User:Woozle/Spotify

I wanted to see if Spotify would be an adequate place-holder for the GnuMusiq service I want to create, so I finally tried it out on 2019-05-14. This is what I found.

• Signing up, I find that it gives three choices for gender (male, female, and nonbinary) -- could be worse, could be better.
• The Spotify app for Linux is installable via the Software app which comes with Ubuntu, so that's good.

The regular Spotify UI (web & app) doesn't seem to offer any way to upload my own content; apparently what I want is "Spotify for Artists" (S4A); the link was buried at the bottom of the page.

S4A seems to assume that I already have an artist profile, which I need to claim -- but, like, I don't (why would I? how would it get there in the first place, if I didn't put it there?

The answer to this seems to be in FAQ: How do I get my music on Spotify?:

Content on Spotify is delivered either by a record label or a distributor. If you’re signed to a label, they’ll take care of getting your music to Spotify. If you’re independent, you’ll have to arrange distribution yourself—or join the upload beta in Spotify for Artists.

If you don't currently have a distributor -- which handles licensing and distribution of your music and pays you your streaming royalties -- here is a list of some who've demonstrated the ability to work well with both artists and Spotify. Each service is unique, so be sure to do a little homework before picking one. Most charge a fee or commission.

So, basically, I still need to make Gnumusiq. Artists shouldn't have to have a "deal" with a label or distributor in order to get heard.

There are other ways to get music maybe considered for publication on Spotify, but they make a lot of assumptions that aren't true -- starting with the assumption that what you want to upload is a set of specific tracks that are all packaged together in a "release", with a specific "release date".

Like, dude, I just have some songs I'm hoping people will like.

It may be that these objections will be answered by the "Upload" service -- FAQ: How can I get access to the upload beta?:

Right now, we’re testing the upload beta with a small group of artists and using their feedback to improve before we expand availability.

Currently eligible artists are US-based, and not signed to any exclusive deal. Eligible artists are being invited by email.

Note: If you have access to multiple artists, due to current eligibility you may be invited for one artist and not another.

We’ll be rolling out to more artists over time, so stay tuned to our blog for updates. You can also sign up here to learn more about our plans.

...but there doesn't seem to be any way to request an invite, so basically we'll have to wait and see what that looks like once it's fully rolled-out.