NEW RULES FOR NEW GAMES...

 

I began creating ambient music in the days of alternative distribution networks (cassettes!), then record labels releasing CDs...

 

The new digital ecosystem of download and above all streaming platforms is a new world for me, and while I'm trying to be a player and carve out a place for myself in this new ecosystem, I'm conducting a quasi-ethnographic observation of how it works, its communities, its rules, its players, its economy, and its politico-artistic cleavages...

 

With around 250 tracks distributed so far, my music has never caught on with Spotify's editorial algorithms, the only ones capable of boosting a musician's stream statistics.

 

My music is probably not commercial enough, not this, not that. And I am aware there are 100.000 new tracks uploaded daily on Spotify!

So I have to go through mediators, platforms that put musicians and playlist curators in touch with each other, for a fee (between one and four euros / track).

 

So we're entering a world of merchandising, and the curators, who pocket a few euros just for listening to a submission, even if rejected, are the kings of the streaming world.

 

I have a sharing rate of almost 40% on these playlists.

And therefore around 60% refusals. 

 

I seem to be above average.

 

But deep down, I revel in the concise appreciations and motivations for rejection I receive from these new kings of the (streaming) world.

"too slow, too minimalist, too experimental, didn't hook me today, not relaxing enough, I don't like the melody, too ambient, sound production could be better, not harmonic enough, too dark, too abstract, a bit too floating, track too long, too dreamy for our sport sequence, aesthetic too polished, not a fit for my concept, too cinematic, too eery, a touch too dark, too experimental, not enough punctuations, too exploratory, a bit too chill, miss some extra elements, track a bit empty, too dissonant, don't like the mood, don't feel the instrumental in some parts, too long, meditative, too ethereal, didn't feel the vibe, too long, too creepy for our ambient playlist (! !!!), too much drone, etc etc etc".

 

Among these playlist curators, there are musicians with sometimes a very narrow view of what ambient music is or should be, but also influencers who invest in the niches of music for yoga, meditation, sleep, focus or other...

 

In short, by submitting a track to a spotify playlist with a few hundred followers (and probably far fewer actual listeners), you feel like you're applying for the Grammy Awards, or the Victoires de la Musique (French version), and seeing your music scrutinized by the world's greatest music critics...

 

That said, criticism can be constructive, of course, and I'd like to thank all the playlist curators, no matter how important their playlists are, who have generously, and sometimes without financial compensation, shared my music...