graffiti on a wall that says hate it or love it

Spotify: My Love-Hate Relationship with the World’s No. 1 Streaming Service

As an artist, I have my fair share of frustrations with Spotify, believe it or not, as much as I promote my music on the platform. I do it because it’s the easiest and shortest route for fans to access my music. For no other reason.

Spotify

Spotify is a streaming service that has taken the world by storm. It offers millions of songs, podcasts, and other audio content to users around the globe. On the surface, it seems like a great service that provides a lot of value to its users. However, if you scratch beneath the surface, you’ll find that Spotify is far from perfect. In fact, there are several reasons why Spotify should be criticized.

First of all, let’s talk about the way Spotify treats artists. As a musician myself, I know firsthand how difficult it can be to make a living from your art. Spotify pays artists a fraction of a penny per stream. In other words, if you’re a musician on Spotify, you’re most likely not going to make much money. You might get a lot of streams, but those streams aren’t going to pay the bills.

But it’s not just the low pay that’s the problem. It’s also the fact that Spotify doesn’t give artists any control over how their music is presented on the platform. The algorithms that Spotify uses to curate playlists and recommend music are a mystery to everyone, including the artists themselves. This means that even if you’re a talented musician with a unique sound, you might never get discovered on Spotify because the algorithm doesn’t favor your style of music.

And then there’s the issue of Spotify’s business model. Spotify is a for-profit company that makes money by selling ads and subscriptions. And yet, the artists who create the content that makes Spotify valuable are paid next to nothing. It’s a classic case of exploitation, and it’s not fair to the artists who pour their hearts and souls into their music.

So, what’s the solution? Well, for starters, Spotify needs to start paying artists a fair wage for their work. It’s not enough to just give them exposure. Exposure doesn’t pay the rent. Secondly, Spotify needs to give artists more control over how their music is presented on the platform. The algorithms should be transparent, and artists should be able to opt out of them if they choose to. Finally, Spotify needs to improve its user interface and reduce the number of ads that users are exposed to. If Spotify wants to continue to be successful in the long term, it needs to start treating its artists and users with more respect.

For music fans Spotify is second to none.

But, from their abysmally low payouts to the algorithm-driven playlists that prioritize clicks over creativity, it’s clear that the platform doesn’t prioritize the interests of musicians. But how does Spotify stack up against other music streaming services and physical releases?

Apple Music?

While Apple Music offers a similar user experience to Spotify, it pays slightly more per stream, at an average of $0.006 per play. That may not sound like much, but it adds up over time, especially if you have a dedicated fanbase who listens to your music frequently. Additionally, Apple Music offers exclusive content and features for artists, such as the ability to upload their own music directly to the platform.

The problem with Apple Music? It’s way less feature rich and open as Spotify.

Tidal?

Next up is Tidal, a music streaming service that prides itself on its high-quality sound and artist-friendly policies. Tidal pays out a higher royalty rate than both Spotify and Apple Music, at an average of $0.0125 per stream. It also offers exclusive content and events for artists, such as livestreamed concerts and behind-the-scenes documentaries.

The problem with Tidal? For artists, not enough fans are on Tidal. It doesn’t really add up.

Bandcamp?

But what about Bandcamp? While it’s not a streaming service in the traditional sense, Bandcamp offers artists a way to sell their music directly to fans, with a customizable storefront and a variety of pricing options. Bandcamp takes a 15% cut of sales (which drops to 10% once you hit $5,000 in revenue), but artists can set their own prices and keep the majority of the revenue. And because fans are actually purchasing the music, rather than just streaming it, the payout per play can be much higher.

The problem with Bandcamp is the same as with Tidal: not enough fans are on Bandcamp. But more than on Tidal, and you can really make money with Bandcamp.

Physical?

And finally, we have physical releases like CDs and vinyl. While they may seem like relics of a bygone era, physical releases are still an important revenue stream for many artists. Not only do they offer a way for fans to support the artist directly, but they also provide a tangible connection to the music that can’t be replicated by digital streams. And because physical releases have a higher perceived value than digital downloads, artists can often charge more for them, leading to higher payouts per sale.

The problem with physical releases? They can be challenging for independent artists because they often require a significant upfront investment. Unlike digital distribution, physical releases require artists to have physical copies of their music in stock, which can be costly to produce and store.

Additionally, physical releases may not be as accessible to fans who prefer to consume music digitally. With the rise of streaming services and digital downloads, many music listeners no longer have CD or vinyl players, which means that physical releases may have a limited audience.

And there are distribution limitations. Independent artists may struggle to get their physical releases into brick-and-mortar stores, as these stores often prioritize major label releases over independent ones.

Conclusion

So where does that leave Spotify? While it’s still the most popular music streaming service on the planet, it’s clear that it’s far from the ideal platform for artists. If you’re looking to make a living from your music, you’re better off exploring alternative options like Apple Music, Tidal, or Bandcamp. And don’t forget about physical releases either; while they may require more upfront investment, they offer a unique opportunity to connect with fans and create something that’s truly lasting.

Whether you choose to embrace streaming services, physical releases, or a combination of both, the most important thing is to stay true to your vision and keep creating the music that you love.

The Ultimate Harmonic Mixing & Composing Chart

Before you dig in…

The Ultimate Harmonic Mixing & Composing Chart is a visual aid for musicians, producers, composers and DJs to easily create music that always has harmonic chord progressions. This sheet is now widely used worldwide as a teaching and practical tool in music and DJ schools and has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times.

The situation

As both a DJ and composer, the Circle of Fifth or the Camelot Key Wheel system — amongst others — have always been handy tools for me to write and mix music harmonically. There are just too many options in chord progressions than I could ever have in my memory (maybe you can, but I don’t).

