Recent news revealed that Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek has been investing heavily in military tech companies, which adds another ethical layer to a platform already criticized for how little it pays musicians !
Spotify only pays artists about $3–5 per 1,000 streams, using a pro-rata model that directs most money toward major stars... By contrast, Qobuz (≈$18–20 per 1,000 streams) and Tidal (≈$12–13) pay far more fairly!
However Tidal is far from ethical. Most of its revenue is controlled by private investors and founders and small artists still earn very little...
More fair-minded platforms like Bandcamp, Resonate, Ampled, or SoundCloud’s fan-powered royalties prioritize musicians over investors.
With these more ethical alternatives available, why do we keep using Spotify?
Can some tell me how Deezer stacks up? I switched from Spotify to Deezer a little while ago, not for any real reason, other than Spotify kept increasing their prices and I don't really listen to audio books or podcasts even. Plus Deezer streams hifi flacs as standard so it sounds way better. I've got no idea how ethical they are tho, but would be interested to learn.
Edit: so I did my own research and looks like Deezer pays sightly more per stream than Spotify, but marginally..
Never mind, I'm beginning to build my local music library and self host it. I buy lots of merch and I go to gigs regularly. Once my library is substantial enough I'll quit the streaming apps
That's been my take. Buy from the band or their merch whenever possible.
Bandcamp is a close second best, as is HDTracks although they're both from murica.
Otherwise sail the high seas.
I was never a fan of rent music until we stop you anyway.