Music Editor: ‘Why I’ve Cancelled Spotify Premium’
2.0 After work — Decreased appreciation of genuine work: There’s nothing more satisfying than setting a specific time just listening to a complete album or collection of works by one artist, and without ever treating it as background music in a sitting. Although I cannot dismiss the idea that this can be done via Spotify or any other music app, still, nothing beats holding a vinyl from the modest music library which I’ve started almost two decades ago, while tampering with a three-decade old Marantz amplifier (passed on from dad) as part of the fun.
Yes, it is a costlier option, but why not when it comes to music? As for morning coffees, dinner parties, school runs or waiting in line, it’s easy to treat anything purposefully, if anything else other than any playlists on Spotify.
Music for listening aside, I’ve found autobiographical hard covers such as Madonna: An Intimate Biography (J. Randy Taraborrelli) and The Age of Bowie (Paul Morley) just as equivalently to an audio-infused, artist-focused weekend afternoon.
2.1 Annual subscription vs. physical albums: While vinyls and physical collections are more lavish than a monthly streaming subscription, music enthusiasts like myself, before the arrival of the digital streaming era, believed in being part of a more palpable movement towards a selective musical taste: a directive approach to supporting the artists of your choice. The exchange is monetary when you purchase an album in return for absolute music appreciation of a collective work of art. And therefore, when music streaming companies claim to have over 35 million or more tracks available, I could only imagine it as a radio service, categorically organised in genres and moods.
It wasn’t about quantity that counts when it comes to music appreciation, though. Nevertheless, with the coming of age of digital streaming, the industry is claiming that millions of dollars have been distributed to more artists/content creators than ever before; even the amount distributed per artists can be as insignificant as $0.001 cent per view.
2.2 Incomplete compilation: Scrutinizing any incomplete compilation of any artists dead or alive is an inequitable consideration when it comes to deciding whether to go premium or not. Not withstanding the notion that I could subscribe again at any given time, the deal breaker comes after resolving to the idea of narrowing artistic study one legendary composer/songwriter at a time (I’ll stick to physical print and albums for now); underlining the fact that access to a vast library isn’t necessary for the time being.
2.3 Grass is greener (at another music library): In a quest to further broaden my musical taste, I have already subscribed to YouTube Music and KKBOX for a change. Whatever denies my allegiance for now may change in the near future, but again don’t we all want something different every now and then?
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