I keep coming back to this simple idea.

Even more so after watching the U.K. govt enquiry on iPlayer and following @MrTomGray’s #BrokenRecord campaign.

Also, quit the Spotify bashing... it’s ALL streaming services, and some are owned by the biggest companies in the world. https://twitter.com/drownedinsound/status/1336586678346145798

When I say keep coming back to... when we did a joint venture with BSKYB to launch @theQuietus etc this streaming meets eMusic model was what I proposed we launch.

With editorial voices.

We even looked into paying advances for catalogues like sync or water bills.

A few assorted thoughts, experiences, and mixed feelings about streaming...

All said with someone who loves music, invests money & time in helping artists... and who adores making playlists and consumes 90% of music through the joy of a streaming subscription.

I heard @eldsjal speak above a pub when Spotify was in Beta (when I did playlists for their blog “for exposure”) at an event run by Last fm & SoundCloud staffers

Often wish streaming services were led by someone who cared about music & artists as much as he did about data & code

That old idiom about music being like dancing to architecture often feels true...

But it’s now something mumbled about admiring the coding architecture of our digital libraries.

Somewhere between the awe of the stream there needs to be the riches of the deep blue sea.

When TopSpin (a fancier BandCamp meets AWAL) was bought by AppleMusic, I was excited to see what their boss, who called iTunes like listening to music in an excel spreadsheet would do...

The answer was he left the music biz.

The Apple cart was not upturned.

It’s always fascinating meeting people who got their dream jobs working at streaming services.

Some of the loveliest and most passionate music fans you will ever meet. Many (former) musicians too.

It makes all the streaming bashing feel ever more confounding.

With Drowned in Sound we had some great partnerships with early streaming platforms who were a bit ahead of - and maybe victims of - the space race.

Brilliant things like £1 for each user we sent to Rdio.

Revenue share offers from We7.

RCRD LBL was a great collab too.

*sigh*

I have found it fascinating managing artists and seeing what happens when, after years of tapping on the windows, the platforms turn the system on for you.

I’ve also seen the barriers go up when you try to get a “third party” project like @IndieMusicMon some traction.

There’s plenty wrong with the music industry, especially the “record” business, and streaming.

Much of what needs to be fixed isn’t in the interests of shareholders nor the self interests of the few, which impacts the vast majority.

*hums Patti Smith’s ‘People Have the Power’*

When things like #SpotifyWrapped trends, artists express their incredulity about the disconnect between scale and reality

Underscoring what’s been lost in the transition from CDs to all you can eat streaming

But anger toward fans and platforms isn’t going to #FixStreaming

Back in mid-00s, as Myspace dominated, YouTube arrived, podcasts began... I worked with Factory Records’ Tony Wilson on a strand of music & tech industry conference panels entitled Rip It Up And Start Again.

Still think, 15 years on, that’s what needs to happen to the music biz.