So yes, I could always have a look at above mentioned helpers to orientate myself through the notes and chords jungle, in case needed, which is not always the case. I have the most common chords in my head. Just not always.

As a composer I’m fine with the musical key/chord system, i.e. “A minor“, but as a DJ it isn’t very likely (for me, again) to remember all the musical chords to know what to mix into what. So, Mark Davis came up with Camelot Keys (used in Mixed in Key, which I prefer, because of its accuracy) and then there are the Open Keys (Traktor). Which is basically a range of 12 keys for each gender, major and minor chords. “A minor” is 8A (Camelot Key) or 1m (Open Key).

In a nutshell: if you mix 1A into 2A (and so forth, up until 12A and then into 1A again) you’re generally fine. Your mixing transitions will always be harmonic, no key clashes. This example is the very basic part of harmonic mixing or composing. And also, a bit boring if you do that all the time. It becomes really good and interesting when you use all the options within the world of chord progressions.

What I was missing in all those years of composing and mixing was ONE chart (to rule them all) that shows me ALL key/chord systems and their equivalents, their piano keys (very useful for composing) and their harmonic keys/chords. I searched the interwebs in order to find out if someone did this, but no one did.

The solution

So, I did it myself. 8 hours work and I had what I was looking for. And since I guess this could be useful for every musician/DJ, I want to share it here with you. This is how it looks like (click to open the full resolution file):

The Ultimate Harmonic Mixing Composing Chart
Click to open large version, right-click to save

You can download the high-res PNG image above, print it out and use it for yourself, if you like. Here’s a PDF and the original EXCEL version of it, in case you want to edit/modify something for your needs (let me know when you find mistakes or when you improved it!):

PDF | EXCEL

What does it do, how do I use this?

Let’s take an example for a composing or mixing situation:

The chord we’re working with at the moment is A minor (or 8A, or 1m). What shall be next? Everything in the table below — around the 8A — is possible, it will be harmonic. The closer to the 8A it is the more harmonic it’ll be.

Composing Keys

DJ Keys

Harmonic Keys

Western Music Scale
Piano Chord Keys
Camelot Key
Open Key
Scale Degree
DJ Keys up/down
D minor D + F + A 7A 12m Fourth (Sub-Dominant) -1
C major C + E + G 8B 1d Relative major

A minor

A + C + E

8A

1m

Same key (tonic)

E minor E + G + B 9A 2m Fifth (Dominant) 1
B-flat/♭ minor A# + C# + F 3A 8m Low energy boost 7
B minor B + D + F# 10A 3m High energy boost (supertonic) 2
A-flat/♭ minor G + B + D# 1A 6m Low energy drain -7
G minor G + A# + D 6A 11m High energy drain (leading tone) -2

But your decision what to do next is depending on the purpose. What kind of “feel” do you want to give your mix or composition?

Examples

Here are some possible chord progression scenarios, working with the Camelot Keys (which I prefer, at least for DJing), starting with 8A:

The “River”

That’s how I call it, it’s kind of a “secure standard”, nothing special, it’s just flowing along:

8A > 9A > 10A … 12A > 1A > 2A and so forth, until you’re at 7A and back into 8A again

Audio sample:

Music used: Ingo Vogelmann “Albert” (8A) > Tripswitch “Proximity Effect” (9A) > Mike Griego “What Lies Beyond” (10A) 

You can’t go wrong with this one, you just rock “around the clock”. Depending on the energy level of actual music/sequence used, transitions changes can be very energetic, though.

The “Little Ocean Wave”

The energy of this chord progression has the shape of an ocean wave or a sawtooth:

8A > 9A > 11A (+2 DJ keys, high energy boost) > 12A > 1a and so forth

Audio sample:

Music used: Ingo Vogelmann “Albert” (8A) > Tripswitch “Proximity Effect” (9A) > Bobby Deep “Egopunk” (11A) 

You can do this once in a while to give your mix a little energy boost, which makes it more interesting than the “River”.

The “Big Ocean Wave”

8A > 9A > 4A (+7 DJ keys, low energy boost) > 6A (+2 DJ keys, high energy boost) > 7a and so forth

Audio sample:

Music used: Ingo Vogelmann “Albert” (8A) > Tripswitch “Proximity Effect” (9A) > Michael A “Storm” (4A) > Robert Babicz “Kinect” (6A) 

Here you have a longer and progressive wave of energy rising, until it falls back to normal at 7A again, just like an ocean wave crashing and the next one building up again.

The “Wild Ocean”

It’s a bit stormy, and the waters stirred up, but everything is still harmonic and in place. This is the most “interesting” way of mixing, things shouldn’t become boring:

8A > 8B (relative major) > 9A > 4A (+7 DJ keys, low energy boost) > 4B (relative major) > 6B (+2 DJ keys, high energy boost) > 7B > 2B (+7 DJ keys, low energy boost) > 4B (+2 DJ keys, high energy boost) > 5B and so forth

Audio sample:

Music used: Third Son & Wally Lopez “Geometry” (8A) > Ingo Vogelmann “Empire On Fire” (8B) > Antrim “The Mystic Lovers” (9A) > Michael A “Storm” (4A) > Raw District Feat. Jinadu “Taking You Down” (Habischman Remix) (4B)

I could make up a hell of a lot more examples now (with even sillier names), but you most probably already get the idea. The options are really endless, and you’ll always be composing or DJing harmonic. The above scenarios are just examples. Find out what works for yourself, I’m sure you’ll have fun experimenting with chord progressions, using this nifty chart. Oh, and don’t mind the silly names … it’s just about giving things a name. 😉

It’s free! Download, share, modify, re-publish and generally do with it whatever you want. But please, don’t pretend you did this. Credit would be nice (and fair) but is no condition.