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?

    • bent@feddit.dk
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      26 days ago

      I had this problem at first, then I realized there’s so much music I never listened to before and I have enough new music between Qobuz and Bandcamp that I’m satisfied. But I see your point. I have pirated some music when the creator don’t allow me to purchase the songs.

    • scytale@piefed.zip
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      26 days ago

      I’m curious, which prog artists do you find on Qobuz that aren’t anywhere else?

    • danciestlobster@lemmy.zip
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      25 days ago

      While I agree with you for most alternatives to Spotify, I have yet to not be able to find any song from anyone on SoundCloud particularly in more niche genres. I obviously don’t know everything you listen to but the reason you describe is the exact reason I can’t always use Spotify