Spotify From The Underground
I finally did it. After hearing about it for so long, I got a premium subscription to the music streaming service, Spotify. The daily promotions of 3 months for 99 cents per was the closer. Surely, I could spare $3 to test out the predominant music app, so I jumped in.
The first thing I noticed was how much easier the app becomes to use when you’re a premium member. Now the home screen is filled with relevant recommendations based on my listening habits and playlists that are tangent to my taste.
The persistent promotion that pulled me in.
For the most part, it’s what I expected. I can listen to most any popular song “on demand”, with the premium subscription eliminating the commercials that interrupt the grooves for basic accounts. They also provide the convenience of sponsoring PlayStation Music, so the songs I select from my PS4 carry over seamlessly.
My issue with the service outside of the cost is the amount of music that cannot be found there. I cannot speak for other genres, but this streaming era has done rap a major disservice. Before 50 Cent and Lil Wayne became household names, they satiated potential fans with hard-hitting mixtapes. It seems like that period and format of music has completely been forgotten. It is hard to find any of those mixtapes on Spotify.
Mac Miller’s 2012 mixtape, Macadelic, made it to Spotify in 2018.
It makes more sense now that the late Mac Miller felt it necessary to announce that his 2012 mixtape, Macadelic, was being added to Spotify earlier this year prior to his passing. The project was more than 6 years old at the time of the announcement, but the acquisition is noteworthy. How can a millennial learn about an artist? They’re likely to get on apps like Spotify or Soundcloud, search their name and play whatever interests them. If a key part of the artist’s discography is missing from these sites, it’s almost as if it doesn’t exist in the eyes of a generation that streams everything. It would take a passionate music listener to search the internet for additional music.
As I continued, I struggled to find some of the early Clipse, Jadakiss and Elzhi projects that helped to make them some of my favorite acts from the 2000’s. Also absent were key albums from Freddie Foxxx (Bumpy Knuckles), Grand Daddy I.U., and Erule, a few smooth rhymers from the 90’s that never got their proper credit. Oh yeah, and there’s no Jay Z. Most of his discography is exclusively on Tidal. That’s a massive blow to lack the entire catalog of one of rap’s most iconic figures.
None of Jay Z’s discography is currently on any steaming platform besides Tidal and Amazon
In all, Spotify is mostly great for new music and the most popular songs of the past. Unfortunately, they’ve made it increasingly hard for fans of alternative rap to justify the subscription. I know that I can expect most major music releases from this point forward to make their way to streaming services like Spotify, but what about releases of the past that weren’t as highly-touted? For the time being, I’ve split the difference and kept my unsung classics stored on my drive while I stream what Spotify has made available. My discounted rate expires within the next two months, and I still haven’t decided whether I’ll keep premium at its end, stop streaming, or try another streaming service. Now, Amazon Music has adopted the same 3 months for 99 cents per model.
Hmmm.
