Spotify turns 20

Spotify is almost old enough to drink. They celebrated by putting out a review of the billions they’ve contributed to the music industry.

There’s a lot of positives music streaming has brought to the industry (I love that I can open Apple Music and listen to any song whenever I want). It’s also never been easier for artists to release music.

But as we hit 20 years into this experiment, the main question shouldn’t be “is this making money for artists?”. It should be “what kind of art has this system fostered?”

Distribution systems are curation systems by default. And curation means you’re responsible for what you curate, whether you’re using an algorithm or a human.

. . .

And before anyone says distribution systems aren’t responsible for the art they foster, some good examples of systems building culture is:

• the Medici family launching the Italian renaissance through the patron system

•the Northern European art gallery system launching Impressionism

•the birth of copyright and the New York book publishing system launching authors like Mark Twain and the rise of the American modernist writing style (Kerouac and Steinbeck)