Spotify and the future of music

Recently quite a few artists have come out against Spotify, the music streaming service.  Spotify is normally supported by ads, but users can also pay a monthly fee for upgraded versions of the service which are ad free and work on mobile devices. Some of the musicians that have taken a stand against the service are Thom Yorke and Beck, even going so far as to have their music removed from the service. They claim that the amount artists get paid per play is so miniscule that it is losing them money, especially newer artists that are not as well known. While this may be true, I think these artists are failing to see that Spotify is the best possible solution from the standpoint of a consumer, and that music streaming is almost certainly how the future of the music industry will be determined.

                The first and most obvious benefit of Spotify, or any music streaming service, is that it is completely legal.  To be able to have instant free access to a mind-blowingly huge library of songs is great for a consumer. Sure, the artists may not be seeing a lot of the revenue, but that has been a problem with the music industry for years now. Would they rather their music be illegally downloaded? Unfortunately, people are not willing to pay for the majority of the music they listen to these days, and Spotify is a good solution to this problem. While I don’t have facts to support this, I would be willing to bet that the advent of services like Spotify, Rdio, and even Pandora have cut down on music piracy by quite a bit.

                Another huge draw of Spotify, and I think the reason it has taken off as much as it has, is its convenience. To get people to stop stealing music, Spotify actually came up with a solution that was easier than piracy. This is important, because in this internet age, people will almost certainly do whatever is easiest. There is also the social aspect of Spotify, where you can link the service to your Facebook. This allows you to see and comment on what your friends are listening to, making music a fun and social experience once again. This alone makes Spotify very attractive and worth using.

                Spotify, or some streaming service like it, is the future of music listening and artists need to accept that. A better solution may arise someday where artists are paid more fairly, but for now this is the solution that the industry has come up with. Artists need to be more adaptive to change, and think about what is best for the consumer, if they want music to evolve. Spotify is a good change for the music industry that cuts down on piracy and exposes music to a wider audience than ever before. It is a music listening solution for the internet age, and one that is not going away anytime soon.