It doesn’t mean AAA will go away, just like big stadium packing artists like Taylor Swift never went away. They just accounted for less of the industry’s total profits than they used to.
More of people’s disposable money is spent on a wider variety of music and games, often opting for more “indie” and cheaper versions of both. It’s a good thing, honestly, for people’s tastes to be more diversified and unique.
I mean, it’s ok I guess, but as a musician myself that’s not helping much either. Buy some stuff on bandcamp (85% goes to the artists, cheap and often pay what you want) or if you need streaming get Tidal, they give 3x than spotify and didn’t give 100 millions to joe rogan.
Also bandcamp gives you high quality DRM FLAC files (or really whatever audio filetype you want) and those files are yours to keep, forever. You can also stream stuff you’ve bought through the bandcamp website. They also still do bandcamp fridays where 100% of the sale goes to the artist. Next bandcamp friday is May 1st.
Another option is direct-from-artist sales if they have their own website and store. Do vinyls still come with codes for an mp3 copy? I remember my vinyl for The Mean Jeans - Are You Serious? had a code and a link to download an mp3 copy of the album.
I got into music piracy back in the day because it used to be that record companies paid artists badly so I spent money on concerts and merch, now Spotify pays artists badly for the record companies. Anyway, if used at all piracy is best used to find artists you really love and then spend your money on legitimately purchasing their music.
Huh. Just found out that Bandcamp isn’t owned by Epic Games anymore. It was sold off to someone else back in 2023. Guess I don’t have a reason to boycott it now
There wasn’t really a reason to boycott it anyway. Epic just wanted “free” access to a massive library for their games, like how EA Trax used to be a thing. Nothing changed about bandcamp in the meantime.
I’m not gonna get started on this, but Epic or not, this is and was one of the only way to give money directly to artists. If you boycott Epic I really hope you boycott steam also cause they’re no better.
EGS has used anticompetitive and anti consumer practices from day one, all because Tim Swiney is a petty asshole that wants to be at the top of the pile.
Meanwhile Valve has generally been pro-consumer and built a relatively good service
Lol, another steam sucker ready to die for billionaire Gabe. They basically invented gambling for chlidren, they actually are the one that have anticompetitive practice lmfao, they dont let you own your games, they take a huge cut of 30% (epic take 12%, but you dont care about game devs right), they make billions in profit but employ less than 300 people.
But I’ve met enough of your kind to know your cognitive dissonance to know that no amount of proofs that steam suck would make you stop kissing their ass. You guys are the maga of gaming lol.
So yeah, the hard truth is you don’t like games you like steam, and you dont like music, you like yourself. Now fuck off yourself, you are the problem.
they actually are the one that have anticompetitive practice
Citation desperately needed, and not just the one internal email from 10 years ago that reads like a misunderstanding.
they take a huge cut of 30%
30% is standard across the industry, including itch.io and GOG. And given that EGS just laid off 1000 employees, it’s looking like 12% isn’t a sustainable business model.
Don’t forget that EGS has been using anti-consumer policies like paid exclusives from the start. Meanwhile Steam, GOG, and itch.io don’t force exclusivity, allowing an open ecosystem. Tim Swiney isn’t against monopolies, he’s just mad that he doesn’t habe one.
And let’s not forget that Steam has been investing in open source and Linux gaming for years. PC gaming are getting close to a point where making walled off gardens becomes impossible.
Do I think billionaires should exist? No. But when there’s one that’s actively building systems to keep digital ecosystems open permanently, I’m willing to make an exception.
But you’re clearly just some gullible jackass that fell for Tim Swiney’s propaganda hook line and sinker. You speak of cognitive dissonance despite being fully immersed in it yourself. Go touch grass; you desperately need it.
Same thing happened with music.
It doesn’t mean AAA will go away, just like big stadium packing artists like Taylor Swift never went away. They just accounted for less of the industry’s total profits than they used to.
More of people’s disposable money is spent on a wider variety of music and games, often opting for more “indie” and cheaper versions of both. It’s a good thing, honestly, for people’s tastes to be more diversified and unique.
