Blogging, Books, Cats, Music, Mayhem
For an atheist, Andy Partridge has an impressive output of Christmas songs, though several were intended to be recorded by other artists.
XTC released two Christmas songs written by Partridge, “Thanks for Christmas” and “Countdown To Christmas Party Time.” Technically they were released as “The Three Wise Men.” Continue reading “Christmas playlist part five: XTC and Andy Partridge”
I’ve got a few bones to pick with Spotify, but “fake artists” isn’t one of them. Since I’ve been critical of Spotify’s business model of late, I figured I should be fair and give a counter-point to the “Fake Artists Problem Is Much Worse Than You Realize” post making the rounds.
The basic complaint is this: Spotify apparently pays for “fake” artists to create tracks for its service that it can seed into playlists. Why? Because these “fake artists” presumably work for hire, so Spotify doesn’t have to pay out royalties.
Sounds kinda sleazy, right?
I would agree, except for one thing: Users don’t seem to care.
A lot of Spotify users seem to use the service for background music or aren’t very picky about what they listen to. They’re not trying to listen to Ella Fitzgerald or Soundgarden or XTC and getting served up “fake” artists.
They’re asking Siri or Alexa to “play some jazz” or just searching for a playlist and taking what’s served up.
If you’re a subscriber and you ask Spotify to play XTC’s Skylarking, then you get Skylarking. (Assuming, of course, that Spotify has it in their catalog.)
Spotify is just taking advantage of the fact that a lot of its user base isn’t very discerning about music. Or its “fake artists” are cranking out some decent music, or both.
I care a lot about supporting artists and seeing to it they can make more art. If you love Aimee Mann’s music, or Eliza Rickman’s, or Robyn Hitchcock’s, etc., then it’s in your best interest to figure out how to slide them some money for their work.
But… a lot of people just aren’t that picky about music. I don’t understand it myself, but there are actually humans aren’t fanatic about music. Or maybe they really just love any kind of music and it doesn’t matter to them if it’s Miles Davis or Bob’s Royalty Free Band churning out a music-like substance in a basement for $50 an hour.
If that music-like substance is good enough for users, if they’re not too discerning and are happy to slap on a Spotify generated playlist that is seeded with royalty free music, it’s hard for me to be too upset with Spotify.
That’s not to say Spotify is on the side of angels. When users specifically choose music on the service, Spotify should be paying better royalties. (And labels should be paying up, too.)
If the “fake artists” situation really sticks in your craw, then… curate your own playlists on Spotify. Or stop using the service if it really galls you, but what Spotify has done here is take advantage of the fact that lots of users simply don’t care.
Spotify isn’t obligated to set its system to offer the most expensive stuff by default. It’s there if you search for it and (as far as I know) Spotify isn’t playing any dirty tricks like the old compilation CDs that had popular songs… as played by some studio band to sound like the songs but weren’t the ones you heard on radio. I’m sure lots of GenXers can relate to that one.
There’s a lot of royalty free music produced for use in radio spots, television and movie production, DJ sets, sampling… and on and on.
If you ran an all-you-can-eat restaurant, you’d probably advertise something spendy to bring people in – and then try to get them to fill up on breadsticks and salad to keep costs down. If they don’t eat that and ask for the spendy stuff, you serve it. But trying to keep costs down is reasonable as long as you’re not telling the customer they’re getting one thing and actually giving them another. So if you’re advertising crab puffs made with real crab, and serve Krab Meat(TM) “made from real ocean creatures,” that’s not cool.
When Spotify starts serving up “Miles Davvis” studio band when users search for “Miles Davis,” that’s a legit bone to pick. The “fake artists” thing, not so much.
I’m not saying that Skylarking is the best album in the history of the universe, but I’m not not saying it either. Certainly it’s the finest album XTC have produced.
I know precisely when my love affair with XTC began, it was May 3rd, 1987 when MTV played the world premiere of “Dear God” on 120 Minutes. While not on the original pressings of Skylarking, Geffen slapped it on the US version and omitted “Mermaid Smiled” to make room.
Once I finally got my hands on a copy of the cassette, I played it as much as possible – it’s a miracle that the cassette lasted until I made the switch to CDs and was able to retire the poor thing.
Waxworks and Beeswax are a double dose of angular, jumpy, frenetic pop from Swindon’s XTC. This pairing captures the very best of XTC’s early period, before they evolved into a more “pastoral” (and Beatlesque) sound on later albums.
Officially Waxworks: Some Singles 1977–1982 and Beeswax: Some B-Sides 1977–1982 are separate albums. However, I’m lumping them together because that’s how I first found them, as a long-play cassette from Virgin released in 1982.
At 25 songs, it was one hell of a score when I still chose new music based on how much I could scrape together from part-time jobs. “This album has 12 songs, but this one is the same price and it’s 25 songs! Score!” I’ve never really thought of side two as b-sides, probably because XTC’s b-sides were usually just as good as their singles – and certainly better than a lot of bands’ singles. Continue reading ““Waxworks” & “Beeswax” by XTC (No. 31)”
Psonic Psunspot is the best collection of 60s psychedelia ever recorded in the mid-80s. The members of XTC, working under the pseudonym Dukes of Stratosphear basically channeled some of their musical influences from the 60s and delivered 10 outstanding replicas that easily stand alongside XTC’s best work.
Psunspot is actually XTC’s second venture back in time under the Dukes name, the first release was an EP called 25 O’Clock. I prefer Psunspot not just for length, but also because the lyrics are a little sharper and it has a few truly outstanding tracks. Continue reading ““Psonic Psunspot” by Dukes of Stratosphere / XTC (No. 41)”
XTC‘s The Big Express pulls into the top 100 station at number 82. Roughly in the middle of the band’s discography, The Big Express successfully melds the awkward New Wave-y XTC nicely with the more lush, Beatlesque XTC to come.
Picking my favorite XTC album or albums is sort of like trying to choose my favorite limbs or organs. Yes, when absolutely necessary, I could choose. That’s not to say that I’d be happy losing any of them. Continue reading “The Big Express” by XTC (No. 82)”