I was just listening to Black Uhuru's Dub album in my truck. Before that Bork’s album w/‘Human Behavior’ ‘Venu as a Boy' and before that Nancy Wilson,Jeff Beck Wired ect ect ect all CDs of albums I paid for then ripped to USB dongles. It's easy and fun to curat you own taste in music and over the long run worth every dime. Stop helping the tech bros make money at the expense of new music artists trying to make their mark.
Joel , the Fiji Water theory is a great framework for explaining why the current ecosystem fails artists, and the Fandom Funnel is spot on. There are 8.3 million artists actively producing music backed by hundreds of millions of fans who support them.
But I'd push back gently on one idea: the burden of selling Fiji water shouldn't fall entirely on the artist. The truth is, great artists are already making Fiji water. Their superfans know it. They know it every time they stream a song on over and over again, drive hours to a show, or tell everyone they know about an artist who hasn't broken yet. The quality of their music is already there. What's missing is the infrastructure for fans to act on that recognition, and support the artists they love.
That's the gapTipify exists to close. We've built the infrastructure for a new fifth revenue stream, a direct patronage layer that runs parallel to the other four: streaming, licensing, touring, and merch, that lets superfans support the artists they love on an ongoing basis, across album cycles, tours, and long-term creative projects. We don't require new exclusive content and no additional burden is placed on the artist. It also gives superfans a way to find their next favorite artist before the world does, and opens a direct communications channel between artists and the fans who are genuinely invested in their success, without fans giving up their personal information.
We launched at SXSW this year in partnership with SPIN Magazine, brought on 100 verified artists organically, and saw the appetite firsthand. Fans want to support their artists. They always have. As you rightly point, out the music industry just never built them a dignified way to do it, and actively prevents them from doing so.
Your 15% superfan figure is the entire business case. The question was never whether they'd support artists, it was whether anyone would build something worthy of their passion. That's what we're doing. Check us out. I'd love your thoughts. www.tipify.music
Ok I left a number of comments to this effect on the last post and yeah I totally agree with one caveat that you will drive way more people to your music with live music discovery than with algorithms. The most successful artists I know are intentionally taking shows that don’t pay to get in front of large crowds that don’t know who they are. Those exact shows are how I discover a good 80% of new artists and start following tours and announcements.
This is encouraging. Spotify does not work for artists and we're nowhere without them. Music will continue but this model is facing the wrong direction on a one way street.
This idea has been building for years. I’ve been circling it for a long time — it is so interesting to see it articulated so clearly and strongly here.
What struck me most is that the core idea isn’t actually new — it closely echoes Kevin Kelly’s “1,000 True Fans” essay from years ago. The technology and language have evolved, but the underlying principle hasn’t.
It feels less like a shift in platforms, and more like a shift in where the relationship sits. Scale has dominated for a long time, but depth — a smaller number of people who genuinely care — may turn out to be the more durable model.
I think there's a few things that are being glossed over. I think I agree with about 80% of the article except handing over user data (personal information) to labels and artists and selling merch. User data is fairly delicate, and while I agree there is much work to do in terms of fan messaging from artists, I don't think handing over phone numbers and addresses is it. The other bit is about the dumb pipe problem. These companies do what they do very well, and it would be silly for someone to rebuild what already works so well inside their platform. I think the thing I'm thinking the most is artist merch, where a place like shopify or other merch platforms do well and it would suck for an artist to have to keep track of multiple services on which they sell. It's funny because about 5 years ago I had said that streaming services have about 5-10 years before it all comes tumbling down because it's just not sustainable. Great job at part 1 and part 2 of these articles. Thoroughly enjoyed.
Thank you for both of these awesome posts. Both were fun to read and got me thinking about all kinds of things. Lately I’ve been cutting back on Spotify and exploring Bandcamp partially because I’ve found myself somewhat untethered to music. And as I get older I do find that there are certain categories and artists I prefer. So shouldn’t I try and support them more than a nameless mega corp.
I also wanted to say that your observations are equally applicable across a wide range of business today. Many categories in tech, consumer goods, services have been heavily monopolised by just a few providers. And yet those services have become like “water”. And like you have described for music, all those categories also have extensive opportunities for D2C or D2B offerings which are more personalised and engaging.
Most businesses don’t need more than 1,000 superfans. And many good businesses are viable with less.
The economics are brutal, sure. But the part that kills me is the discovery collapse. You don't curate anymore—you outsource curation to Spotify's algorithm. It's masquerading as personalization but it's really just homogenization at scale.
Bandcamp, physical media, the obsessive listener building their own collection—these aren't just more equitable. They require you to have taste, to exercise judgment. You have to find music, not have it fed to you.
And yeah, consumers don't care. But taste is something you lose when you stop exercising it. The real loss is generational.
The Spotify trap isn't that the service is too good. It's that we've all agreed to expect unlimited music for $10/month. Every alternative—including Bandcamp—is fighting that same consumer expectation. Until someone cracks how to keep the convenience while pricing fairly for creators, you're just rearranging who gets extracted. A better app won't resurrect the economics.
i'd be interested in your thought of creating a new infrastructure, a 5th revenue stream (beyond streaming, touring, merch, and royalties) that allows those superfans to directly support the artists they love. Where artists don't have to make specialized content but they are supported directly by their fans
Очень крутой материал! И первая и вторая часть 👍
I was just listening to Black Uhuru's Dub album in my truck. Before that Bork’s album w/‘Human Behavior’ ‘Venu as a Boy' and before that Nancy Wilson,Jeff Beck Wired ect ect ect all CDs of albums I paid for then ripped to USB dongles. It's easy and fun to curat you own taste in music and over the long run worth every dime. Stop helping the tech bros make money at the expense of new music artists trying to make their mark.
