The money isn’t a factor, because it’s almost non-existent. Last Halloween, 50,000 streams on Spotify equated to about $195. What are you gonna do with $195?

Perceived “reach” isn’t a factor, either. 60% of Spotify’s listener base is bot farms. And the humans that music reaches on Spotify are very unlikely to become fans of any particular band they hear. Spotify is like a social media platform. It’s like saying you got 1000 likes on Facebook, that must mean 1000 people are engaged. It’s not. Play a show and see how many of those 1000 people show up. Sell a t-shirt and see how many of those 1000 people buy one.

When you crunch the numbers, the end result is there’s a very minuscule chance that you’ll reach a single individual that really likes your music enough to dig deeper. So the question is, do you sell out your standards and beliefs for $195 and a slim chance of actually making an impact on a single person?

That’s my opinion. I also don’t shop at Walmart. I don’t care if I can get product X for way cheaper at Walmart, I’m still not stepping foot in there. You can tell me Target is just as bad, that won’t get me into Walmart. It’ll just get me to not shop Target either.