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green cubes on a black screen. one has the spotify logo and the rest have musical notes and play and pause buttons
How has music streaming influenced your taste? (Image: Tina Tiller)

InternetDecember 2, 2022

This year you chose what you listened to – but so did Spotify

green cubes on a black screen. one has the spotify logo and the rest have musical notes and play and pause buttons
How has music streaming influenced your taste? (Image: Tina Tiller)

Spotify doesn’t just influence the listening habits of its vast audience, but even the way some musicians create music. Shanti Mathias takes a look at the musical behemoth that strives to give everyone everywhere everything. 

Spotify released its annual Wrapped promotion yesterday, as it does every December. If you spend any time on the internet, it’s hard to miss: suddenly social media feeds are filled with statistics about listening habits and cute graphics displaying top songs. Some people joke about not sharing their most-listened to songs because it’s too embarrassing, or being taken over by white noise for their child’s bedtime. Others achieve truly astounding feats by listening to more music than there is time in the year

The intended effect is obvious and immediate: if you’re a Spotify user you immediately open the app. There you might find out that (to take a purely hypothetical example) you are in the top 0.005% of Dave Dobbyn listeners due to your attachment to the te reo version of ‘Welcome Home’. This is all presented on screens, like an Instagram story, perfect for screenshotting and sharing (if you aren’t humiliated that your music taste has been defined by the man who once wore this jersey in a music video). If you’re not a Spotify user, you might witness this demonstration of personality via audio consumption and feel left out

Clever marketing campaigns like Wrapped have made Spotify a global music behemoth, with more than 195 million Premium subscribers and a market cap of US$14.8b. It’s particularly popular with youth audiences: in New Zealand On Air’s latest Where are the youth audiences survey, Spotify was used by nearly two thirds of 15-24 year olds each day. On the face of it, Spotify makes vast amounts of music available at an affordable price, or free with ads. But its sheer scale means that it has shaped the rest of the music industry too, and is changing what we listen to.

Image: Archi Banal

In an article earlier this year, digital rights experts Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow described why Spotify is so focused on playlists. “Streaming is sold as a way for listeners to access almost any music on command. Increasingly, however, obeying nudges from streaming platforms, subscribers listen to playlists prepared by algorithms or human curators instead of making their own selections,” they wrote.

If you’re a Spotify user, you might have noticed this: when you search for an artist, one of their top results will be a “This is” playlist of their most known music. “Daily Mix” playlists, personalised via algorithm to contain music and artists you already enjoy with a few new-to-you tracks, are aimed at keeping you listening. Then there are mood playlists, like “Peaceful Piano” and “Ambient Chill” and the “radio” function, which will play a whole lot of songs similar to the selected song or artist. Often it takes several taps and some scrolling to get to any actual albums.

There’s an allure to these playlists, made just for you, and Spotify sells that too, especially in the Wrapped programme: nobody else has listened to the exact combination of music that you have. And since Spotify knows you so well, why wouldn’t you trust their recommendations?

Spotify can make these playlists, of course, because of all the information they already have about you – the information you see in your Wrapped presentation is the tip of the iceberg. “You’re the product as well, your input is the data. What you listen to in the playlists they offer is used to make playlists for other people,” says Matt Mollgaard, an expert on the New Zealand audio industry who is the head of AUT’s screen, audio, and journalism department. But Spotify is opaque about its use of data too, he says. “It’s essentially a black box.”

Spotify
Spotify is gobbling up the podcasting world. Image: Tina Tiller

Is regurgitating your top songs of the year so very different to, say, The Rock 2000? Like Spotify, radio stations have access to huge amounts of music and a commercial incentive to have people engage with that music. While radio stations are also trying to play music people will like, based on what they know about their listeners, they don’t have anywhere near the depth of data Spotify does, says Mollgaard. What radio does have are personalities who love music and can build trust with their audience to try something new, while Spotify’s data-based approach means that you’re usually served music similar to what you already like. 

