Music enthusiasts and musicians respond back after Spotify CEO suggests that the expense of producing content is “nearly negligible and could amount to nothing. The CEO of the big streaming company, Daniel Ek, got in trouble after what he said yesterday (May 29). He basically said that making stuff is super easy and cheap nowadays because of all the fancy technology we have. His comments followed the streaming company announcing profits exceeding €1 billion.
Posting on X/Twitter, he shared an update saying: “Nowadays, it’s almost free to make content, so people can share a ton of it. This got me thinking about how some stuff lasts a long time while other things don’t.”
He added: Even though a lot of things we see and hear become outdated fast, there are some ideas or music that stay important for a long time. Like, people are getting interested in Stoicism again, and Marcus Aurelius’s ideas are still meaningful even though they’re thousands of years old.
In the update, Ek also talked about what things made today will still be important in hundreds of years.
“I’m curious: what are the most surprising but long-lasting ideas that aren’t talked about much now? And what are we making today that people will still care about and talk about hundreds or thousands of years from now?” he added.
Of course, the tweet quickly got negative reactions from many users, with lots of music fans and artists pointing out the challenges musicians still face when trying to make a living from their music careers.Someone replied, saying, “Music will still matter in a hundred years. Spotify won’t. It’ll just be remembered as a bad way to make money off other people’s music.”
Producer and musician Rusty Egan said, “It takes time to write music, money for equipment, mastering, and uploading to all platforms. It’s not nothing. TikTok hits are the only things with zero cost and value.”
Primal Scream bassist Simone Marie Butler simply said, “Go away, you rich guy who doesn’t understand.”
“It can still be costly to produce records, especially if you want to pay your collaborators properly,” agreed the Future Of Music Coalition. “Many musicians find ways to be creative within tight budgets. While some production aspects are cheaper now, it’s often exaggerated.”
James Thornhill, founder of Proxy Music and a journalist, also criticized Ek, saying, “Creating music requires time, skills, studio time, and mastering. This guy is completely out of touch.”
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