I saw it.

My inbox is inundated with punters laughing at and criticizing me, if only I’d watched the Oscars, I would have seen the slap.

But right after it happened I got a text. And then an e-mail with the uncensored Japanese clip. So in fact I was more up to speed than those watching the telecast, their version was censored, I got the full effect.

In other words, today you don’t miss anything. And this is hard for oldsters to fathom and others want that badge of honor, of paying their dues, of being there. But that doesn’t mean much anymore.

I mean if you want to watch a sporting event… Sure, you can miss out on the action. But anything else? If you really care you can DVR it, but one thing’s for sure, if anything happens you’ll be able to watch it ad infinitum indefinitely. As for the surprise? It was still surprising when I found out. As for the meaning?

That’s another thing people are e-mailing me about, my take. But my take doesn’t matter. Nobody’s take does.

This is how it works. The Academy does its best to evade responsibility. And pushes into the future any change. I mean coming out days later saying they told Will Smith to leave? Why wasn’t that in the initial press release? Makes it hard to believe, seems like a cover-up.

As for Will Smith, he resigned from the Academy, which ain’t much of a loss, and there’s no reason he can’t get back in. He apologized, which is what public figures do when they commit a faux pas.

The public? Has been whipsawed. First reaction was positive, a man defending his wife, we need more testosterone, like Zelensky. And then as the days went by conventional wisdom flipped. Smith was guilty, it was heinous behavior. He must be punished, to set a precedent, so this can never happen again.

Now this isn’t Trump signaling his troops by saying there are good people on both sides. This is one actor who lost control. Which begs the question whether anybody can be forgiven today. I mean I wouldn’t jump on stage and slap someone, but I don’t come from the same background as Smith, and I’m willing to give him a pass.

This is what is wrong with America, the one strike and you’re out policy, the gotcha game. You cannot touch the third rail and survive. And it seems like the third rail is always nearby. I’m not saying there shouldn’t be consequences, but am I willing to tar Smith’s reputation for all time? No. Because I’d like to be forgiven if I cross the line. People freak out and do crazy things.

But now you might be thinking I’m endorsing Smith’s behavior, but I’m not. The best analysis of the slap was given by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar:

“Will Smith Did a Bad, Bad Thing – Slapping Chris Rock was also a blow to men, women, the entertainment industry and the Black community.”: https://bit.ly/3K555lC

Once again, the sideshow has become the main show. The hoi polloi focus on the micro while those who truly run this country are above the fray, do not pay attention and commit their crimes willy-nilly. The slap sells ads, for papers and TV stations. It gives people something to talk about. It will be remembered, but how about who won? I bet you can’t name most of the winners only a week out.

The only person who played the game right here is Chris Rock. You don’t respond. Chris is smarter than politicians and seemingly every public figure. If you’re in a Twitter war you’ve already lost the plot. Stay above the fray, let the haters have their way, if you respond you will only look bad, which is exactly what they want. By not pressing charges and moving on Rock represents the twenty first century ideal. If you get caught up in the craziness you can never win.

But here I am responding to readers.

But I really just want to make the point that no one misses anything today. If anything good happens on the Grammy telecast you’ll find out immediately and be able to view it just as fast. And you won’t have to waste three plus hours to do so.

Time. Even babies are scheduled. There are so many opportunities, so much  I want to do. The entertainment industry still acts like scarcity rules, when that hasn’t been the case for two decades. You accept that you cannot reach everybody, you superserve your core audience and forget about everybody else. And if you’re lucky, you might have a viral moment, but those are rare, you can try to manipulate them but surfers are savvy these days.

And if the Grammys were a business someone would be fired. And if you put in a placeholder you’re doomed. This is what happened to Apple, it was going into the toilet, until Steve Jobs came back, revolutionized the software and simplified the product lineup. Then again, Steve Jobs was not only a brilliant businessman, he was more of an artist than anybody taking the stage tonight. Did you see that Scott Galloway quote?

