tl;dr - pay for your music if you can
Don’t judge those that can’t
I wish there was a happy medium between Spotify / charging €18 for a digital album

If I paid for my music I just wouldn’t listen to music lol. How anyone can afford to buy albums on a regular basis is beyond me. I love supporting artists when I can, but yeah shit is rough these days

Album Rating: 3.5

literally just pirate it. supporting no one at all >> supporting godawful streaming corps, best and most important part of Skee Mask's model is that it doesn't offer you a lazy way out, don't understand the need to throw a tantrum for what you will/won't spend money on over it

I know Spotify doesn’t pay artists even close to a fair price for licensing their content, but yeah no, I’ll gladly take the convenience of use and all the features that comes with it, like playlists and analytics. I owned 2 external hard drives with over 3000 albums on one, with the other being a backup copy. They both were destroyed when my basement was flooded due to a hot water tank meltdown. It would be way too tedious to build it back up again and modern cell phones have made it increasingly difficult to listen to music on anything other than streaming apps. Also idt I was throwing a tantrum? I just wish this dude’s music (and other artists) could all be on one platform so my music library isn’t spread all over the place

Album Rating: 3.5

'tantrum' was directed at demon, but

"just wish this dude’s music (and other artists) could all be on one platform"

this can (and tbh should) never be the case - no one platform will ever have commit to enough accountability to labels and artists while also drawing enough profit to fund the vast amount of admin it takes to maintain, and spotify maintaining the illusion that they just-about-got-there has done no favours to anyone. best thing you can do is always to take consumption into your own hands - is a colossal pain at times fs, but ultimately worth it

You’re right of course, but the thought of rebuilding that collection again… ugh. When it comes to any movies or tv shows, I always download. That’s an area where I can very confidently say fuck those streaming platforms. Premium prices for 720p quality videos and no account sharing or ability to stream on multiple devices you own…yeah, no thanks.

Album Rating: 3.5

Yeah ngl the thought of losing that much in one go spooks me - selectively rebuilding would be kinda fun I guess, but still unthinkable. I changed music libraries a year or so ago, and just losing my old playlists (still rebuilding from a spreadsheet lol) has been a nightmare, can imagine the motivation slump. Gotta make a new backup soon

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

Tbh this conversation is proving Skee Mask's point of how streaming services have devalued music. The price of Pool is a little more than one month of the average streaming service.

its also dumb because this is $10. pool is 18 tracks and 100 total minutes of music.

bottom line is if you dont want to pay what the artist asks you dont deserve to listen to their music. you arent entitled to consumption.

Lol sure hype. I’m sure you pay for every piece of media you own. That must have been one hell of an inheritance.

I actually can’t even believe people are still having this argument. Illegal downloading helps with sales of pretty much all media

"bottom line is if you dont want to pay what the artist asks you dont deserve to listen to their music. you arent entitled to consumption."

yeah I was about to mellow out a little, but this is exactly the kind of attitude that irritates me. I don't actually blame Skee Mask (guy can do whatever he wants with his own creations), I just personally cannot justify this kind of cost, so I'll never pay such sums for digital copies

"deserve" ... lol, how does the world look from up there on your ivory tower?

and yeah, Gyro's points all seem fair to me

for all the shit streaming services get (some of which is DEFINITELY deserved) it means people like me can afford to hear a ton of music and for that I'm eternally grateful. My attitude isn't entitled. When there's a dirt cheap (legal) alternative, then why should I be made to feel guilty? Pirating is another debate entirely

I used to buy a ton of CDs, but that was back in the days when I lived with my mum (and was working), so my disposable income allowed for it

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

If you can afford over $100 a year for streaming services a year, you can def afford a digital copy lol. Your problem just seems to be you don't think it's worth it but I find that thinking to be quite silly. By that point, musical & personal value is going to differ from person to person.



Skee Mask's main beef is with Spotify specifically which has objectively become the worst streaming platform over the years. You can get way more value out of things like AppleMusic, Tidal or YouTube if you are going to stream. I try to balance out both Bandcamp purchases for more underground artists and use streaming for more mainstream stuff

insane that someone could actually argue “buying music is bad and I should get to listen to whatever I want at my convenience”.

i guess pre 2000 you would have just robbed record shops right? honestly do whatever you want, but paying artists for their labor is objectively the only ethical way to consume music and arguing to the contrary is pure delusion.

Album Rating: 4.0

i think the price of Pool reflects its length and the amount of work put into it

🍿☕️

The only ethical way LOL Jesus Christ stfu. I remember you pirating back in the old days and now you’re acting all morally superior because I don’t buy every album I listen to. Pirating helps drive record, concert, and merch sales. All the physical music (because fuck buying a digital album for the same price as the physical) I’ve purchased has been to support the artist and build up my collection with things I know I love. I wouldn’t own half the albums I do had I not pirated them first

"honestly do whatever you want, but paying artists for their labor is objectively the only ethical way to consume music and arguing to the contrary is pure delusion."

honestly, your whole stance has justified my annoyance tbh. Judgemental much?

"If you can afford over $100 a year for streaming services a year, you can def afford a digital copy lol."

eh? That's for a whole year though. I don't see how that makes buying one digital copy 'affordable' - I mean sure technically you can, but then you'd only have access to a very small handful of albums, some of which you wouldn't even be sure were worth it unless you streamed them first (which apparently some people think you shouldn't do!)

btw I started this semi-rant when I was half-cut (can't remember why now) and have only continued because Hype is backing up my assumption that some people are colossal dicks about this kind of thing

"I wouldn’t own half the albums I do had I not pirated them first"

yep, or at least use a streaming platform to have a peek first (which apparently is unethical, lmao)