The final paragraphs are basically what the punk independent scene built in the late seventies.
im evil and i killed stopify
Joel , the Fiji Water theory is a great framework for explaining why the current ecosystem fails artists, and the Fandom Funnel is spot on. There are 8.3 million artists actively producing music backed by hundreds of millions of fans who support them.
But I'd push back gently on one idea: the burden of selling Fiji water shouldn't fall entirely on the artist. The truth is, great artists are already making Fiji water. Their superfans know it. They know it every time they stream a song on over and over again, drive hours to a show, or tell everyone they know about an artist who hasn't broken yet. The quality of their music is already there. What's missing is the infrastructure for fans to act on that recognition, and support the artists they love.
That's the gapTipify exists to close. We've built the infrastructure for a new fifth revenue stream, a direct patronage layer that runs parallel to the other four: streaming, licensing, touring, and merch, that lets superfans support the artists they love on an ongoing basis, across album cycles, tours, and long-term creative projects. We don't require new exclusive content and no additional burden is placed on the artist. It also gives superfans a way to find their next favorite artist before the world does, and opens a direct communications channel between artists and the fans who are genuinely invested in their success, without fans giving up their personal information.
We launched at SXSW this year in partnership with SPIN Magazine, brought on 100 verified artists organically, and saw the appetite firsthand. Fans want to support their artists. They always have. As you rightly point, out the music industry just never built them a dignified way to do it, and actively prevents them from doing so.
Your 15% superfan figure is the entire business case. The question was never whether they'd support artists, it was whether anyone would build something worthy of their passion. That's what we're doing. Check us out. I'd love your thoughts. www.tipify.music
Dan Carucci, MD PhD | Founder & CEO, Tipify
Hello again - can we have a one to one DM?
Ok I left a number of comments to this effect on the last post and yeah I totally agree with one caveat that you will drive way more people to your music with live music discovery than with algorithms. The most successful artists I know are intentionally taking shows that don’t pay to get in front of large crowds that don’t know who they are. Those exact shows are how I discover a good 80% of new artists and start following tours and announcements.
Spotify Q4 2025 Earnings Results
Premium Subscribers grew 10% Y/Y to 290 million
Monthly Active Users (MAUs) climbed 11% Y/Y to 751 million
Total Revenue increased 13% Y/Y constant currency to €4.5 billion
Gross Margin improved by 83 bps Y/Y to 33.1%
Operating Income reached €701 million
Does not fit your narrative of a dying business model...
This is encouraging. Spotify does not work for artists and we're nowhere without them. Music will continue but this model is facing the wrong direction on a one way street.
But what happens when people find out Fiji is actually owned by the same companies that own the reservoir
This idea has been building for years. I’ve been circling it for a long time — it is so interesting to see it articulated so clearly and strongly here.
What struck me most is that the core idea isn’t actually new — it closely echoes Kevin Kelly’s “1,000 True Fans” essay from years ago. The technology and language have evolved, but the underlying principle hasn’t.
It feels less like a shift in platforms, and more like a shift in where the relationship sits. Scale has dominated for a long time, but depth — a smaller number of people who genuinely care — may turn out to be the more durable model.
I think there's a few things that are being glossed over. I think I agree with about 80% of the article except handing over user data (personal information) to labels and artists and selling merch. User data is fairly delicate, and while I agree there is much work to do in terms of fan messaging from artists, I don't think handing over phone numbers and addresses is it. The other bit is about the dumb pipe problem. These companies do what they do very well, and it would be silly for someone to rebuild what already works so well inside their platform. I think the thing I'm thinking the most is artist merch, where a place like shopify or other merch platforms do well and it would suck for an artist to have to keep track of multiple services on which they sell. It's funny because about 5 years ago I had said that streaming services have about 5-10 years before it all comes tumbling down because it's just not sustainable. Great job at part 1 and part 2 of these articles. Thoroughly enjoyed.
15 years of Spotify - cancelled! Thanks for the push. Subscription+ less connection was always brewing in the background for me
✊
Thank you for both of these awesome posts. Both were fun to read and got me thinking about all kinds of things. Lately I’ve been cutting back on Spotify and exploring Bandcamp partially because I’ve found myself somewhat untethered to music. And as I get older I do find that there are certain categories and artists I prefer. So shouldn’t I try and support them more than a nameless mega corp.
I also wanted to say that your observations are equally applicable across a wide range of business today. Many categories in tech, consumer goods, services have been heavily monopolised by just a few providers. And yet those services have become like “water”. And like you have described for music, all those categories also have extensive opportunities for D2C or D2B offerings which are more personalised and engaging.
Most businesses don’t need more than 1,000 superfans. And many good businesses are viable with less.
Looking forward to your writing!
The economics are brutal, sure. But the part that kills me is the discovery collapse. You don't curate anymore—you outsource curation to Spotify's algorithm. It's masquerading as personalization but it's really just homogenization at scale.
Bandcamp, physical media, the obsessive listener building their own collection—these aren't just more equitable. They require you to have taste, to exercise judgment. You have to find music, not have it fed to you.
And yeah, consumers don't care. But taste is something you lose when you stop exercising it. The real loss is generational.
The Spotify trap isn't that the service is too good. It's that we've all agreed to expect unlimited music for $10/month. Every alternative—including Bandcamp—is fighting that same consumer expectation. Until someone cracks how to keep the convenience while pricing fairly for creators, you're just rearranging who gets extracted. A better app won't resurrect the economics.
i'd be interested in your thought of creating a new infrastructure, a 5th revenue stream (beyond streaming, touring, merch, and royalties) that allows those superfans to directly support the artists they love. Where artists don't have to make specialized content but they are supported directly by their fans