Napster, iTunes, Spotify, yadda yadda yadda, let’s skip the history lesson. The great force that is the internet has destroyed the recorded music industry. Or rather, by trying to fight the internet rather than embrace it, we have destroyed it ourselves.

If the problem of the modern music industry doesn’t get solved soon, good music will start disappearing. Artists will be forced to make money in other ways, leaving their music behind in the process. There’s been a lot of talk lately on the problem of Spotify, (with Taylor Swift, Aloe Blacc, and others contributing to the conversation). Everyone is saying the same thing: this needs to change. The thing that isn’t being said?How it should change.

During a recent conversation with my good friends Diego De la Rosa and Andrew Reyes, we discussed the Spotify Problem and how to solve it. And I think we may be on to something.

THE PROBLEM
The problem is simple. Musicians aren’t getting paid for their music. The demand for music is stronger than ever, but the current business models are lop-sided in favor of the consumer. We’ve been so desperate to get people to stop pirating music that we’ve set up a place on the internet where they don’t have to. Through Spotify you can listen to nearly every song in recorded history for free (with ads in between every few songs).

But I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing.

FULL DISCLOSURE
Don’t close this tab in your browser when you read this: I’m a Spotify Premium subscriber, and I absolutely love it. For consumers, Spotify is fantastic. For $10 a month I have access to almost any song I want, whenever I want, wherever I want. As a consumer of music, this is a fantastic deal. I haven’t bought an album in months, because, why would I if I can listen to it on Spotify?

The math in the Spotify equation is off. It’s a great deal for consumers, and a terrible deal for musicians. Let’s take a look at how we can solve this problem.

ARTICLE CONTINUED OVER AT >>>
http://www.startupmusician.co/spotify/
(It's definitely worth reading the rest!!) -