Haters be damned. I look forward to the annual sharing of Spotify’s personalized Wrapped initiative. I already know what I listened to in 2023, but I relish seeing other people’s lists of most-streamed artists.
My enthusiasm is ironic, as the streaming revolution killed my lucrative career 20 years ago. Everyone who protests about the ethical and sonic superiority of physical recordings is welcome to visit my home.
I spent tens of thousands of dollars building a collection of more than 5,000 LPs and CDs in the 20th century. That era is over. Streaming is a dream come true for passionate music fans with broad tastes.
The brief thank-you videos popular artists provide Spotify aren’t coerced. A thousand artists earn more than a million dollars on Spotify every year. And Spotify pays 8,000 artists more than $100,000.00 every year. Not bad for a level playing field.
Oh, by the way, here are my December concert recommendations for KCUR.