Journal

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Spotify War Machine Zero Integrity Blues  essay

  I really just want to have a conversation. If it is true that Spotify is indeed investing in the manufacturing of war machinery, on top of the fact that we already know how dismal their pay rate is for songwriters, then how can we not form a union as songwriters and protest what our music is being used for? Can the major traveling artists not talk to their audiences and ask if we cannot find another way to consume music? The actors and screenwriters unified to fight the investment of artificial intelligence. Why can’t we? Why are we eternally lazy and naive, myself included, about his kind of important work? We have let our art and music devalue to the point of absurdity. People groveling just to get hearts, thumbs up, and likes. It is insane, and we just pretend it is normal. We musicians and music lovers are just going along with it in a race to the bottom, dragging great artists down with us.

  This song is just something that hit me when I was watching Jesse Welles do his thing. I admire his work and his thoughtfulness. Surely he is also perplexed by the idea that his work is being used to fund violence. I can only imagine that he uses his popularity to work from within the structures of power in the music business to bring new thoughts to those he can reach. I also have my music on Spotify. I am not a big user of the platform but I have certainly enjoyed some benefits of it in regards to touring in Europe and Australia or far away places where it isn’t easy to get the physical copies. I have enjoyed notes from music lovers from places I’ve never been to. I thank you all for supporting us musicians and troubadours as I contemplate not putting my next album for streaming on that particular platform.

  I feel so lucky to be able to disappear off the grid this week and go deep in the Alaskan bush to fish for King Salmon. I have worked hard to make Alaska a part of my life because it truly revives and fulfills something ancient in me. Something we aficionados of reality sometimes lose track of: the real. When I come out of the woods, I will tour much of Alaska and also play Salmonfest, which was started as a true protest against the Pebble Mine, a greedy and destructive project that would irreparably damage the very river I will be fishing in. The warriors still fighting that fight are steadfast, unlike those that wish to just take from the Earth and never give back. I have been a hypocrite and turned my back on integrity before, and now I am wondering out loud what it would be like if I was honest about it and tried to do better. I am just asking a question. What are we doing here? Who are we working for? What would Woody Guthrie have to say about Spotify?