“Hollywood used to be the cultural center of the universe. It’s fallen to a close second behind the tech community. The two have a lot in common: Both mix fame and money to create a brazen lack of grace and self-awareness.”

That’s all you need to know.

It’ll probably be a good show. But does that mean you have to watch it?

Last year Ben Winston threw out Ken Ehrlich’s “Grammy Moment” playbook and created an intimate affair that seemed to live in the present as opposed to the past. But that does not mean the show will reflect people’s tastes.

Prior to the MTV era the Grammys were a sideshow. They didn’t know how to get it right. If you were a true music fan it was a badge of honor not to watch the Grammys. At that time your fandom was a badge of honor. You wore the shirt of the obscure act, you didn’t want to be seen as a me-too follower. But AOR radio consolidated its playlists, corporate rock reared its ugly head and the record business imploded, only to be rescued by MTV. Yes, there was a disco component, but it’s best to say dance music has always existed and still exists, and the frat boy whites just couldn’t handle the change, even though dance music is a staple of that same cadre today.

So the eighties were an era of consolidation, of a monoculture. The independent FM stations…suddenly were taking their playlists from MTV. The tail was wagging the dog. Suddenly all of America was on the same page, the entire world was on the same page. The Police blew up on MTV and then toured the world, where there was demand. This was new, as were the amounts of money thrown off by overpriced CDs. This was long before the CDs only contained one good track. Albums were still short. Sure, there was filler, but it was still about the complete project.

And then in the nineties labels got greedy. AOL discs were free, but CDs were still expensive. Oftentimes the CD only had one good track, but if there was a single, it was cut out as soon as the song got traction. The business was profiting, but the customers were angry. The internet ethos had not yet taken hold. Which is one in which you follow the customers, give them what they want, let them participate, or else your business is decimated. True seers give the public what it doesn’t even know it wants, like Steve Jobs with the iPod, and Daniel Ek with Spotify, but these disrupters are rarely in control of the industries that are affected. Even though Clayton Christensen said you must disrupt yourself, few companies are willing to do this. As a matter of fact, it’s only tech companies who seem to push the envelope, record companies have a constant stream of income from legacy product, and the goal of being a label president is to make bank, especially now, when the role has almost zero gravitas.

So, Napster came along and blew a hole in the record business. Which complained, and kept to its playbook until streaming came aboard. Then it was those looking to the future, most especially the hip-hop artists, unconstrained by prior restrictions, who could record at a minimum cost and oftentimes delivered their music for free, who gained hold and started to dominate.

The labels shrunk their staffs. Came to bat much less frequently. Wanted giant hits. Remind you of the movie business? Exactly. The movies lost their power to television. And the labels…lost their power to a zillion different acts. The record companies would swoop down and swallow the cream, like Lil Nas X, but the rest of the world’s recorded output they wanted nothing to do with, but that’s where the public’s interest lies, assuming the public is interested at all.

We haven’t had a record that woke everybody up and made people pay attention in years. Don’t talk about Adele, that was promotion of a preexisting product. As for Silk Sonic… Like “Blurred Lines” it’s got the feel right, it hearkens back to the past, but the songs are so substandard as to hook almost no one. This is the world we live in today, where no one involved is willing to say a negative word. Whereas criticism ruled prior to MTV, you’d argue about acts. Now everybody just parties 24/7 and shoots selfies and posts them on social media.

Yes, the cutting edge is TikTok, I’d rather watch a three hour exposé of that than a smorgasbord of acts that are far from universal, most of which don’t appeal to me. Yes, they’ve got Billy Strings, but that’s tokenism. And, once again, Strings lacks the hit material necessary to reach a larger audience. And Chris Stapleton, who does it differently from everybody else in Nashville, yet is the most beloved act in Music City, and successful to boot. Stapleton went back to the garden, not retro, but influenced by the past, and delivered an authentic sound that resonated, and far beyond the country base. You’d think that would be a beacon, but so far no one  of significance has followed in his footsteps. It seems everyone wants to be famous for the trappings as opposed to the essence. They want to be famous. As for the rabid fans of some acts…it’s like the Sharks vs. the Jets, a sideshow only interesting to those involved.

