AIBU to stream UKranian music in support?

[felicmargo]

The situation is terrible , and we all feel relatively powerless. This morning I asked Alexa to play Ukranian music. As well as broadening my horizons and finding some hauntingly beautiful music in my randomised play list, I figured that if enough of us do it, even though streaming services pay artists poorly, we may be able to somehow support the people of Ukraine and their economy. Am I being naive? We must hope that sanity prevails and Putin is stopped in his tracks, but AIBU to hope this shows some sort of solidarity?

Well I think it’s a great idea. The artists will receive royalties from YouTube/ Spotify/ Amazon etc for every stream- yes they are small, but every penny helps and adds up quickly.

Stream whatever you want, but yeah, you’re being extremely naive.

Firstly, the amount of money artists get from streaming is tiny. Absolutely not enough to make a difference. Secondly, just because someone owns the rights to some Ukrainian music, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re Ukrainian, or based in Ukraine. Plenty of people playing on Ukrainian folk tunes etc will be in other countries, or will simply have Ukrainian ancestry, or will not be Ukrainian but just have an interest in Ukrainian music or will be sampling Ukrainian tunes. Thirdly, even if millions of people stream Ukrainian music, the money generated would be spread among so many artists and record companies that it would make no difference. It’s like thinking you can fix the economy problems simply by giving every citizen 50p.

If you want to make a difference, you can start by donating to a charity like the Red Cross, boycotting companies with Russian interests etc, joining campaigns to allow Ukrainian refugees visas to come to Britain. This too is a drop in the ocean, but it’s something.

@Bluebellberry

Well I think it’s a great idea. The artists will receive royalties from YouTube/ Spotify/ Amazon etc for every stream- yes they are small, but every penny helps and adds up quickly.

It doesn’t add up quickly. It adds up painfully slowly. And you have no real idea where the money is going. You could just as easily be giving your money to a Russian-based record company.

actually if an extra million people streamed the music of Ukrainian artists they would directly see the massive increase in streams hence a morale boost

What if some Russian company is actually getting the royalties? 🤔

@MingeofDeath

I'm sure Putin will be quaking in his boots when he hears about what you have been listening to.

I've had a really difficult night and this has cheered me up no end