#127 - Is streaming headed to being the replacement for radio?

The term "Audio" is used a lot today in the press.  But if you research, you'll find "spoken word" or podcasts is what all the fuss is about.... it's not about music.  So what's happened to music in a world where streaming dominates?

Funny, but if you've been around long enough (as I have) you've already lived it.  It was called 'radio".  It was easy and free.  Someone else making the decisions for you about what to listen to.  Talk Radio ruled the world for most commuters - including the musicians I knew.  

The promise of streaming to the musician was "anyone can buy cheap recording gear, put your music on 200 services without charges, and thousands of people are going to listen".  Once the music has been uploaded, the musician could move on to making more music!  Suddenly, 5 years and 3 albums later, the musician looks at their Spotify streams and most will find that no body has streamed their music.  The systems are bombarded with mediocre quality recordings.

The promise of streaming to the consumer was "every song you want can be found on Spotify".  Well, not true.  We don't have all our Blue Coast Records albums up, and I know many labels who don't have their music up.  Besides, once you stop paying the annual fees, the music comes down.  But it is true that on Spotify (or other services) millions of tracks are uploaded daily overwhelming the listener with choice.  So how does one find new music?  Playlists?  I'm not sure.  I don't find music that way. 

Spotify has never been profitable and are looking to podcasts/advertising for growth.  Spotify takes money from artists to promote their music to more Spotify listeners.  They're pushing artists and labels to use their service for promotion... like TikTok.  TikTok admits it's not the place for a content creator to generate revenue but instead to point listeners to somewhere else to become a 'fan'.  Yep....  more and more, streaming is sounding like old school radio.  All the other services?  Within 10 years, they'll be sold and disappear.  Anyone remember "Myspace"?  "Napster"? Where are they now?

The music industry is consolidating... which might be a good thing for fans of real musicians and quality recordings.