The technology twittersphere is abuzz with Elon Musk’s latest move: He wants to build his own music streaming service for Tesla.
https://venturebeat.com/2017/06/23/probeat-how-teslas-music-service-should-work/
You know, I’m not so surprised that Elon wants to do it himself. After all, he’s not the kind of guy to suffer fools. And - let’s face it - the current streaming music options are shit.
First off, think about Spotify.
Spotify seems pretty good - accurate playlist predictions, affordable rates, easy sharing. What’s so shit about that?
This: https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/06/21/spotify-million-royalty-indie-tunecore/
Royalty payments are going down the tubes. That link features an independent artist - who receives ALL of their royalties, no label shenanigans getting in the way - and received less than $5,000 for 4+ million streams of music.
This is not an artist whining about some mis-managed business deals - it’s just Spotify paying an absolute pittance per stream. If you aren’t the beneficiary of a swanky major label payola situation, you’re fucked, apparently.
What about Apple Music?
Apple Music is great - if you have apple products. Otherwise, as anybody who has tried to use iTunes on a windows machine can attest to, it’s a terrible experience.
Roughly 80% of all mobile devices, and 90+% of desktop computers, are not Apple. Soooo that’s no good - and I highly doubt Tesla will be running Apple-powered software in their cars. Even moreso considering that Apple has been developing its own self-driving car for years, if the rumors are to be believed.
What about the other streaming services? Tidal, Soundcloud, etc?
…what about them? Compared to Spotify and Apple Music, they are small potatoes. I don’t care how many times Jay-Z puts out a new exclusive album on Tidal, it’s never going to be the main streaming service for Tesla.
—
Let’s be Real for a Minute
OK, this article is a little tongue-in-cheek.
The real reason that Elon is looking at building a streaming service, as the VentureBeat article from the beginning of this post says, is probably to ensure compatibility with all the other options. So you can hook up your Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, etc accounts into the Tesla service, and no matter what you like to use, you’ll be set. If you don’t have a streaming account anywhere, Tesla can set you up with a proprietary one.
That seems to make sense. Time will tell. At least it makes for a good excuse to point out some of the major flaws with the current services. What do you think?
—
It only takes ten seconds to join my weekly email newsletter, packed with mind-expanding media from around the web. Sign up here: https://mattsokol.us
Of the three I only use Soundcloud. That platform was awesome years ago. With time they only got
worseevil. Ever since they introduced the html5 there was almost nothing good coming in. I remember their promises and their actions very well.You think Soundcloud is evil? I feel like they might be incompetent more than anything. If they just had a good user interface and a decent mobile app, it would possibly be so great. Even right now, it sucks as a site and artists still use it haha.
although people keep saying it's about to die... who knows
edit - the one thing I like about soundcloud is you can upload directly to them instantly - whereas spotify, apple music etc, you have to pay an intermediary and it takes weeks to get anything up.
I have been using Sondcloud for 10+ years. They were the best. They "sold out". No longer looking for the interest of their users...
About the others, most shops (Beatport & co.) used to take a solid 50% of revenue. The other 50% would go to everybody down the chain, with the artist being the last and only getting scraps. Things may have changed by now, that I don't know. I know Spotify works differently, but I don't have any experience on that platform, as it doesn't work in my country.
EDIT: I'm fine with the intermediary distribution systems, but I definitely don't like the scam that is the internet music shops.
Damn, you've been on there way longer than me! I believe you then, that's too bad that they stopped giving artists a decent deal. Maybe blockchain will provide an answer...
Ever since they went from flash to html5 there has not been 1 single improvement for the good. Ether completely trivial or even for the worse. There was an announcement at the time, that the change was for the better (I had hopes then) and that they would improve the platform, blah blah. Bullshit. It's quite obvious that they "sold out" to the corporations. :(
EDIT: You forgot to mention Bandcamp. Probably the best platform right now.
I completely agree with you, there is so much room for improvement on this streaming sites. It makes me sick people have to use these options.
I really think Steemit should get into the streaming music game and call it Streamit :)
I totally second this - Check out @SteemSongs!
heck yeah thanks for this. on it :)
Yeah I can't wait for steemsongs to enter public beta!
Elon Musk can do no wrong in my eyes. I've read a biography of his lifeand he seems like a total genius(verging on the mad side but a genius none the less). My understanding of the music business is limited but I thought that over recent years, the money an artist makes from single and album sales (and now streaming) was a pittance. These are seen as loss leaders in order to publicise the main product which is the live tours. This is where the artist makes the real money. I am happy to be corrected!
I read a biography about him too, probably the same one. Great book! It's incredible to see the story and understand that he's just another human who happens to find a way to do these incredible things.
Artist finances are just a mess - generally all of the major acts rake in a decent amount of dough like you said, mostly through touring and merchandise. DIY acts tend to make very little money unless they have a VERY smart touring/merch situation
The trip to Mars is pretty long so I think Elon wants his own music service for his astronauts to enjoy SpaceX qualified music. Driving a autonomous car can become boring, so also here only Tesla qualified music. Hyperloop travels: well, that doesn't require music since in a light flash we will be at our destinations. Seriously, when creating the bionic human, integrating the computer with out brains, Neuralink qualified music must be make us even more bionic! :)
Neuralink qualified music... with automatic straight-to-brain ads!!
What about ads that give the direct sensation of the products, as a teaser!
Too much for me man!