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In Opinion

Why I deleted my Spotify account 🤔

Author izuelPosted on Leave a comment

After seeing some people proudly posting how many hours they spent using the platform, I will speak about the reasons why I deleted my Spotify account.

  • Spotify had revenue of a billion euros ($1.24 billion) in its third-quarter (2018), putting it on track for a full year revenue of more than 4 billion euros ($4.95 billion) and they almost pay nothing to the alternative artist or those who are not on a music Label.
  • You are not allowed to put your music productions on Spotify without having to pay for an intermediary. Only Routenote do it for free, but your earnings are just ridiculous. I earned during 2017 & 2018 together 0,20 € 🤑
  • Spotify pays about $0.006 to $0.0084 per stream to the holder of music rights.
  • Spotify algorithms are just another way to limit your freedom and somehow to scam to yourself, without actually realizing about it. You think that you “discover” new music, but you just eat what Spotify wants.

The resume could be that on Spotify only “big fishes” are making revenue from an already bankrupted service.

If you want to find new music, new artist and if you want to support them directly, without any scam intermediary, there is a place for that.

It is called Bandcamp and there is no reason for not using it.

You can download and stream the music and the money goes directly to the artist, with a reasonable fee for Bandcamp.

Here you have a Twitter extract which would summarize my thoughts about Spotify,

Twitter_Spotify

And no, I don’t work for Bandcamp.

And yes, you are free to do whatever you want. I just wanted to show my reasons.

If you are supporting the problem, you are part of the problem.

EDIT: A real good one,

In Opinion

10% of my Bandcamp earnings will be donated 🤔

Author izuelPosted on Leave a comment

Before the end of the year, I have decided that 10% of my earnings through the Bandcamp sales will be donated for a good cause. I’ll donate it to Gay Communication and Culture Center of Munich.

SUB München Logo

What is Sub? Here a brief description,

Founded in 1986 as a registered non-profit umbrella organization for volunteer and self-help groups in the city, the Sub provides a wide variety of information, events and services including art exhibits, a library, leisure groups, self-help groups, volunteer service projects, professional psychological counseling, refugee counseling and HIV-prevention services. The popular Café run by volunteers is a social focal point where all members of the Queer Community and their allies are herzlich willkommen!

I’ll do it every four months and I’ll inform in this Website about the bank transfers and amounts. I’ll start from September 2018.

I already know that the amounts will be laughable, but I find better to help a little than no help at all.

Maybe you are thinking, “Why do you want to help them if you never go there?”. Well, I can make donations for causes in Africa without ever having been there. I’m also paying social security even when I’m never sick. Same applies for non-social Taxes (hi Rundfunkbeitrag), which are even worse. Here I know that the money will be used for good causes.

Why donate to a Gay organization? Because I’m not only gay one day a year 🏳️‍🌈

In Opinion

What does Techno means to you? 🤔

Author izuelPosted on Leave a comment

The other day I saw on Twitter a post which was like,

“Today we’re thankful for techno: it has given us countless special moments and it has brought us together, introducing us to some of the most special people in our lives.”

I was kind of disappointed with it…

Techno was for me a turning point. After years listening to the same hard sounds, Techno was for me freedom. That Hardcore/Jump-style scene was also not friendly at all. Only bad-boys and neo-Nazis were actively supporting it.

On my first Techno party (2007) I was honored to be able to see acts like Plastikman, Oscar Mulero and Derrick May.

m2-2007

At that party I met also, by coincidence, a person who would be my best friend and a really special person in my life.

That experience of freedom… of not being important who you were, how you were, what you were… completely changed my way of seeing the world. I’m not exaggerating.

For the first time in my life I found a place where I was feeling totally comfortable.

Since then, I started making trips to Florida135, what for me will be the best Club I’ve ever been. In my opinion, it is even over Berghain. It was just real and you did not have that excess or posing. The feel of freedom was much purer. There were no other elements distorting the music.

In the beginning, everything was like Wonderland because I was really naive and young. I did not really realize about the drug consume at those events. I was always anti-drugs because I related it always with people from the slums with little or no education at all.

After some years attending to parties and meeting a lot of people, I realized that there were really few worthwhile people. Everyone is friends with each other, till the Party ends or the drug’s effects slowly fade. Then you mean nothing. The music, neither.

I never really took care of that kind of people, but after some years I started getting frustrated. The music and the human relationships were almost always on a second level. The main thing was the Party, almost always together with the drugs.

I started wondering if I deceived myself during all these past years attending Techno events.

Some of those party Best-friends started ignoring me just because of not doing drugs on a regular basis. I got tired of that…

The reasons?

  1. Pointless drug consume.
  2. The sectarian feeling of the group.
  3. Stupid as hell and empty conversations.
  4. Where the fuck was that freedom and that music which I loved?

Be that as it may, now I’m somehow proud of myself for having taken a difficult decision. The decision to miss gig opportunities for parties. The decision to lose the chance to meet other Djs. The decision of being almost alone, but keeping those people who are really important for me.

These last years It was like a personal cleanup. I have attended some electronic music events which have given me hope again. I have to mention some Cruise nights at Blitz and Paral·lel festival. Anyway there were many other events which almost made me to give up.

My conclusion could be that neither trends nor Techno itself were the keys, but music together with real friendships in special environment conditions.

Because of this, all will be possible on my future Releases and Dj Sets.

I’m still evolving, and the music with me. That’s the most beautiful thing.

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