Have you noticed in recent years that your parents or grandparents have been complaining about the music of “this generation?” Perhaps you’ve noticed it tends to be the same artists dominating the charts while the small, unknown artists don’t get a chance. Do you feel like today’s music lacks the originality it once had?

Some students at HH feel the same way. In a Hat Chat survey, conducted anonymously with over 40 students reports via Google Forms, 60% of students who responded believe popular music (Billboard Top 100) has gotten worse in the past 5-10 years. One anonymous student said, “I don’t think anyone’s music taste is particularly bad because everyone has different tastes, but I feel like all of it sounds the same and doesn’t have any deeper meaning like they did before the 2010s.”

One student went even further saying, “Early 2010s [had the best music]. Might be the nostalgia talking, but I feel like older popular music represented a wider variety of genres and contained less formulaic music. Older popular music had some level of creativity and originality to it. These days most of what I hear recycles old ideas and follows a very noticeable pattern throughout the song. While it’s fine for an artist to have a style, when everyone copies it, it becomes a problem.”

There’s a direct correlation with these patterns that many don’t take into consideration, and that is the rise in music streaming, specifically via Spotify. Spotify is a music streaming app, and believe it or not, this app has had more of an impact on popular music in the past 10 years than any other music label or record company in history.

Before examining Spotify’s impact, it’s important to note that it is the largest music streaming platform in the United States, giving it significant influence over the music industry.

Three-fourths of students at HH use Spotify to listen to music, along with one-third of the U.S. population (111 million users), according to data reported by Spotify (Iqbal).

This trend of increasingly formulaic popular music can be largely attributed to Spotify’s algorithm. For many artists, maximizing streams is a primary goal, driven by the pursuit of financial gain and increased exposure.

Since Spotify doesn’t pay their artists nearly what they’re worth, they have to rely on Spotify’s popularity to, in turn, become popular themselves and make money through other means like concerts or merchandise.

This popularity is achieved through streams, which Spotify counts if anyone listens to a song for more than 30 seconds. On top of that, Spotify is more likely to recommend the song you’re listening to if it’s played in its entirety.

How does this impact the music industry? It fosters a formulaic approach, where choruses appear more frequently, and song lengths are reduced to maximize engagement. Established artists often follow this trend to maintain their popularity, but this approach can stifle smaller, independent artists striving for originality and recognition.

Again, the algorithm is mainly at fault. One of the many things Spotify is known for is its good song recommendations, but some songs are more likely to be promoted than others. Major artists are able to pay for their music to be promoted more, and as more people listen to it, the more it’s recommended, putting bad music at the top of the charts.

This reflects a trend seen here at HH. About half (45%) of students who responses to the survey find new music through Spotify as compared to other sources like Instagram or TikTok, but the majority (53.3%) of students don’t listen to any small artists (below 25,000 monthly listeners).

Clearly, this presents a significant issue. The challenge lies in finding solutions, as influencing Spotify’s practices directly is difficult. However, there are steps consumers can take to address the problem.

Spotify’s significant influence on the music industry is largely due to its widespread popularity. For those committed to supporting smaller artists, alternatives exist. Boycotting Spotify in favor of platforms like Apple Music—which relies on different revenue models and avoids similar algorithmic biases—could help mitigate the issue.

Personally, I like Spotify as a service, so I’m going to keep using it, but what I try to do when I listen to small artists is to listen to them via their physical music. This method not only pays the artist directly, but it also allows the artists to have a better connection with their audience. A lot of vinyl records include some sort of additional content that’s almost like a personal “Thank you” from the artist. I try to buy CDs specifically because my car is old and has a CD player, but I also try to buy their merchandise as well, which is another way of paying the artist directly. 

If you want to stick up for the little artist struggling to make ends meet and accomplish their dreams, I challenge you to take yourself upon one of these tasks for their support. They deserve the effort.

Sources:

Iqbal, Mansoor. 2024. “Spotify Usage and Revenue Statistics (2023).” Business of Apps. https://www.businessofapps.com/data/spotify-statistics/.