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The Spotify drama continues

This topic was first shared by Cherie Hu (@cheriehu) in the #music-streaming channel.

Joe Rogan — Spotify’s flagship podcasting acquisition — is beginning to seem more like the stuff of PR nightmares than a golden goose.

Following Neil Young’s highly publicized exit from the platform (prompted by Rogan’s anti-vax statements) Spotify has found itself in more hot water, after artist India.Arie posted a compilation of Rogan repeatedly using racial slurs in his previous episodes. These soundbites span Rogan’s 12-year podcasting catalog, which (lest we forget!) Spotify recently paid $100M to acquire. In response to this outcry, Spotify rapidly removed over 70 Joe Rogan Experience episodes, many of which had nothing to do with COVID-19.

Finally, on Monday, CEO Daniel Ek doubled down on the claim that Spotify is a platform, not a publisher. In an internal letter, he pledged an “incremental investment” of $100M toward licensing, development and marketing for podcasts and audio marginalized creators across music and podcasting.

Many community members felt this gesture was pretty hollow. Perhaps most obviously, pledging $100M across all marginalized creators (from music AND podcasting) feels insubstantial when you remember Spotify paid $100M for Joe Rogan’s deal alone. News of Spotify’s sponsorship of the Barcelona soccer team, which cost the company a cool $320M, also dampened the sincerity of the gesture. Why Spotify chose not to keep that news under wraps until the bad press died down is truly a mystery.

Beyond the obvious ethical implications, the incident has sparked broader discussion about Spotify’s content moderation duties. In his letter, in an attempt to back up his claim that Spotify is notRogan’s publisher, Ek argued that “exclusivity does not equal endorsement.” The baffling statement contradicts the level of commitment implied by paying a mind-boggling sum to acquire Rogan’s show and continuing to defend and platform him in the face of widespread criticism.“Like exclusivity might not be endorsement but it is curation and therefore kind of is definitely endorsement??” @holidaysidewinder

Spotify doesn’t have the same kind of near-blanket coverage of podcasting that it does with music catalogs, which highlights a more deliberate curatorial intent in their podcast strategy. The podcast brands that Spotify has invested in speak volumes about their content strategy, and about the kind of role Spotify sees itself playing in the audio industry as a whole.

The controversy surrounding Spotify’s flagship podcast acquisition has illuminated many of the company’s shortcomings from both cultural and ethical standpoints. As this story unfolds, it will be interesting to see how the company divvies up that “incremental” $100M between music and podcasting artists — if, of course, that information is ever made public.

Further reading: Spotify the attention broker

Four Tet signs publishing deal with UMG

This topic was first shared by @konkrit in the #music-streaming channel.

Electronic musician Four Tet (Kieran Hebden) has signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Group. This deal comes in the wake of an ongoing legal battle between Hebden and his former label Domino.

Last year, Hebden sued the label claiming that their streaming royalty rates were unfair and outdated, demanding that they increase their rates from 18% to 50% (you can read a breakdown of the case here). Many in the industry lauded Hebden’s decision as a much-needed strike against major-label dominance in the music industry — so it came as a surprise that Hebden would agree to jump into a major publishing deal so readily:“Does anyone have any idea what kind of strategic move (if any?) may be behind this? I was instantly thinking this could be a step towards Universal buying his catalogue/the albums taken down by Domino from streaming platforms, but that seems far-fetched. Also can’t imagine Universal supporting his lawsuit against Domino because if he wins, that wouldn’t exactly benefit them, would it? – konkrit

@seaninsound suggested this could be a strategic move providing Hebden with access to more resources as he pursues his legal case. It’s also possible that the reasoning has relatively little to do with the case itself; in general, from the artist’s perspective, the rationale for signing with a major publisher can vary widely from that for signing with a major label, especially considering the complexities of collecting global publishing royaltiescompared to the recorded-music side.

Although we can only speculate over the strategic advantages of his new deal, it’s clear that the result of Hebden’s ongoing case may set a precedent for other artists to reexamine the terms of their contacts more closely, especially when it comes to monetizing new media formats. With potentially widespread effects throughout the music streaming market, the case is worth keeping an eye on.

Further reading: The case for a post-royalties music industry

Some tips for COVID-safe touring

This topic was first shared by @holidaysidewinder in the #live channel.

Live music is back (in case you hadn’t heard), and @holidaysidewinder (who is about to head on tour) asked for advice on how to stay covid-safe when out on the road. The W&M community came through with some super helpful tips, which we’ve collated below…

• Protect your bubble — maintain it 1-2 weeks before the tour, and during the tour keep backstage guests to people within your bubble
• Mask up everywhere, including backstage
• Try virtual meet-and-greets (the Looped platform was recommended)
• If you’re a band, have a few players on speed dial who can fill in at short notice
• See if someone else can sell merch — it won’t be as fan-friendly, but it will keep you safe
• Pre-sign items so that you can still offer signatures to fans — or do away with the merch stall entirely, and hand out discount codes for your online store (this can turn into a great data-gathering exercise, as you can give each city a different code and see which generates the most merch revenue)
• And finally — why not consider a COVID-immune cardboard cutout to build those all-important direct-to-fan relationships for you?

Thanks to @maker.marc, @Bruce Houghton, @Colin R and @jakestandley for the tips!

Further reading: Why a COVID-19 data strategy for live music doesn’t exist — yet