Well Google has a vested interest.
But I'm not arguing it is harder. Of course anyone can upload their song to Youtube in an instant, anyone can upload their music to Spotify after paying a small fee. It's never been easier. But it's never been harder to be seen and heard, and never been harder to actually live off your art.
90% of music uploaded to Spotify is never streamed, you have to have a million streams to earn minimum wage.
With a mountain of independent uploads to Youtube and streaming, music fans have given up trawling through hours of terrible amateur music. That is why it is crucial to get on a curated playlist - so we're back to the old label paradigm, except it's influencers who have all the power, not passionate music lovers like radio DJ's.
That's the absolute reality I'm seeing for myself. In the 80's I worked with many niche artists who made living from music. These days everyone is owned by the streaming algorithm and niche artists are giving upon surviving on pennies.
There is no chance of another Dire Straits, because streaming promotes music people ALREADY love, that's how the algorithm works. Sultans Of Swing sounded completely different to the popular music of the late 70's. So Spotify wouldn't promote it to listeners, it would bury it.
You are of course pretty much spot on.
There's so much music out there it's over-saturated as you said, hours of terrible amateur recordings, and i'm probably within that catagory as I learned the very basics in lockdown having been made redundant from my job, and bitter about it had plenty to write about (amongst other stuff.) I've always written music since I was a kid, recording on cassette tape, laughable, BUT for about £300 as that was my budget I bought the DAW I needed, speakers, mic and Pre-amp to record what I thought at the time sounded like a proper bombastic album. Bedroom recording but with all the bells... guitar layers, samples etc. my big big issue however has always been programmed drums. Making them sound real. I hate them in some respects, and I can spot them a mile off regarding albums in my record collection but in lockdown my best mate who is a drummer was not available so I had to explore the drum options on my own. I have to say there are samples and programmed stuff available that sound pretty good to my ears but of course nowhere near as good as back in the day, certainly not for the budget I was prepared to pay (not much.) I also read and listened to the stuff you have done Chris, regarding library recordings / samples which sounds superb.
The thing is on the upside it's easier to get your music out there, but that's about it. My word. It's utterly pointless having it on all the mainstream streaming services and digital sites in terms of money or recognition unless you have a huge budget to promote it, but it is accessible at the same time. For me I released my stuff on bandcamp and also made 100 CD's which sounds laughable but I have always loved physical music with all the linear notes, who plays what and where it was recorded etc.
That period to be honest was such a great form of escapism for me and whilst the two albums I did record were full of flaws I'm proud that I managed to get those tracks out and to the point they sound like songs accompanied by a proper band (i'm told from the very few have listened to the songs who cannot believe it's a one man show), albeit with some slightly dodgy sounding drum tracks.
These days I have a band that plays with me now thankfully and we are looking to record as a 3-piece going forward. My bassist is an extremely talented musician and a miles better guitarist than I will ever be, he was in an underground act called Into A Circle back in the early 90's that had some success, however after years of playing in covers bands he's grown sick of that and would rather play original music. We are looking to just play the pub and small reputable circuit supporting up and coming bands, we will never make it but such is life. The thing is though Many hit songs rely on similar chord progressions. So that era you played in Chris was probably the pinnacle. It won't get better. How can it? Think about music beforehand, think about where we are in terms of life and humanity. I'm not trying to say you were fortunate as you had to battle out with other superb musicians but for me the halcyon days of top music is gone. Yes re-inventions will happen and micro genres will be created, but the reality is there are only a certain amount of chords. The good days are over but that won't stop me writing songs, recording them and playing those tracks live like i'm at Wembley stadium even though the reality is it's in front of 1 man, his dog and a pint of overpriced craft beer.
Best wishes.