So what we have here is an industry that has lost its hold on the national consciousness. However, live events are burgeoning. Festivals are must-go-to events, and sure they’re based around headliners, but the undercards sustain them, where is the undercard on the Grammy telecast?

Nowhere.

Yes, we are returning to the pre-MTV days. It’s the unheralded that people adhere to and follow. They find out about these acts organically and then tell all their friends about them. It’s no longer a top-down culture, but a bottom-up one. And by trying to be universal the Grammys are missing the point. There is no universal anymore. Used to be everyone knew the performers, I guarantee you a large portion of those watching tonight will be unfamiliar with the acts, and this was unheard of in the Grammy heyday from the late eighties into the beginnings of the twenty first century. Music can cross languages and borders, but there’s not enough music that does this, except for Latin, which used to be ignored by the suits, but now is embraced by the audience. The internet set Latin music free. And I doubt most Latin music fans would be thrilled by the Grammy lineup.

Yes, we’ve gone niche. And the Grammys are broad. Made to play to everyone. Which is why network TV has lost its audience, people went to that which was more vibrant, first on cable and now on streaming. And every once in a while there’s a streaming phenomenon, like “Squid Game.” We haven’t had one of those in music in years. Because there’s nothing so innovative, so out there, yet so right, that everyone needs to talk about it and discuss it. And still, there are people who haven’t seen “Squid Game.” Because the universal is passé.

Now I’m talking about the Grammy telecast. Not the organization and its multitude of awards. It’s a circle jerk of musicians who believe they should be rewarded for their work, even though only their peers are aware of it in most cases. Awards never worked in music, because the best stuff is ahead of the voters, they only catch up after the fact, which is the way it should be. Go on YouTube, find the endless news reports making fun of the internet, didn’t they miss the point.

So if you don’t watch the Grammys, you won’t miss anything. You’ll see a show constructed to appeal to all tastes when the truth is active fans have no desire to see it. Music is on demand now. Talk to a youngster, if you say they listen to terrestrial radio you’re lying. No way, they don’t want to sit through commercials and they don’t want to be spoon-fed what they don’t like to get to one or two tracks they do, which is exactly what the Grammy telecast proffers.

But it completely misses the point that we no longer live in one big tent. Maybe if the show was comprised only of up and coming acts. Maybe if it didn’t try to be a roundup, but just an exhibition, a learning experience. If only it wasn’t self-congratulatory, but more of an adventure. No one has to watch the Grammy telecast anymore, they have umpteen options, they can cater their life to their whims, their desires. This is what the oldsters don’t get about smartphones, they’re genius, they’re the best thing that ever happened, you have the world you want to experience at your fingertips, and guaranteed it’s not the one anybody else has at their fingertips. You customize your world. And it’s only the old wankers who complain about this. They want you corralled into their world, the Grammys, when you’ve given that up long ago.

Music is gaining health because the mainstream push continues to lose audience share. People are sick of holier-than-thou nitwit artists. Come on, you’re feuding online, you’re looking for endorsements, what is there to believe in? Why should the audience take the music seriously when the performer does not? Want an interesting TV show with legs? Break down the income of every performer, from records, live, endorsements. That, people are interested in, that they’ll talk about, whereas this three hour extravaganza will be forgotten right after it happens. Oh, the straight media will write about it, but especially when it comes to the arts, straight media has never meant less.

So expect reams of publicity after the fact. Expect the involved or brain dead to talk about it. But really, it’s become a badge of honor not to perform at the Grammys, not to be involved. Artists are unique, they don’t scramble for awards. They’re the anti. And the public propping up music knows this. They’re listening to and going to see acts far from the Grammy mainstream, they’re passionate about them, they are living in the future while the Grammys are living in the past.

