Hacker News Reader

Your music have been heard by more people due to streaming, but it doesn't necessarily mean it was good enough (or the right type of music) for people to pay to come to see you in concert

View on HN

That's a big thing, and it's hard to solve too, in both directions. Some might argue that artists don't get a fair shake when someone just hears one song in a playlist of other songs. Some even claim that you can't listen to one song, you have to listen to the album (Garth Brooks and Pink Floyd are two examples). On the other side of the coin, who here has bought an album after hearing one song on the radio, only to find out the rest of the album sounds completely different? I know much of my family bought Kid Rock's album when "Picture" came out on the radio, only to find out he's a rock/rap artist, not a country artist. They spent $20 on literally one song.

I've done that on Spotify. I hear a song I like and go to the entire album, to find I hate the rest of the album. That's fine. That one song goes in my playlist and I listen to it over and over again, and the artist gets paid for making a song I enjoy, rather than me not buying their album because I know there is only one song I will enjoy.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com