IC Community Newsletter #70
Breaking up with Spotify, plus new releases from Peel Dream Magazine, Will Samson, Bonnie "Prince" Billie, Tone Scientists, and more.
I spent last week on vacation. My mornings consisted of sitting on a dock in Caye Caulker, Belize with a coffee in one had and Liz Pelly’s Mood Machine in the other. Some people enjoy reading lighthearted novels on the beach. I guess I like to relax with in-depth critiques of the music industry? Take what you will from that.
One thought won't leave me alone since I got home, though: it's time to cancel my Spotify subscription.
I already started moving over to Tidal a few months ago. The original spark for me was Spotify’s decision to withhold royalties for songs amassing less than 1,000 streams in the 12-months. I kept paying for my Spotify account, though, because my family is on my plan and I didn’t want to upend their routines. I also felt like I needed it for my label work at Fortune Signal, but that’s feeling less nescessary all the time.
My subtropical mornings with Mood Machine left me ready to, finally, actually pull the plug on Daniel Ek’s cash cow content farm streaming service.
Pelly’s book, to oversimplify it, lays out the ways that Spotify has reshaped the industry and flattened musical discovery into algorithmic sludge by prioritizing engagement metrics over artistry. It’s a lot of things we already knew (or at least suspected), but seeing the receipts splayed out makes it all the more infuriating.
To the point of cancelling Spotify, Darren Hemmings made a similar call to readers in his Network Notes Substack. Last week he wrote about his decision to move over to Qobuz—he's found its focus on music without distractions like podcasts and audiobooks to be a refreshing alternative.
Personally, I’ve enjoyed the way Tidal has helped me rediscover forgotten favorites buried deep in my library that I hadn’t thought about in years. And when I want something new, Tidal’s recommendations feel much more attuned to my tastes compared to Spotify’s cost-optimized algorithmic suggestions.
As for that thought that won’t leave me alone, it comes down to this: if the biggest player in streaming keeps showing us that they don’t care about independent artists, making it harder to find the music we love, and perverting the discovery experience, why are we still here?
As Darren put it, we can do better.
Tidal has been a great alternative for me, but it’s not the only one. There are plenty of ways to engage with music without feeding Spotify’s machine.
If you’ve made the jump, what’s been working for you? If you haven’t, what’s holding you back?
—Mark
Indie Intel
All the news that’s fit to summarize.
Ted Gioia capped off his Substack-published book over at The Honest Broker with a critique of the music industry's myopic focus on short songs and streaming metrics, arguing that science proves music's transformative powers require longer listening experiences than current business models allow.
The MLC's attempt to stop Spotify from using audiobooks as an excuse to reduce their mechanical royalties rate went down in flames, reports Murray Stassen for Music Business Worldwide. Judge Torres bought the streaming giant's argument that including 15 hours of audiobooks makes it chill to pay artists less.
Meanwhile, the National Music Publishers Association is going nuclear on Spotify, launching more than 2,500 takedown notices over unlicensed music in podcasts. Spotify yawned and called it a "press stunt" after winning their MLC suit.
Stuart Dredge at Music Ally details Warner Music Group's strategic shuffle: fresh streaming deals and a $450m Tempo Music purchase can't mask a 5% revenue decline. But with profits up 25%, CEO Robert Kyncl's efficiency drive seems to be working.
The Quietus reports London Mayor Sadiq Khan has assembled an 11-person Nightlife Taskforce, led by fabric's Cameron Leslie, to rescue the city's flailing club scene—but they're facing an uphill battle against gentrification.
New Releases
Music from catalogs in the IC community that caught our attention since last time.
🎧 Peel Dream Magazine's first album "Modern Meta Physic" returns via Slumberland, now expanded with session cuts and early demos. →
🎧 After a derailed major label deal, Will Samson finds a place for his latest ambient reflection on Dauw with "Songs Of Beginning And Belonging." →
🎧 “The Purple Bird” sees Bonnie "Prince" Billie sharing songwriting duties with Nashville royalty on the latest indie folk release from No Quarter. →
🎧 LA punk legend Mike Watt steers Tone Scientists through five exploratory cuts on Org Music, including an audacious Sun Ra interpretation. →
🎧 Sheffield experimentalists Emergence Collective transform a cemetery chapel into minimalist sound laboratory on Redundant Span's latest. →
🎧 Efficient Space honors the memory of producer and MC Ali Omar with “Hashish Hits,” a selection from the dub rebel’s self-released discography. →
🎧 D. Edward Davis and Abby Fisher translate Donald Judd's Marfa installations into sublime vibraphone minimalism on cmntx records. →
🎧 Artoffact Records presents 20 tracks benefiting California wildfire relief efforts spanning darkwave, post-punk, industrial, and electronic. →
🎧 Lina Tullgren channels five years of avant-garde exploration into the pristine “Decide Which Way The Eyes Are Looking” via Post Present Medium. →
🎧 Jako Maron's “Mahavélouz,” released via Nyege Nyege Tapes, pulls Réunion Island's maloya tradition into modular synthesis territory. →
🎧 Helen Ganya's “Share Your Care” graces Whited Sepulchre Records with temple-recorded Thai classical instruments and spectral indie pop meditations. →
🎧 Ansonia Records reissues Belisario López's “Vol. 5,” a pristine snapshot of Cuban dance orchestra mastery from 1966's vibrant NYC Latin scene. →
Obsessed
Each edition, the IC team shares the gems they’re into right now.
🏖️ Hunter brings Otaku: Beach Life on NTS for his fellow summer lovers
🎞️ Nenet is watching Argentine Noir over at The Criterion Channel (check out the intro for some great historical context)
🐛 From Ari: Bug Bus Piano does it again
📀 Austin shares “Honey for the Ants” by Wojciech Rusin, “the last installment of a really lovely trilogy by an artist (that i love dearly) who designs and 3d prints their own reed instruments and interweaves the recordings with ambient techno, choral music, etc”
📗 Dev read Underground Emprie, all about how the modern banking system came about: “a good synthesis and history of how boring infrastructure and architecture can have a profound impact on the world”
🤓 This video with Djrum popped up in my YouTube feed, and watching him nerd out over his his record collection is a treat.
That’s all for #70! By the way, if there’s something you’d like to see in the next edition, give us a shout.
Catch you next time!
- Mark & the Infinite Catalog crew
glad we're finally adding "Spotify encourages discovery" to the list of myths/fallacies, right up there with "Spotify saved the music industry from piracy"
I switched to Tidal last year too! 🎉 Encouraged my family to switch over as well ✌️ It’s been great and I feel way more connected to the music I choose to listen to now (the user interface is nicer too in my opinion)