Except almost no one can live with music now, with the spotify model.
It’s funny, I recall Benn Jordan saying in multiple videos of his that his profits went up when he removed all his music from spotify.
I pirate my music and keep it in my local storage.
I mean, it’s ok I guess, but as a musician myself that’s not helping much either. Buy some stuff on bandcamp (85% goes to the artists, cheap and often pay what you want) or if you need streaming get Tidal, they give 3x than spotify and didn’t give 100 millions to joe rogan.
I love Bandcamp. It does not have much of a filter so I get to find small and under the radar artists.
Personally I buy 90% of my music either on Bandcamp or as a CD in my local store… rip it… throw it on Jellyfin for easy streamikg
Also bandcamp gives you high quality DRM FLAC files (or really whatever audio filetype you want) and those files are yours to keep, forever. You can also stream stuff you’ve bought through the bandcamp website. They also still do bandcamp fridays where 100% of the sale goes to the artist. Next bandcamp friday is May 1st.
Another option is direct-from-artist sales if they have their own website and store. Do vinyls still come with codes for an mp3 copy? I remember my vinyl for The Mean Jeans - Are You Serious? had a code and a link to download an mp3 copy of the album.
I got into music piracy back in the day because it used to be that record companies paid artists badly so I spent money on concerts and merch, now Spotify pays artists badly for the record companies. Anyway, if used at all piracy is best used to find artists you really love and then spend your money on legitimately purchasing their music.
Hell you can still buy CDs direct (rarely) do that too. Great for display if nothing else.
Huh. Just found out that Bandcamp isn’t owned by Epic Games anymore. It was sold off to someone else back in 2023. Guess I don’t have a reason to boycott it now
There wasn’t really a reason to boycott it anyway. Epic just wanted “free” access to a massive library for their games, like how EA Trax used to be a thing. Nothing changed about bandcamp in the meantime.
I’m not gonna get started on this, but Epic or not, this is and was one of the only way to give money directly to artists. If you boycott Epic I really hope you boycott steam also cause they’re no better.
Fuck off with your false equivalence bullshit.
EGS has used anticompetitive and anti consumer practices from day one, all because Tim Swiney is a petty asshole that wants to be at the top of the pile.
Meanwhile Valve has generally been pro-consumer and built a relatively good service
Lol, another steam sucker ready to die for billionaire Gabe. They basically invented gambling for chlidren, they actually are the one that have anticompetitive practice lmfao, they dont let you own your games, they take a huge cut of 30% (epic take 12%, but you dont care about game devs right), they make billions in profit but employ less than 300 people.
But I’ve met enough of your kind to know your cognitive dissonance to know that no amount of proofs that steam suck would make you stop kissing their ass. You guys are the maga of gaming lol. So yeah, the hard truth is you don’t like games you like steam, and you dont like music, you like yourself. Now fuck off yourself, you are the problem.
The gambling sites aren’t owned by Valve
Citation desperately needed, and not just the one internal email from 10 years ago that reads like a misunderstanding.
30% is standard across the industry, including itch.io and GOG. And given that EGS just laid off 1000 employees, it’s looking like 12% isn’t a sustainable business model.
Don’t forget that EGS has been using anti-consumer policies like paid exclusives from the start. Meanwhile Steam, GOG, and itch.io don’t force exclusivity, allowing an open ecosystem. Tim Swiney isn’t against monopolies, he’s just mad that he doesn’t habe one.
And let’s not forget that Steam has been investing in open source and Linux gaming for years. PC gaming are getting close to a point where making walled off gardens becomes impossible.
Do I think billionaires should exist? No. But when there’s one that’s actively building systems to keep digital ecosystems open permanently, I’m willing to make an exception.
But you’re clearly just some gullible jackass that fell for Tim Swiney’s propaganda hook line and sinker. You speak of cognitive dissonance despite being fully immersed in it yourself. Go touch grass; you desperately need it.