Pitchfork on Drake's Spotify Deal

[_Lam 597]

Pitchfork wrote a pretty harsh article about Drake's Spotify payola. They compared it to U2's album release on iTunes few years ago, saying it's a bad move because it is too much forced fed. I think this is why Gaga has to be careful about blatant and obvious payola and publicity. What do you think ? 

Quote

For Spotify, the reveal is that what their playlists and recommendations are really about is not, lo and behold, you. It’s about them, and the power they gain from our data and wield through their algorithms. (It’s not even really about Drake, who—despite breaking single-day streaming records with the strategy—could be swapped with any number of palatable superstars.) Again, even for those who may already feel aware of the streaming service’s primary interests, putting Drake everywhere seems like a violation of a tacit agreement. We allow Spotify to mine our personal data, so long as Spotify pretends to care about our individual taste.

Quote

Finding a U2 album inside your personal iTunes folder was like finding a note from your landlord inside the refrigerator.

https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/what-it-means-when-spotify-has-nothing-to-recommend-but-drake-op-ed/?mbid=social_facebook

EDIT : Here's another article about it (posted by Mirrions Rizzons). Maybe it will quickly become a bad PR moves?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-44695062

[Bat 6,161]

[Andreu 37,216]

Don't know why he cheats if he would be #1 for like two months anyway

[Bebe 16,562]

I'll be honest I don't really care - but if Gaga's management/label decided to do this then I don't blame them. I doubt Drake is really shook by this article, he's breaking those records and getting those coins. It's the music business.

I don't think you'll see many in the industry thinking "You know what, this strategy has proven to be lucrative, it seems to minimize the risk of the project doing poorly and others have seen great success as a result - but we'll avoid doing this and instead take the route of unclear success with a higher risk attached". 

It's not that I'm a big supporter of this, it's not even that I don't see the problems - but as long as they are allowed to do this... It's going to happen  

[FfFfFfFF 54,014]

They got a point.

Promoting him with all those playlists which appear to all their users - some of them which didn't ever played a single one of his songs contradicts Spotify's respect for individual taste. It's unfair both for users and other artists. 

[Mirrion Rizzons 9,941]

my friend likes drake I think but she got so annoyed at how he was everywhere on spotify, so hopefully his reign will end by the next album and people get tired of him

[nikola 4,342]

I agree with them.... everytime i see his face.... i shut down my phone or pc

[DelusionalGaga 29,207]

I don't even know who thought it was a good idea. He should have done something more subtle. Plastering your face on every possible playlist can't come across as anything but tragic. 

And I wouldn't worry about Gaga. I don't see her doing anything like that. 

Spoiler

Or any promo tbh

 

[sipthistea 21,099]

I hate how dishonest the music industry can be when it comes to promoting their artists. This payola situation would be penalized if we were talking about other business. It's literally a bribery to gain money and exploit the artists as much as they can. 

[DeanWinchester 41,390]

The fact that the ad right below the OP is for Drake

[Admin 24,441]

Eh. People don't seem to realize that this is just as benificial for Spotify as it is for Drake. He's the biggest musician right now so naturally Spotify wants his fans to stream on their platform and not Apple, or Google, or Tidal. This really isn't different from how Gaga was everywhere during Born This Way.

[ryanripley 86,575]

having his face on EVERY playlist was just ridiculous, they even put him on 70s Rock Anthems???

if they had kept it to the relevant ones like new releases, top hits, hip hop etc then it would have been okay but to force drake onto everyone just made me dislike him more lmao

[Mirrion Rizzons 9,941]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-44695062

another angry article ^^

[thierryrreiht 20,000]

53 minutes ago, Admin said:

Eh. People don't seem to realize that this is just as benificial for Spotify as it is for Drake. He's the biggest musician right now so naturally Spotify wants his fans to stream on their platform and not Apple, or Google, or Tidal. This really isn't different from how Gaga was everywhere during Born This Way.

Ok but if you go on apple.com his album has a huge ad on the front page.. it’s a payola across everything, not just Spotify (although it may be just more massive there)

[uo111 5,201]

1 hour ago, Admin said:

Eh. People don't seem to realize that this is just as benificial for Spotify as it is for Drake. He's the biggest musician right now so naturally Spotify wants his fans to stream on their platform and not Apple, or Google, or Tidal. This really isn't different from how Gaga was everywhere during Born This Way.

There is a huge difference.

People are being advertised to in ways they do not expect to be advertised too. If they promoted the album in the actual ads, people wouldn’t mind. But they plastered his face all over the service, which people pay for to not have ads.

It’s a violation of consumer trust.