Hi, everyone. Hamthony Slatano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. I hope you're doing well.

Now look, if you're a regular viewer of this channel, you know that I am no stranger to criticizing Spotify and the music streaming model at large, especially when it comes to ripping off artists. Recently, we did a great interview with author Liz Pelley about her new book that dives into exactly that link to that here if you want to check that out. But the thing is, even that conversation and even that book could not possibly encompass all the ways that Spotify continues to be garbage, which is why I am coming through here on this video and essentially giving you guys some garbage updates.

First off, one of the most offensive but simultaneously not surprising news items to come up is that apparently Spotify made a $150,000 donation to Trump's inauguration ceremony. Now, Spotify, from what I understand, defended this whole thing, talking about it being business as usual, and they often will host political things, and such and such as money changing hands or they're showing support for certain figures in political office.

But yeah, I guess in a way, this is not particularly new or anything, given that Spotify has actually spent quite a bit of money lobbying the US government over the years. I guess we shouldn't be surprised to find out that they are continuing under the Trump administration. But it's funny to see this action coming from a company that supposedly cares about its user base of listeners and artists that are essentially its lifeblood, especially given just how many queer fans and singers and rappers and producers and producers helped contribute to some of the biggest and most hit records of last year, that Spotify, probably made millions and millions of dollars off of. The reason I bring them up specifically is because of the Republican and Trump administration's stance to prohibit the acknowledgment of trans identities and various queer identities within a government context.

Again, you would think a company that actually cares about these people or has some conscience might actually second-guess themselves when it comes to passing such an administration over $100,000 in US dollars. But no, apparently, Spotify has no qualms with it whatsoever, no hesitation. When truly and honestly, they should. But again, you can't be too surprised when this is the same company that has passed tens of millions, hundreds of millions of dollars at this point to Joe Rogan, of all people, to continue exclusively hosting his podcast where he just basically spews the most uninformed garbage on the planet.

I guess basically what I'm trying to get at with this is that we really need to wipe from our minds the thought and the false understanding that companies such as Spotify are independent, rogue figures that help change the face of the music industry, and they're not big, well-connected, super influential, powerful corporations. That's in fact what they are. There are sides to this dichotomy, and they are on a particular one, and it's the side of the rich, of the powerful, and the well-connected.

Case in point, CEO Daniel Ek has continued his stock cash-out grind. We have reported on this channel multiple times that Daniel has essentially enriched himself to the tune of millions and millions of millions of dollars by gradually cashing out his Spotify stock shares. Apparently, he has pulled out 29 million more dollars. What is he going to do with that? Invest in more military tech? I don't know. He could buy another massive piece of property. Time will only tell.

Lord knows one thing he's not going to be doing with that money is giving it to musicians. That cash is much more likely to end up in the pocket of a military contractor or a far-right politician. And shout out to theneedledrop.com, as well as writer Victoria Borlando, who put up this recent piece pointing to the fact that Spotify and UMG are entering a multi-year partnership to restructure monetization and subscription production services.

Reminder that the major labels currently still own a financial stake in Spotify. For years now, the exclusive deals that Spotify has inked with the majors and what that means for the artists that they have signed to their label, and how money and payments are structured. The wheelings and dealings and details of these agreements are not fully transparent, but you know that the majors have made sure that their eyes are dotted and their Ts are crossed and fully aware of how all of it works, making them fully complicit in Spotify's mass robbery of artists across the board.

Apparently, this agreement is going to be ushering in something very ominous that is being dubbed "Streaming 2.0," which is said to, and I quote, "Instead of focusing on the simple business model of paying for unlimited streaming of a seemingly endless catalog of music, UMG proposed a subscription tier model that adjust to the user's listening habits, more partnerships with merchandising companies and adapting monetization rates for artists depending on their popularity."

Again, more plans to screw and essentially push out smaller artists who aren't doing quite the numbers and the scale that the majors and the bigger dogs on the platform are doing in terms of views and streams, and engagement, which is pretty much the freaking opposite of what this whole system was created to change in the first place. This idea that only a certain set of industry-connected musicians had access to the abilities to share their music with the world and get it out there for everyone to hear.

Spotify is essentially going to be creating with the majors, hand in hand, a hierarchy that pretty much says to any small artist that isn't coming in with a lot of big buzz or a lot of music industry endorsements, 'Hey, fuck you. If we even allow you to upload your shit onto our platform, you can pretty much expect it to end up in a dead zone, where due to lack of popularity, you're either going to see a lack of exposure or really a total and utter lack of money, even if you do get some streams or some engagement.'

I mean, the whole intention behind this is made even clearer by this Daniel Ek quote in the article where he essentially promises growth for the music industry. Not musicians, not music, but the industry around it.

“For nearly two decades, Spotify has made good on its commitment to return the music industry to growth, ensuring that we deliver record payouts to the benefit of artists and songwriters each new year. This partnership ensures we can continue to deliver on this promise by embracing the certainty that constant innovation is key to making paid music subscriptions even more attractive to a broader audience of fans around the world.”

There's more to this piece on over here theneedledrop.com. Again, feel free to let us know what you think about all of this in the comments. I am sure you will

Anthony Fantano. Spotify. Trash. Forever.