If you’re watching the Grammys to be educated, the joke is on you. Today you must be active, not passive, you must find your own desires, just like on social media, you must get involved to gain the full experience.

If you’re watching the Grammys for business reasons… You’re missing the point. The big is no longer so big, and that which is promoted is too often hollow at the center. Yes, you can pull the wool over the eyes of the young, but the older you get the less you want to be a lemming, you kick the tires, decide if something is worthwhile before you dedicate time to it, since time is your most precious commodity.

So the Grammys are a TV show and an organization out of touch with the times. Old farts who don’t want to lose control.

But they already have.

Aaagh, just yesterday I subscribed with You Tube Premium instead of Spotify all because of Joe Rogan and then Daniel Ek pulls this out of the bag!!!!

That is a truly amazing reaction by Daniel Ek for which he should be praised, along with Neil Young.

Joe Rogan will no doubt whine about cancel culture, it’s simply consequence culture which he and his $ 100M advance merely has to live with, unlike the many that listened to his show, didn’t take the money, sorry vaccine and fatally caught Covid.

Regards
Robin Hill

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This is a laughable response.  Young is back because he has music to put out.  Rogan complaining to Ek is 100% for people like you to say Neil won.  Rogan is going nowhere and Young caved, which is exactly how all the young people and people with any sense will see it.  To say Neil won sounds like MSM propaganda.  In the end, no one cared if Young and his 70 year-old mates left.  How many top performers of today left?  None. How many really cared or thought Neil was even correct.  None.
I love Neil’s music but for the “common man” that sold his music to Blackstone, no love for his BS move with Rogan.

fredslink

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Bob, did I NOT write you about this a year ago?? Spotify and TikTok should’ve been in bed already. Each time your song gets used for a video on TikTok, you should get a stream on Spotify. Maybe even each time that video gets played. NOW we start adding more revenue for artists and cooking with some gas.

Danny Jay

Shytown

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There are a handful of truly great Neil Young songs, so this is good news. But what about Joni? In my opinion, her catalog is a treasure. Will it return to Spotify?

Keith Brown

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Since on Spotify, the royalty amount paid per stream is dependent on the total revenues that Spotify receives, this seems like a ploy by the major labels to limit competition and increase their payout.

Spotify could face anti-trust lawsuits from the independent distribution companies.

If Spotify reduces the number of artists to 165,000 from the current 5.8 million and deletes millions of songs, I will be canceling my paid Spotify subscription.

Larry Green

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1. I was never a big CSN/CSNY fan. Never bought an album. I liked the hits. I knew  “Down By The River and “Long Time Gone”, both basement jam staples. Late last night I started watching “Woodstock”. “Long Time Gone” and “Wooden Ships” played early in the film. I started thinking; Wow. This is what it’s all about. My tinnitus added a couple of new roars and hums over the past two years and I think my concert going days are over. But that CSNY reunion is one I would kill to see.

2. Re: 10k per month. So, if The Comsat Angels or The Pale Fountains put their full catalogs on Spotify and don’t reach the 10k (quite possible), they’ll be gone forever? Very depressing. Wait – Is the 10k line only for new acts?

Cheers,

Tom Quinn

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No mention of YouTube Music  / Google in all this? Where do you place the largest search engine / SEO machine in the scheme?

Luke Joerger

Hastings Digital Studios LL

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I do hope you’re slightly wrong about the Spotify changes.

I’m a verified artist on Spotify, but one with fewer than 10,000 listeners a month.

Nevertheless, between streaming, PRS and PPL I earn maybe £1500 a year from my music. Losing that, on an income that totals about £15,000 a year (yes, I’m below the poverty line) would be catastrophic.

Streaming has been a lifeline, and I’ve worked hard at wresting my rights back so I benefit at least as much as my utterly inactive label and publisher. It also gives me something to work with, to build my numbers, something I’m currently working on.

Plus, I mentor six young up and coming artists. Shutting off their access simply puts more power back into the hands of labels. The last thing any of us needs.