When it works well, and you’re able to feast at Spotify’s musical buffet, filled with dishes they want you to like, the interests of Spotify and yourself may be aligned.

Certainly many consumers have benefitted from the development of streaming – but have musicians? As revenue from physical music sales has dropped, income from streaming services has supposedly stepped in. But compared to radio play or physical music, streaming margins are tiny, with the few big music streamers able to negotiate cut price rates with music publishers, making artists even more reliant on revenue from live performances and merch sales.

midnights album cover and a music emoji with a purple filter and fun purple shapes in the background
Artist Taylor Swift has advocated for changes to streaming royalties Image: Tina Tiller

High profile cases, like Taylor Swift advocating for all artists to receive revenue for music listened to during Apple Music’s free trial, point to an appetite among stars big and small to change the status quo, and there are some alternative streaming models where revenue is more directly shared. For the moment though, it’s possible to have millions of people listen to your music and still not make much money; on a Guardian podcast last year, Georgia Mooney of Australian band All Our Exes Live in Texas said that their song ‘When the Sun Comes Up’, with 5.3 million streams on Spotify over five years, made each of the four band members about $396 per year.

It’s a conundrum for regulators, Mollgaard says. “Lots of NZ music is funded by New Zealand On Air then played on Spotify. Maybe they should contribute to an artists fund or pay more tax, but anything like that would send Spotify packing from a small market like New Zealand.” 

Meanwhile, the way people listen to Spotify might be changing music itself. Statistical analyses of released music, especially pop, show that songs are getting shorter, with chorus and hooks placed earlier in the song, as an artist will only receive revenue if their song is streamed for more than 30 seconds. At the same time, artists are compelled to release longer albums, with more songs, to take advantage of the streams to be made from people who press play and let the album keep going. “There are complaints that [instead of] a thought through album of artistically derived songs, now you’re trying to turn music into short formats that Spotify want,” says Mollgaard.

Artists The Spinoff talked to say the Spotify algorithm is not top of mind when writing songs. “We just want to make the music we want to make and if it works on Spotify and reaches people, then great,” said Hollie Fullbrook of the band Tiny Ruins, whose most popular songs have more than 5 million streams on Spotify. However, when deciding which singles they might focus on for an album, “we might push them more in that direction with their arrangements to be more punchy or lush … but we stick to whatever direction the song wants to go in.” 

Sxmpra, a New Zealand-based rapper with 3.7 million monthly listeners, says that while he didn’t “set out to be as big as I am now”, the kind of music he makes – “fast, aggressive and dark” – might be one of the reasons he’s done well on Spotify. “Naturally that’s how my songs are, short and aggressive, but I didn’t do that because of [the Spotify algorithm].” On the whole, he feels that niche musicians like himself only stand to benefit from Spotify’s global listeners. Spotify’s algorithm doesn’t help him as much as “more palatable pop artists”, but people look him up and add him to their playlists. The data Spotify provides shows him that the majority of his listeners are overseas, and the revenue is “a good chunk” of his income.

And with Spotify making enormous investments to become a podcasting hub, too, the company is hoping to keep taking up more of your time. One of Mollgaard’s nightmares is Spotify trying even harder to compete with radio by hiring radio personalities to give algorithmic playlists the human touch. But it’s still difficult to argue with the enormous availability of music on streaming services, he says. “You have whatever you want, whenever you want it … and it’s powerful and on your phone and everywhere.”

Keep going!
Photo: Alex Casey / Additional design: Archi Banal
Photo: Alex Casey / Additional design: Archi Banal

SocietyDecember 1, 2022

On a superyacht with an OnlyFans empire

Photo: Alex Casey / Additional design: Archi Banal
Photo: Alex Casey / Additional design: Archi Banal

Alex Casey spends six hours at sea with a group of Gen Z creators who are reinventing the porn industry. 

