify's got no more. So where is it going to come from? OTHER ARTISTS! Yes, why don't you go to Drake or the Weeknd or Bruno Mars or Lady Gaga and say...you worked your butt off, you made it to the top, you sacrificed so much along the way, and now we're going to PENALIZE YOU for being so successful. Do you think they're going to buy it? NO WAY!
Yeah Kanye... You're too successful, you're taking up all the air, give a big chunk of it to us, the ones who've never broken through, because we're working really hard and we DESERVE IT!
Huh? Exactly why??
As for songwriters, they were screwed by the major labels, who own their own publishing companies, best to take less for songs and screw the rest of the songwriters. And this is on EVERY platform. As for Spotify agitating against songwriter increases... Like I said, there are only a hundred cents in the dollar, most quarters Spotify LOSES money. If you want more money songwriters, get in the face of the major labels!
That's right, all the artists bitched about streaming payments in the U.K. and the government held hearings and found out the main culprit was the major labels, paying a small percentage of what came in to artists. If songwriters want more money they need to protest against the majors, but they're opaque organizations which are famous for hoarding what they're not entitled to, do you really think they're going to give you their money? But that's where it would have to come from.
Daniel Ek is not saving Joe Rogan, he's saving HIS COMPANY! The same company that is THE MAIN DRIVER OF RECORDING INCOME! You want Spotify in business, believe me. Pressure got Ek to publish guidance, content rules, focus on those who break the proffered rules going forward! Forget the past, it's set in stone. Neil Young doesn't remake "Harvest" and post it online instead of the original.
So I'm posting my playlists on Spotify...
And do you know why I do so?? BECAUSE OF THE FREE TIER!
That's right, ANYBODY can listen to the above playlist, ANYBODY! You don't have to subscribe to Spotify. And none of the money from music subscriptions is given to podcasters. It's the free tier that built streaming into a behemoth, that saved the record business, get rid of it and watch revenues stagnate. And that's right, you can listen free on YouTube, and for years the recording industry has been fighting for higher payments and what have they achieved? BUPKES! In truth, despite all their b.s., Google could give a damn about music, it's a small part of the company's overall revenue. But, turns out dedicated music listeners have abandoned YouTube for Spotify, AND THIS IS A GOOD THING! YouTube isn't great for music, but Spotify and the rest of the streaming platforms are.
But Bob, WHAT ABOUT THE LITTLE GUY?
SCREW 'EM!
This makes me crazy, want to make some money? Jobs in America are going begging. Why are you entitled to make music from recordings? Give me one good reason. Because you WANT TO? It's a competition, and only the best win. And if you're not winning, your music doesn't appeal to most people. So either convince them to listen or deliver what they want. If you want a subsidy, talk to a museum, a nonprofit, not SPOTIFY!
I'd like to play for the Yankees. I like baseball. They should let me play. At least in the minors. And pay me enough to take care of all my bills. And I don't want to ride in the bus, give me a limo.
You can go to all these sites making a TON more money than me and get false hope. They're feeding you b.s. so you'll pay to use their platform, telling you you can win when you can't. That's an entire business, giving false hope to wannabes. How many of these wannabes break through? CLOSE TO ZERO! But they all want to be paid. They're "professionals," they deserve to make a living in music. Drake, CAN YOU HELP A BROTHER OUT?!
Once again, Spotify should consider itself a publisher and Joe Rogan should not be spewing misinformation. Now we've drawn attention to the behavior, now they're under the microscope. Mixing metaphors, once again, hold their feet to the fire, it's the only way progress can be made.
Turns out the other acts don't want to follow in Neil Young's footsteps. Own it Neil. For your own credibility. Stop spewing nonsense that people should quit working for Spotify. ARE YOU GONNA PAY THEM?
It's what they told us in the sixties, if you want real change you've got to go inside, run for office! If you want real change you want to stay on Spotify, you want to continue to use Spotify, TO MONITOR THEIR BEHAVIOR!
So tonight when you chase the dragon, listen to the above playlist on Spotify.
You might want to tour the southland in a traveling minstrel show, but that's a hard road to go down. I mean you've got costs, and you have to sell tickets...
Some people are listeners and some people are players. Some people are professionals and some people are hobbyists.
And if Rogan touches the third rail once more, go back Neil, and do it again, wheel turnin' 'round and 'round, go back Neil and do it again!
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