Best wishes
Paul Phillips
rosterartistdevelopment.com

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So Neil Young pulled his music from Spotify because it was him or Rogan and now Neil is back and Rogan is still there? I love it that Neil is just a money whore like so many of the elites.

It would be nice to have competition for Ticketmaster, but in truth Spotify is going to make you pay more in order to have them as a resource. I didn’t get the feeling tickets would be available via both outlets. Too bad, that is real competition for the consumer. One or the other firm being the only source for tickets is not a competitive situation for the ticket buyer.

Personally, I don’t have a problem with scalpers. If I want to go to a show, I will pay more and go to fewer events. A lot of people feel this way about concerts, sporting events, etc.

Last, a CSNY reunion? Yeah I went to the last one in 1974 and it was just a money grab for four drugged out musicians who could barely get through their set. No thanks. Fool me once, shame on you. ……..

Dennis Paulik

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As for Neil Young he has clearly become the person he railed against in his more pure state. Thatl never be back.

jb

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re: “you can put your track on Spotify, but if you don’t have 10,000 streams in a month, your song is removed.” – As a longtime Spotify subscriber, I use the platform voraciously in multiple genres.  I surely hope this 10k caveat doesn’t apply across the board.  A LOT of back catalogue songs/music I listen to – some of it from the majors – have far less than 10,000 streams total, but that doesn’t make the music irrelevant.  Using the 10k a month criterion, a lot of really great records would be removed.  Some genres would be eviscerated.  It’s not as though there aren’t great Indian Classical Ragas that don’t get a lot of streams, but I still prefer the music to remain up on the platform for when I do want it.  I’ll assume this policy would only apply to self-released artists, moving forward.

Greg Debonne

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So, an artist can put a song up, but if it doesn’t get fucking TEN MILLION STREAMS they take it down and blacklist the artist?

You need to rewrite that entire article as a HORROR STORY, which is what it sounds like from out here.

Vestra Atredies

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Glad to hear Spotify and Daniel Ek are facing their issues, as you said.

Good to know Ek can find his way toward a compromise and make Spotify, first a music provider, and everything else second.

—budzenko

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I understand you’re probably too busy to respond, but from what I understand from your note is you have to have a song sustain 10K streams a month to stay on Spotify?

Ken Kelley

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I saw your article about the potential changes at Spotify, where only songs with 10k in their first month will stay on the platform. I’d love to learn more, but googling the terms brings up too much info!

I haven’t seen the main article that you heard or read this from. Would you please send it to me?

Caley Rose

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The vaccines still don’t work buddy

Mark N, Foley

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Bob I’m sorry I used to like you but you’re such a moron now it’s almost embarrassing lol. And you’re on the wrong side of everything but just too incredibly stupid or arrogant or both to realize it. Your Twitter probably has an upside down Ukrainian flag

Johnny Vieira

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So as a songwriter, producer, publisher and musician who has always noted your prescience in matters of music industry, should I renew my Premium now, when Young is officially back on (not just because of being farm but because of the change in business mode changes Ek is making) or wait and vote with a renewed Premium at a later date, speaking with my consumer $$ as it were?

And should I do any new releases of music on TikTok first to market test and build a streaming base, or hurry and get my best single or an EP on Spotify before the 10,000 streams a month policy takes effect?

Not requesting any personal replay here, but a further letter with some clarity as you see it if you were me or serious and capable pro. As I may have mentioned in the past, my next releases,  be it single or EP format this year features quite a few legendary session players as “the band” ala Steely Dan” concept of a band. Rolling the dice but perhaps but I am referring to Steve Cropper, Dave Hungate, Sklar, Kunkel, Waddy, several members of Prince’s NPG, The Revolution, The Time, Soul Asylum, The Rembrandts, Toto, (but not Luke yet, he’s thought about it but not committed), and Hall & Oates band. Over a dozen Grammy winners many of whom are also hit song writers and producers as well.

