Spotify Newsletter #154

Your Weekly Dose of Spotify News

Mar 24

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Hello and welcome to the latest issue of the Spotify Newsletter!

It’s two weeks into the TikTok takeover of Spotify but the sky hasn’t fallen - yet - so we stream on and enjoy the glory that is music streaming.

— Speaking of new things and fresh ideas, the big Hack Week is upon us. It’s exciting because Spotify employees across functions worldwide look forward to the annual week where they put their regular work aside and collaborate on ideas that combine their passions, creativity, and skills.

The Discover Weekly playlist originated as a Hack Week idea, as did the ability to exclude select playlists from your Taste Profile.

I am excited to see what happens this year. Maybe a new and improved version of my beloved Stations feature.

— 10% of $100 Million is a lot of money. But this week the Spotify haters crawled out of their hole to alert us that Spotify has been mighty frugal with their $100 million “Creator Equity Fund.”

Recall, this is a fund put together after a preposterous controversy ginned up last year surrounding Spotify’s star podcast host Joe Rogan.

According to Bloomberg, the Creator Equity Fund had a hard time initially getting off the ground, taking months to hire staff and getting the brunt of “shifting priorities.”

“The Spotify Creator Equity Fund is dedicated to a variety of initiatives that help elevate and support an inclusive and diverse portfolio of artists and creators on the platform,” a spokesperson for Spotify wrote in a statement. “We are able to empower and uplift underrepresented voices around the world.” (Consequence)

Not. Good. Enough. At least that’s the tone of the articles crossing the wires.

The uproar over Joe Rogan, captained by free-speech denier Neil Young and other assorted media folks looking to ding the audio company, was nonsense from the jump.

Yet here we are with a well-endowed fund direct from the desk of the CEO, but not enough money has been flashed around town, so it appears there’s a big problem with the company’s lack of monetary profligacy.

The $100 million was designed to be used over three years, according to Bloomberg’s sources, but the streaming service lacked a well-structured, clear system for vetting and approving projects or allocating money. Ideas were pitched but often not accepted. (Variety)

Let's look at this part again: “Ideas were pitched but often not accepted.”

The horror! Some of the certainly awesome ideas were not accepted! Revolt!

Maybe… just maybe… some of the ideas were BAD! Just because you have an idea doesn't mean Daniel Ek has to cut a check to make it happen.

Am I to understand that if Spotify had blasted through all $100 million this past year we’d be passing out party hats? Is $100 million no longer a lot of money? I didn't realize the people who created the fund were under duress to spend it all - fast!

The banks are collapsing, I’m told, so maybe some financial prudence is in order.

Spotify spent money or projects like “Glow,” which highlights music from LGBTQ artists, and “Nailing It,” a podcast hosted by three Black women. It also recently announced an expanded partnership with Spelman College, a historically Black women’s school in Atlanta.

That’s not nothing. And all that creative output costs money, which perhaps came out of the fund.

But again, it’s not enough. It’s never enough.

It’s yet another non-story - like the Joe Rogan hoopla - that I’ve already wasted too much time on. But I figure I’d chime in and say this is ridiculous, there’s nothing nefarious going on, the creator fund is a great idea, and I prefer diligence when it comes to spending money.

If they’d blown away $100 million for the hell of it on crap just to look nice for the media, now that would be reason to be super annoyed.

Beyond all that ranting and raving, please have a great weekend and happy streaming! 😀

★In the SPOTlight★

⭐️ Spotify’s vertical feed could change music discovery, but not for the reason you think

Just a few years ago, Spotify’s Rap Caviar playlist was a harbinger for culture. But a lot has changed. Artists want (and need) to build deeper relationships with fans, and gen Z consumers want more active content experiences. In the absence of such tools on streaming, this has led both groups to shift attention to TikTok, with Spotify taking a more passive role. Spotify may still be the most powerful streaming platform in the business, but it has lost much of its cultural capital.