James Blake won't be able to sabotage the music industry

Only a few days have passed since the attack by James Blake and Kanye West against the music industry. With a message posted on X, the British artist himself stated: «Do you remember when my cover of "Godspeed" went viral? Neither I nor Frank earned a penny because it was an 'original sound' exclusively released on the platform. TikTok users didn't see my name anywhere. Next time your favorite artists go viral, remember they're not earning a penny.» Amplifying Blake's critique, Ye chimed in, highlighting his and his team's discontent and threatening to release the upcoming volumes of Vultures on his website. In short, the criticisms from the two artists not only reveal that streaming services do not pay satisfactory amounts to artists, but also that they constantly expect these artists' tracks to go viral on platforms like TikTok, which in turn generate no income for the creators. To date, the fighting spirit of the two artists hopes to provide better compensation to artists worldwide, effectively trying to defuse the corporate system that they feel isn't treating them fairly.

Certainly, it won't be an easy mission. On one hand, the challenge lies in convincing a good number of artists to undergo a real revolution, while on the other hand, there's the task of convincing consumers, who are now accustomed to paying monthly subscriptions on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, of a relatively modest fee. The first concrete step was taken by James Blake, who yesterday launched his streaming platform: it's called Vault.fm, and by paying $5 monthly, one can subscribe to the artist's channel (which is currently the only one on the platform) to listen not only to his albums but also to the countless unreleased tracks scattered across platforms like YouTube, Soundcloud, and many others. On James Blake's Vault.fm profile, three previously unpublished tracks can be heard, including Olivia Kept, an unreleased track dating back 12 years. Therefore, the main goal of this platform is to allow artists to freely release all those tracks that would otherwise have remained in the archives, perhaps because they don't conform to trends or industry demands, including those of record labels. Additionally, Vault.fm offers subscribers the ability to access a shared chat, and according to the artist himself, additional features will be introduced over time to make the user experience even more interactive. This latter point is also quite complex and ambitious, as Spotify's "Wrapped" feature garners extraordinary hype every year. Probably, the ability to chat on a music streaming platform won't change consumers' minds.

Blake, who for two weeks has been portrayed as the last hope for music, immediately raised more than a few perplexities after the launch of Vault.fm, for obvious reasons. Among Reddit threads and comments under the artist's latest Instagram post, most users expressed the absurdity of paying a monthly fee for the singer-songwriter and producer's music: a more than reasonable hesitation, considering that if, for example, one usually listens to 10 artists from their library, paying monthly for their music would cost as much as an annual subscription to Spotify or Apple Music. Secondly, Blake's "solution" seems very selfish, as it would create a gap in listens between established and emerging artists, even sharper than the current one: after all, who would pay a monthly fee to listen to the tracks of someone who has just started releasing music? These criticisms alone would be sufficient to consider Blake's move risky - if not senseless - but the issues don't end there. Firstly, because this platform wouldn't bypass one of the trickiest obstacles of music streaming, namely piracy, and secondly, Blake's initiative is weak because he himself hasn't highlighted the difference between Vault.fm and Bandcamp, the (already existing) music service that allows independent artists to promote and distribute their music online.

Driven by the desire to lead a revolution, at the moment James Blake doesn't seem capable of overturning a situation that, to his credit, is more complex than it may seem. For this reason, the launch of Vault.fm may seem a self-centered move, and a general feedback from the public tells us, today, that Blake's Onlyfans for music cannot achieve the desired result. The artist himself tried to silence the criticisms from a user on Instagram, explaining that Vault.fm is not the typical streaming platform, but rather a virtual hub where one can discover an artist's creations in real-time, which can range from vocal notes, samples, instrumental tracks, and much more. If a good start is half the battle, James Blake's revolution hasn't started in the best way, although looking at the other side of the coin, the launch of Vault.fm could trigger a domino effect and lead to the birth of even more brilliant and disruptive ideas.