Before she was an OnlyFans creator, Charlie was an expert in a very different flesh-related field. Working at a butchery for minimum wage, she describes it as an extremely physical job that involved everything from packing, wrapping, setting up the shop and serving meat. When the Covid-19 lockdown hit, the pivot to online-only ordering meant that she was lifting 12kg boxes of meat over the counter all day, which eventually led to a serious back injury that stopped her from being able to work altogether. That’s when she started her OnlyFans account and, within just a month, she quit her butchery job to make content full time. 

Two years on, 20-year-old Charlie says she feels more empowered than ever, and is even dreaming of buying a luxury superyacht much like the one we are sitting aboard in Auckland’s Viaduct. “I want a boat like this one day,” she sighs, eyeing up the shiny mahogany interior from beneath thick Bambi lashes. “I know it’s not a good investment – it’s expensive to run, and to own, and to park – but my dream is to be so financially free that I could own something like this.” She adjusts her ombre hot pink and yellow bikini top, drawing my attention to a phrase inked onto her arm: “what I want is already mine”.

Charlie was one of five “Thumper Girls” that gathered on the $1,100-per-hour luxury yacht on a Monday night to celebrate the long-awaited launch of Thumper. New Zealand’s first female-run adult entertainment agency and production company, Thumper was founded by prolific OnlyFans creator Jasminx, 20, as a place for women to collaborate and support each other on OnlyFans, an online platform with 220 million users that pay creators directly for their content. “Thumper is our safety net,” said Charlie. “It’s like a really nice little family where everyone is very open-minded and there’s no competition or jealousy or anything.”

The Thumper girls: Charlie, Maggie, Jasmin, Violet and Shy. (Photo: Supplied)

As the group of 30 or so Gen Z creators piled onto the boat dressed in Gucci slides and Fendi hats, so too did a very small cluster of invited media, who would come to look so out of place that later in the night the yacht’s chef confidently asserted that we “must be the organisers”. Despite our differences, the Thumper team warmly welcomed everyone, even those wearing pants with elastic waistbands (me), with open arms, star sign analysis and endless cans of Cheeky Tea, the official alcohol sponsor of the evening. By the end of the night, the CHEEKY X THUMPER sign would read EE HUMP HER. 

While the evening was geared towards luxury and excess, we first needed to sit through the warts and all safety briefing from Skipper Steve. “I’m sorry ladies, but do not flush anything that isn’t natural,” he gingerly told the group, gaze darting well above the heads of the bikini-clad room. “If it’s blocked, do not hang onto the flush button and flood the bathroom, come and tell us.” With that terrifying warning, we hauled anchor and headed for Motuihe Island, small groups gathered around enormous platters heaving with smoked chicken breast and flash cheeses. 

I sat with Violet, another Thumper girl and former waitress, who opened up about how she first got into sex work as we nibbled on crackers and pesto. “I started OnlyFans during a time in my life where I was feeling really sexually empowered,” she said. “My family was finally treating me like an adult, and my mum was finally comfortable enough to tell me about her time as a sex worker in the Phillipines.” She said her mum was forced into sex work at a very young age to support her family, which naturally left her with very negative feelings towards the industry. 

Violet, bottom right, onboard with the Thumper girls. (Photo: Supplied)

One generation on, Violet’s relationship with her job could not be more different. “My mum wasn’t that happy to do it but here I am volunteering to do it,” she said. Violet told me she is now supporting both herself and her parents from the money she makes from OnlyFans. “I feel so lucky that I am able to look after my parents – especially giving my mum the life that she has always wanted to live.” Her goal is to buy her parents a house soon where they can live rent free. “My accountant says it’s not a good time to buy. I don’t know the market, so I have to believe her.” 

It’s not just financial security that Violet has found in OnlyFans, but feminism. “Over the past year I’ve gotten really, really, really into hyperfeminism,” she explained, referring to an inclusive movement popularised by TikTok that encourages people of all genders, ethnicities and sexualities to embrace the elements of femininity that have been historically derided. “I’m a really big feminist and I believe I am taking the control of my body and my femininity back.” 

