This Album Has 100 Songs, All 30 Seconds Long
I’d never heard of The Pocket Gods until now–as you probably haven’t, either–which is exactly why they chose to release this album. But they also have another reason–and it’s quite clever.
The album is entitled 100 x 30 and features 100 songs about the music industry, all of which are 30 seconds long. Yes, it’s an artistic statement but more than that, it’s a protest against the streaming music industry, specifically Spotify.
Since Spotify pays out a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a cent for each song streamed–and the song has to stream for 30 seconds before any payment kicks in–The Pocket Gods figure “Why bother writing songs that are any longer than 30 seconds?”
They kinda have a point, but as I’ve pointed out many, many times in the past, their fight shouldn’t be with the streamers but with the people who negotiated the royalty rates the streamers have to pay.
Read the rest of the story here. Meanwhile, 100 x 30 will be out December 4.
This reminds me of Altered States of America by Agoraphobic Nosebleed (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altered_States_of_America), though I imagine the intent is completely different.
Thanks Alan yes that is a good point and I have discussed this with MPs and BPI it also comes down to how people actually value music and what they are willing to pay so is more complex than Spotify are bad etc. Thanks for the piece! Mark
Most welcome. I love it when people find clever ways to subvert the system.