Hi,
2024 passed by like that. I've been busy in the studio, probably more than ever. Mastering, mixing, recording, writing. I also toured with In Flames across Europe for 7 weeks.
2025 is here. And some changes with that.
In a time where streaming totally dominates how people are listening to music, and it's actually easier than ever to "reach out", it's funny enough a time where I feel the most disconnected from people. All I see is stats. Streams. Plays. Where is the experience of sharing music? And if it's easy to reach out. Do you even reach out?
We all know by this time, at least I do, that streaming didn't save music or the music industry. Not a single independent artist can make a living on releasing music on streaming services, and it's getting more and more obvious that Spotify does what they can to exclude anything that doesn't fit their playlists. Playlists that now are entering the world of AI. Spotify (and probably other streaming services as well) are filling up playlists with AI created music. Companies use machine learning and learn from all the music in the history of mankind to be able to create it in seconds. Spotify loves this.
I don't.
It's been depressing to even think about releasing music for years. Wherever you look it's either TikTok or Meta Ads or just a "game" to ramp up streaming numbers to trigger an algorithm.
Who the wants to please the algorithm?
Not me.
But I'm still creating music.
It's depressing to login and see the the results of a marketing campaign where you've spent more money than you've ever earned from Spotify, spent on Meta, just to find out the you attracted bots in India who fake streamed a song.
It is that bad. It's just that people don't wanna talk about it. A stream is a stream and as long as you have plenty of them you are cool.
Anyways, my way of thinking about music, listening to music and creating music is not this.
I have ideas. I'm not sure they'll hold up. But I will try.
The streaming world is dying. And I wanna live.
I will continue creating music under the different monikers I've created music for the past 20 years. I'm just not sure how to share it.
It isn't a money thing primarily. I miss the experience. Being a part of something.
There will be new music. There will be fun stuff. I just need to take a little break and think for a while.
Until then, I'll keep trying my best to make music sound good for other artists and bands so I can pay my bills.
Niels