Its my money and risk but like any entrepreneur (who has some data from Soundcloud to indicate my hits and misses objectively by fan base), I’d like to back the right horse. Presently, Minneapolis based Cory Wong & the Wong Notes, with 6 former embers of NPG including co-front man Sonny T. are having a very successful tour and  Sonny is one of my prime co-producers, co-writers, and session players  for almost 30 years now.

Just curious how a well-informed artist, producer, or songwriter should proceed if you were them?

Best,

Zannman

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Fuck Young and CSNY money grab. And fuck your stupid attempt to censor Rogan.

Derek Morris

Neil Young is back!

You  may have missed yesterday’s Joe Rogan story:

“Joe Rogan Says He Will Quit If Podcast Becomes Place Where He Has to Walk On Eggshells”: https://bit.ly/3LNQUlt

This is a result of the Young deal. There was a Zoom call with Daniel Ek, Young and Rogan wherein Ek told Rogan to cool it. You see Ek realizes his bread and butter is music, and that without music there is no Spotify. You have to know which side your bread is buttered on, and Ek finally got the message.

So Neil Young will be back this weekend, but here’s the next surprise: his music will be in hi-def! Not Atmos, Young thinks that is b.s., but Young’s songs will stream in beyond CD quality. Spotify has been behind on high definition audio, and this is a way for them to catch up. I’ve heard that Young has secretly been recording a track with David Crosby for release when he comes back to Spotify, but I’m not sure that’s true. Yes, Young decided to bury the hatchet with everybody, and by recording with Crosby, he believes his image will be enhanced and…Live Nation and AEG are fighting over the CSNY reunion tour. No, it is not happening soon enough to be a benefit for Ukraine, but there will be a charity component, since Crosby’s involved it’s going to be opioid related. As for the tour, it’s the end of the summer. The website will be up at the same time as Young’s music on Spotify, so register early if you want tickets, there’s going to be a lottery, a la the Grateful Dead. Only if you’re registered will your letter be accepted. I know, it’s complicated, but the belief is it’s scalper proof, but I won’t go into the details.

As for Ek… He’s making further moves to solidify Spotify’s position with the music community. He’s appointed Tom Gray as an advisor. Not David Lowery, just Tom Gray. And Ek plans to also bring on éminence grise Doug Morris too. Daniel wants to build good will, and by courting the naysayers, he believes he will achieve this.

Ek is also going to stop challenging copyright payment amounts for songwriters. And, he’s going to increase their payments. And, he’s going to take it out of Spotify’s end. Wall Street analysts are apoplectic, with Spotify’s margins so thin to begin with, but Ek said without songwriters there is no music, and writers need to be compensated.

As for increasing the payment per stream, that is not going to happen. Giving more money to songwriters was enough, Ek doesn’t want to bankrupt the company. So, if you don’t have a hit, you still ain’t gonna make s__t.

But there is the new bonus pool. For certain markers you get an additional payment. These start at ten million streams and go up to a billion. Because if you don’t have ten million streams, you’re not really in the recording business, even though you might think you are. This is addressing the wannabe problem. Just like Amazon no longer hosts all films for purchase, Spotify is closing the door on access. This is how it’s going to work: you can put your track on Spotify, but if you don’t have 10,000 streams in a month, your song is removed. So now “artists” will think twice about throwing up any old ditty, they’ll work harder on each tune, at least that’s the theory. And, if a song was taken down, it can never go back up, unless it reaches ten million views on TikTok.

That’s right, at first Spotify was tied in with Facebook, but after that heinous story yesterday…did you see it?

“Facebook paid GOP firm to malign TikTok – The firm, Targeted Victory, pushed local operatives across the country to boost messages calling TikTok a threat to American children. ‘Dream would be to get stories with headlines like “From dances to danger,” ‘ one campaign director said.”: https://wapo.st/3qRBwfs

Spotify gets enough bad press, they don’t want to be dragged down by Zuckerberg, who is flailing. Belief is “Meta” ain’t gonna make it, virtual reality is not going to become a big thing soon, and the metaverse will be controlled by the crypto crowd, buying land in cyberspace. Yes, Zuckerberg was late, a crime in technology, he’s been disrupted, karma’s a bitch!