Violet told me she had just finished reading the Insta-friendly viral tome Women Don’t Owe You Pretty. “It’s all given me a really huge sense of empowerment,” she said. “I know I can do this and I still have good values, I still have morals, I still have goals.” 

That said, there are times when creating adult content online is not easy. “Even though I share my body for a living, I still get insecure,” Violet said. Her family couldn’t afford braces growing up, so she recently got Invisalign. “You do start to look at yourself in a certain way when you are looking at photos of yourself all day. If there’s a mean comment about something, especially when they are pointing out something that you’ve never thought about yourself, it will make you start to think about it a bit,” she said. “But that’s only about one percent of all the people online.” 

When I asked Violet’s best friend Charlie the same question about insecurities, she answered with a single gesture to her chest. “That’s why I got these” she laughed. Just three weeks into her recovery after a breast augmentation surgery in Australia, she admitted she should still be in her post-op compression bra, but couldn’t pass up the chance to get bikini photos on board. “My body is what makes me money,” she said, explaining that she first teased the idea of getting her boobs done to her social media audience, and received strong feedback in the affirmative. 

As we cruised across the Hauraki Gulf, I sat down on the bow in the sun next to Liam, a part of the extended entourage who had a big sparkly stud in his ear, socks with little red mouths on them and sunglasses by Kensngtn, a brand launched by Heartbreak Island’s Harry Jowsey and Kristian Babarich. He told me he was a part of 24K Media, a production company that works with music artists and online creators – including Thumper. He rattled off a list of clients and I feel like an ashen corpse disintegrating into the sea air: Bru-C, Gunna, Yung Maac, Bad1…

“There’s a lot of Gen Z content creation that nobody in the mainstream media knows about,” he said. “Gen Z are just so much more aware of how to turn themselves into a brand that makes money.” At 23, Liam is the oldest person in the company – the founder is just 19. They are collaborating on three more Thumper shoots before Christmas, and then it’s on to whatever 2023 holds. “Thumper are bespoke in the sense that they have a real artistic vision,” he said. “These girls are the blueprint, and it’s only getting bigger.” 

We dropped anchor near Motuihe Island and a retro-themed photoshoot began, complete with 1950s headscarves and sunglasses. A man wearing a du-rag and a Prada bumbag juggled about 45 different cameras while the women effortlessly arched their backs and coquettishly dropped their gazes, endlessly hyped up by the rest of their crew. “It’s giving!” cheered one. “Yeah, it’s giving,” confirmed another. Charlie peered over the top of her sunglasses down the lens. “Who IS this?” the photographer asked. “Is this Charlie? YES CHARLIE!” A colleague muttered that she’d die for even a fraction of this affirmation at her job.  

Jasmin has her photo taken by a member of 24K media. (Photo: Alex Casey)

At the other end of the boat, Skipper Steve was in his own private hell trying to get the inflatable slide ready, which anyone who watches Below Deck will know is one of the most laborious and frustrating jobs on any superyacht. “This slide needs 30 minutes to put out and 30 minutes to pack down,” he puffed. “You watch this, maybe six of the girls will go on it.” I asked him if he knew anything about the company he was chartering this evening. “No,” he said, trying to stifle a grin. “But I can guess.” 

Lo and behold, Skipper Steve’s slide and the other assorted water toys became a smash hit with the guests – once they finished their photoshoot, of course. A colleague and I went out in the tender as he towed two screaming young women at top speed on a sea biscuit around the bay. After one particularly gnarly spill, we pulled one of them aboard, shocked to discover that her full face of impeccably glamorous makeup was still completely intact, including a set of enormous fake eyelashes. “Charlotte Tilbury setting spray” she wheezed. “It’s the best.” 

