Spotify CEO Daniel Ek sparked an online backlash after a social media post in which he said the cost of creating “content” is “close to zero”.

The boss of the streaming giant said in a post on X: "Today, with the cost of creating content being close to zero, people can share an incredible amount of content. This has sparked my curiosity about the concept of long shelf life versus short shelf life.

"While much of what we see and hear quickly becomes obsolete, there are timeless ideas or even pieces of music that can remain relevant for decades or even centuries.

“Also, what are we creating now that will still be valued and discussed hundreds or thousands of years from today?”

Music fans and musicians were quick to call Ek out, with one user, composer Tim Prebble, saying: “Music will still be valued in a hundred years. Spotify won’t. It will only be remembered as a bad example of a parasitic tool for extracting value from other peoples music. (or “content” as some grifters like to call it).”

Musicians weighed in too, with Primal Scream bassist Simone Marie Butler saying: “Fuck off you out of touch billionaire.”

  • Rayquetzalcoatl@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    56
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    6 months ago

    I literally just cancelled my membership with that shitty company yesterday! It sucks, I’ve used it daily for almost a decade, but I just can’t really deal with my money going to such publicly malicious and stupid executives any more. They can’t just not be arseholes for like two seconds.

    Anyway, I need some alternative… Does anybody use anything else that they prefer? 👀🤞

    • kerrigan778@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      24
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      6 months ago

      Today, 1000 times Tidal, they give more money to the artists and they lowered their prices while everyone else raised them.

    • Oddbin@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      22
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      6 months ago

      What, the whole Joe Rogan bullshit didn’t tip you over but this did?

      Tidal if you want to pay. YouTube Music with Revanced if you don’t.

      • Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        12
        ·
        6 months ago

        I absolutely cancelled after that Joe Rogan drama. I was already questioning why I needed Spotify. And seeing my subscription money go there, I bounced.

        Now I’m watching more boneheaded moves and shaking my head.

      • vividspecter@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        6 months ago

        Tidal turned me off by pushing that snake oil MQA format for years, although I believe they have been moving away from it in recent years.

      • Rayquetzalcoatl@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        6 months ago

        No, this didn’t. I cancelled yesterday, after reading about them just bricking one of their peripherals without offering refunds until the legal system threatened them. It’s just a straw that broke the camel’s back situation, rather than one big thing - the Rogan situation certainly contributed, though.

        Tidal sounds like a good idea, thank you!

      • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        6
        ·
        6 months ago

        Torrent if you don’t lawl. Flac forever.

        Also I know lemmy is DAE HATE APPLE but Apple Music is the shit, they have ultra high quality lossless for the base price and a gigantic selection. They don’t pay artists WELL, but they’re near the highest paying per stream. (I think tidal might actually be the highest)

        • boonhet@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          6 months ago

          Apple Music worked well for me, but then it was worth the money as part of Apple One. If you’re not on iOS, you won’t have much use for Arcade or icloud storage though.

          Whether Apple Music alone is worth it is up to OP though. IMO it is, but I now have YouTube Music instead, gets me access to a lot of music Spotify and Apple Music don’t have.

          • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            6 months ago

            Interesting! I have an iPhone but I don’t use iCloud for anything because I don’t want my nudes online, and I don’t play games on my phone so I don’t have any use for Apple one hahaha

            I’ve only failed to find one artist on Apple Music so far (DZK, an edgy YTMND/SA rapper from the mid-2000s) so I just torrented his music.

      • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        6 months ago

        Apple Music fucking slaps, after getting some fancy headphones their Spatial Audio is insane. It’s a novelty, sure, but damn if it isn’t fucking dope in some songs.

        • ThirdWorldOrder@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          6 months ago

          Apple Music also has music videos and their sound quality is high res. I used Tidal for a while but switched to Apple Music years ago and wouldn’t go back.

    • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      6 months ago

      YouTube music has actually been pretty great, although I hear some people have issues with it’s algorithm. I got grandfathered in back when Google Music shut down and I honestly like it more than the old GM app at this point. Plus, you get YouTube Premium for free with it.

      • Rayquetzalcoatl@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        6 months ago

        Thanks for the suggestion! I remember GM back in the day, had loads of stuff on there :o I ended up going with Tidal for now, mostly because I also just can’t stand YouTube and don’t wanna give em money 😂