As for TikTok… Spotify is going to buy ten percent to draw heat away from the Chinese company.

And there will be synergies. Now the top TikTok tracks playlist will be featured on Spotify’s homepage, permanently. TikTok delivers hits, and Spotify wants those hits streamed. Right now, they’re talking exclusives, but Lucian Grainge is up in arms. Then again, how much power does the conventional record business have anymore, many of these TikTok tracks are originals. As for Apple and Amazon, are they really in the music business or is it just an afterthought? Like I said above, Ek wants to send the message that Spotify is a music company, and unlike Zuckerberg he’s not going to change the name of the company to try to distract the public from the truth. Yes, Ek is owning the bad publicity and dealing with it, as opposed to obfuscating.

But the truth is all the money is now in live. Did you see Jay Penske, featured in last Sunday’s “New York Times”?:

“You Don’t Know Much About Jay Penske. And He’s Fine With That. – A quiet Hollywood power broker with a famous name goes on a buying spree that has given him Rolling Stone, South by Southwest and a private island. What more does he want?”: https://nyti.ms/3iTVUbE

Ek is not going to buy ancient individual assets, he’s going straight to the source. That’s right, Spotify is buying AEG Live, from Phil Anschutz. It’s an all cash deal, it’s not quite the number Phil wanted, but time is going by and Phil ain’t gonna live forever and he’s always thought the live events business was too risky, with concert promoters putting up all the money.

In truth, at first Daniel was negotiating with Irving Azoff and Tim Leiweke re the Oak View Group, but Ek wanted critical mass now. Also in truth, Oak View Group is going to be bought by Ek’s AEG Live down the road anyway. That’s the plan. I mean how many times has Irving Azoff sold the same assets? And what a victory lap it would be for Leiweke to be back in charge of AEG. Well, AEG Live, as for the rest of the operation, that’s too big a pill for Spotify to swallow, and like I said, Ek’s all about the music.

No one foresees any antitrust issues, there is no barrier to entry by third parties. And, Spotify is a great competitor to Ticketmaster re tickets. Yes, you’re going to be able to buy your ducats directly from Spotify. And if you’re not on Spotify, you’re going to the back of the line. And all tickets will be digital, Spotify is fighting the scalpers, the company has no legacy relationships with them.

So this is quite a lot of change. Steps in the right direction. There will still be naysayers, but Daniel Ek has addressed everyone’s concerns except for those living in the past, who still believe in the old model, that they should be entitled to make a living making music. More people are making more money via Spotify payouts, but a line has to be drawn somewhere. And streaming won. As for vinyl, Spotify ain’t taking that step. Yes, Ek was planning to purchase presses, he’s been advised by Jack White, and open physical stores to sell them, just like Warby Parker, having a storefront for your virtual business is the new thing, but then Amazon pulled back from retail and Ek cashiered his vinyl/retail plans. You see a techie is not beholden to the past, he (or she!) only looks to the future!

There are more ideas brewing, like a VC fund for acts, but Ek doesn’t want to bite off more than he can chew, especially since Spotify is short-handed since contrary to conventional wisdom, Sweden was devastated by its Covid policies:

“Did Sweden beat the pandemic by refusing to lock down? No, its record is disastrous”: https://lat.ms/373zamG

So other plans are on the back burner.

But for now, there’s this Neil Young deal, which is consumer-facing. There’ll be further changes down the pike, since Daniel Ek knows you evolve or you die, unlike the record companies, trading on their legacy assets, doing a piss-poor job on new music.

Spotify’s changes may not impress you, but they will impress the majority of people, and the acquisition of AEG Live has Wall Street salivating, so…

The future’s so bright I gotta wear shades!