Although the title is a bit strong, there is a reason why labels and artists are signing petitions (available here) and trying to stop Spotify from rolling out their nefarious “Discovery Mode”, launched globally after a long beta program that commenced in 2020.
What’s this mode about?
Spotify’s homepage will (or is already, depending upon your region) closely resemble TikTok, with an AI-assisted homepage for recommending music based on the algorithms, “smart shuffle” to add suggested songs between your queue, and the infamous “Discovery Mode” available in Spotify for Artists.
While there’s not much to criticize about the constant push for using such algorithms (oftentimes, I find some nice tracks when tired of browsing playlists), we have also considered it rather genuine, as its recommendations were tailored to your tastes and preferences.
Turns out, artists opting for “Discovery Mode” can have their revenue share cut for being promoted by the algorithm, literally pushing a big race to the bottom for appearing in our feeds. First of all, this kills the only thing (impartiality) that I naively liked about these mechanisms. However, it’s not a huge problem as my career isn’t dependent on it.
What’s scary is that Spotify is almost pitching that if artists don’t accept lesser than whatever they earn ($0.003 – $0.005 per stream), they won’t get promoted. Of course, there always will be someone else paying for better positions. And guess who? The bigwigs, who can spend millions for being “blessed” by Spotify’s not-so-magic Shuffle.
Sadly, being the company that is so foundational for the entire music industry, it can monopolize this discount game. In conclusion, smaller and more talented artists will fade into obscurity even more by censoring or earning next to nothing.
Who wins here? Only Spotify, for selling you the chance of getting uncensored.
What do you think?
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