Treading The Next Path….

If anything, the ‘exclusive’ strategy I adopted for the “Elevation” album has been affirmed in recent weeks by the sale of Bandcamp to a company nobody has ever heard of, and the announcement by Spotify that they intend to screw independent artists still further, having already royally screwed them throughout its 18 year history. Both are corporate business decisions. Both are disconnected from the lives of independent musicians. Neither is good for independent music.

There is nothing wrong with the concept of streaming, provided artists are paid fair royalties, but that has never happened. These poor rates don’t only apply to Spotify, but to Amazon, Apple Music, YouTube, Deezer, and the rest of the streaming services. Of all of them, I have a little more respect for Apple Music and YouTube. YouTube’s rates per play have been consistently one of the worst, but they do at least offer (for the moment) the free video option. Apple Music was the only one of the streaming services to accept a US court decision in January 2019 that they should pay artists 44% more per play. The rest appealed the decision while they continued to whittle away at their derisory rates.

That was then. This is now. It may have seemed like something of a pathetic, one-man protest to remove all my solo music from the streaming services back in 2017. I knew it would have zero impact, but I hate injustice. While I would never lay claim to being a visionary, I saw back then the gross unfairness of their offer, and have enough business experience to know that these situations rarely improve in favour of the little people. It was no coincidence that Spotify expanded into the Asian market around the time of the US court decision, and from a business perspective I can see why they did that.

Independent musicians will continue to upload their music to Spotify just as they will continue to have a profile on Twitter, currently known as ‘X’ and support the many other highly successful businesses that serve their customers so poorly. I understand why the vast majority of musicians feel the need to have a presence on as many promotional platforms as possible, but a stark fact of business life is that scatter-gunning rarely pays off. You either have to find a new focus, or hope you get lucky. In a sense, ‘twas ever thus.

My decision to release “Elevation” exclusively from my website has worked for me because I don’t have expectations. I know the quality of my music and I will continue to set the bar as high as I can. However, I also know that I neither have the time for, nor want to expend the energy on, fighting battles I know I can’t win. I’ve found several times in my business life that stepping back from unwinnable battles tends to help in clearing a better way forward.

So it’s pleasing to report that the new album has enjoyed better sales than any of my previous solo works and each of its videos have longer average viewing times. Nothing ground-breaking, but there’s something really fulfilling about having a steadily growing, albeit smaller community of loyal supporters. Quality over quantity. Overall, I feel very positive about its release strategy, but I’m also realistic that I won’t be able to achieve the same result a second time. Marketing needs to retain an element of novelty, honesty, and it must never feel desperate. So watch this space.

Thank you to everyone who has supported “Elevation” and all my previous works. If you haven’t already signed up for my quarterly newsletter you can do so at the top of the page.

Peace.

John