Mixtape Monday #139: And what if Jesus himself ate my fucking snatch
Potpourri — Winter 2024-25
Mixtape Monday #139: And what if Jesus himself ate my fucking snatch
Liner notes: A fitting title for the second week of our long, national nightmare. This tape is potpourri from the dreary winter of 2024-25. A recent tradition of mine is watching The Last Waltz on Thanksgiving.
THIS FILM SHOULD BE PLAYED LOUD, indeed. Astonishing.
This mixtape also marks the end of this project being on Spotify. Moving forward, Mixtape Monday will be on Apple Music. I’ve been an Apple Music user first and foremost for many years, using Spotify only for these mixtapes. In 2025, I’m done with Spotify, for two reasons:
Spotify pays artists half ($0.00318) of what Apple Music does per stream ($0.008). To make ten bucks from streaming, an artist needs to get over 3,100 streams on Spotify; on Apple Music, that number is 1,250. Apple’s rate is far from good, but twice as much money is…twice as much money. Tidal pays the best rate per stream ($0.01284), but I’m (hypocritically!) sacrificing a bit of ethics to use a platform that does what I want (essentially imitate an iPod).
Spotify is at the forefront of algorithmic curation and generative AI in music. Both of these things are a disaster. I have been concerned about this trend for a long time, as the type of fogey who enjoys listening to albums, finding new and surprising artists, and just generally finds the prospect of art without human artists repulsive. Recently, the creator of Suno, an AI music platform, said the quiet part loud. Here’s my view:
Liz Pelly has a great book out about both of the above subjects; here’s an excerpt. I want to again be clear, Apple is hardly an angel on this or many other fronts, and I strive to support artists in other ways (by buying records and merch, live music, files, etc) whenever possible, but we make flawed decisions in a fallen world.
I recognize that most folks don’t use Apple Music and this probably means fewer people actually click through and listen. I’ll update the compendium and best of archives soon.
Thanks for listening to me yap! Apologies this note is so long. I’ll be briefer next Monday, I promise.
Mixtape Monday Marginalia: The only political hot take I’ll share — one I’m sure you’ll be surprised to hear — is that anyone selling compromise, quiet, or caution is selling appeasement and cowardice. “The only sensible and dignified course of action is to accept that Republicans are in charge and to focus in on making their unpopular actions as painful as possible.” Trump is not god emperor, and if enough people good will stand up, he never will be. He’s damaged goods, a weak lame duck, and a profound threat to the lives of millions and the future of the country and planet. The ACLU has a helpful overview of what they have been planning; they’re a worthy organization take action with, but local and state nonprofits are taking action, too.