Bob (Mayfly Records)
SPB: What are your feelings about Spotify and the ongoing royalties debate?
Bob: For me, Spotify is a powerful tool. I have limited distribution and my promo is nowhere near as far reaching as I'd like (this of course is no knock on anybody, but it is reality). This is another place where people can potentially find one of my releases at 3am out of boredom and find their new favorite record. Many times this leads to sales of records or merch and certainly helps put kids who know the words into the next basement a Mayfly artist is playing. I can complain about the royalties because Spotify clearly makes a large amount of money off of artists who don't benefit directly but that, to me, is missing the point. To me there are two types of people: those who listen to a great record on Spotify then buy it, and those who have been finding new ways to not pay for music for years. The first group will find ways to support me and my artists if I put out releases they enjoy. The second group was never going to support me--they may still go to shows (maybe even buy a shirt), which makes it realistic for my artists to tour often and will also help sell records in the long run. I could be angry and bitter if I tried, but I release records because I love it. I have no delusions of getting rich selling vinyl. I just want to be able to keep being able to do it.
As of today, I see way more benefits than I see problems with Spotify.