After the watersports, Skipper Steve took the photographers out on the tender to get shots of the girls from the water on his beloved slide. Content creation is key, and no area of the boat was left unexplored for an Instagram shot – from the ship’s bridge, to the galley, to the toilet, to the fetching guest fedora (that last one was me). For creators, building their following on their “clean” social media accounts – TikTok, Instagram, Twitter – is a key driver to get audiences to subscribe to their OnlyFans, so any photogenic opportunity is a potential opportunity to make more money. 

A photoshoot in Skipper Steve’s chair. (Photo: Alex Casey)

Unfortunately, these social media accounts are frequently banned for their association with the adult industry. “There’s a lot of people that want to see other people fail, especially when those people are sex workers,” said Charlie. Just before she boarded the yacht, she discovered that her Instagram had been deleted, only two months since her last ban. “It fucking sucks because this event will be a big public thing and I would have made a lot of connections from it,” she said. “It’s so mentally draining for me, because this is my job and I work so hard for everything.” 

Thumper’s COO, who wanted to remain anonymous, works closely with the women everyday and sees the tough realities of the job. “These girls got their jobs because they made it work, but social media is still cruel and these platforms can really get them down,” she told me. “The internet makes everyone two-dimensional but all these girls have amazing intelligence, everyone’s so complex and smart.” Working half her day at Thumper and half her day at her “normal” job, she hopes that one day she can be open about Thumper with everyone in her life.

“Everyone’s just so excited to be a part of something that’s not run by the old guys – this isn’t old-school porn, you can be sexy and artistic at the same time.” 

As the sun set, we gathered inside for a hearty meal of buttery potatoes, various salads, ceviche and steak. Once the dishes had been cleared, it was time for a rousing speech from Thumper founder Jasmin, who admitted she hadn’t prepared anything and would be speaking “straight from the heart”. She began by talking about the ongoing stigma faced by those working in the adult industry, pacing thoughtfully in front of the small crowd in an oversized Fendi knit and bare feet. 

Jasmin delivers her sex-positive sermon. (Photo: Alex Casey)

“We are still really looked down on in society, and I just felt like it was time for something to do something about it. That’s why I wanted to reinvent porn and reinvent the adult industry as something more elevated.” The mahogany-lined room erupted into applause and finger snaps of appreciation – but Jasmin was far from done. “People assume that the people who do this are untalented, or have no goals or ambition, or are just doing this as a last resort. But we choose to do this and we wouldn’t be doing it if we didn’t love it.” More rapturous applause. 

“We’re just normal people: we are your daughters, your sisters, your girlfriends. We are normal people and we are amazing, loving, talented people and we deserve respect for what we do,” she continued, with the genuine gravitas of a politician delivering their maiden speech. “Because we bring a lot of joy, we bring a lot of entertainment. People try to push us back to the side, but everyone still watches porn!” The room exploded into the biggest applause yet, and Jasmin expertly popped a bottle of Moet, spraying champagne against a backdrop of dusky sky. 

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Finally, the superyacht was headed home. I diligently held a glass of champagne for Verity, an online creator and TikTok music sensation, as she got her very last snaps, arching dramatically against the boat’s railing. Her poses were so powerful that one of the crew members stormed the bow with a chilling warning. “You have to be really careful girls,” he barked. “It’s not just that you’ll fall off – you’ll get sucked through the props and you’ll die.” Verity smiled sweetly. “OK, I appreciate that.” Once he was gone, she turned around and kept posing. 

As millions of stars twinkled above us and just as many images hurtled invisibly through the night air, somebody lit a mystery joint that flecked orange embers into the darkness. The skyscrapers of the CBD appeared dinky from afar, dwarfed by the silhouettes of these young people who are building their own business empires entirely on their own terms. “Are we in an episode of Euphoria?” my colleague whispered to me. As if he had heard us, an entourage lad drunkenly responded at just the right time from the darkness. “This is real life bro,” he slurred. 

“This… is real life.”

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