Ok. So this is kind of a big deal around my local music community right now.

To Spotify or Not

Here's a couple pennies (pun'd) if you got four or five minutes.. maybe 7 or ten now. Longer if you want to read the article, it's good.

Paraphrase of a Dallas Observer article found here:
http://www.dallasobserver.com/2012-12-13/music/spotify-and-the-future-of-the-independent-artist/
A lot of the independent musicians and working bands are talking about the pros and cons of using Spotify, I have heard and discussed it myself among friends. The above article gives examples and discusses Spotify and it's potential impact. Some of the bands/musicians use Spotify to expand their musical knowledge and listen to new music like any fan would. Some only upload their music to it and don't listen, collecting fractions of pennies per stream. Some bands/musicians believe it is the devil itself, aimed directly at their wallets and refuse to take any part in it what so ever. Yes, people are still talking about the streaming and downloading issue.

How do you music?
I used Spotify when it first came out, doing some email thing to get an access code, as it had limited membership. My initial feeling was that someone had let me into a vault and given me time alone while they looked the other way. I truly felt this was, in some unexplainable way, wrong. So, I stopped using it. Not three seconds after closing Spotify, I opened my browser, typed 'gr' into the address bar, hit enter and was searching grooveshark.com without a second thought or twitch of hesitation. Then it hit me... I'm a big fat jerk.

What was I doing differently? Why do I feel guilt free using GrooveShark.com and so...dirty, when using Spotify? I asked myself and wasn't really able to come up with an answer. I didn't fully understand what Spotify was at the time or if it was even legal when I was using it. About a year later, as in today at lunch, I read the mentioned article in print. I had an answer, but it still felt weird and undefined.

That was just to stir your brain.

Enter Phish. A quick search of 'phish' in Spotify will give you all their albums, all the official DVD releases are ripped and listenable, some bonus content stuff, some related acts, and all of the LivePhish realeases.

No live shows besides LivePhish Vol.'s and official releases. I can't imagine Phish ever allowing Spotify or similar services access the live catalogue on livephish.com. Now, back to GrooveShark.com and it's ever expanding library of live Phish content. It's usually my goto choice when listening to recommended shows, letting me easily search by date. If it's not there it's on to torrents or the spreadsheet.

In the end, do I end up going to LivePhish.com and purchasing the recommended show? I am astonishingly guilt free to say, no. I find my comfort in the fact that I indeed spend a lot of my extra, and non extra, income on Phish. Is this enough? Because I pay for tickets and merch and gas and travel time am I allowed to be satisfied with finding ways to not purchase music? I don't know.... I imagine if I had more money and better income I would not be so hesitant to make LivePhish.com my goto source for adding Phish shows to my collection.

In closing, I started up Spotify before writing this and have turned it off due to the amount of commercials. Still not a fan.

Here's a list, we love lists.

1 - Pandora - My main plug to new music - I pay for the premium, happy to do so.
2 - Grooveshark.com - My main search and listen - I would pay, but the benefits are not worth IMO
3 - Torrents - When I want it, I get it. - Freely traded AUDS, good fuzzy feeling.
3.5 - Spreadsheet - Awesome, guaranteed.
4 - LivePhish.com - When I want it, and I can afford it, I get it - Mom's home cooking.
5 - iTunes - Never used it, never will.

@spaced said:

Spotify is better than grooveshark from an artist's perspective, isn't it? My impression was that grooveshark was of.... dubious legality, while spotify gets the label's permission and pays the artists (though it doesn't pay much). I haven't had much disposable income lately, so I feel waaay better about using Spotify than just torrenting everything in sight; at least they're getting paid. Plus it's easier.

Agreed, I do respect that Spotify pays. Grooveshark seems a little more grey and vague which is why I question my acceptance of it when compared to Spotify. I'm trying to look at it from the artists point of view and the fan point of view. As a fan, Spotify lacks what I am interested in. I guess non-phish music is still available and listenable. You can't beat it concerning official releases.

@Onlymike said:

True story: My band (The Small Kings) got a check for $.02 for all the online streaming (Spotify, Pandora, etc). It wasn't easy to split it four ways, that's for sure.

So yeah, the bands get paid. Some more than others.

Here's a seemingly legit offering on this subject
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120622/16193319442/myth-dispensing-whole-spotify-barely-pays-artists-story-is-bunk.shtml

I'm pretty psyched about the amount of Phish on Spotify.

Now if only they would get The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, The Spent Poets...

Sweet.

I've been using Spotify. It's great. Sure I own those albums but if you want to pull something up quickly and easily "in the cloud" it's there for you.

@Super_Sash said:

thanks to this thread I'm listening to Trey's Thesis on Grooveshark. SICK.

edit : +1 everyone

Now if I can only find Fishmans thesis. Holy grail IMO.

If you have a Spotify Premium membership you can download as much as you want to a portable device. For $10/mo I have right now on my phone an assload of full albums from Frank Zappa, George Winston, Bela Fleck, The Grateful Dead, Phish, Trey Anastasio, Camper Van Beethoven, Jimmy Cliff, REM, Pearl Jam, Tomorrow, Dire Straits, Little Feat, The Rolling Stones, Primus, The Cure, Louis Armstrong, Janes Addiction, The Pretty Things and Rodrigo y Gabriella.

Plus, a random playlist.

Just sayin, it's a little better than streaming.