I made a post recently about classes being re-uploaded with music that is cheaper to license. Many people simply said that “the license ran out.” Respectfully, there was a lot of Dunning-Kruger effect going on there.
I’m a music educator with an advanced degree, and I’ve been working in this field for over a decade. Because of that, I’m more in touch than the average bear with things like how streaming services pay artists or the ways AI is impacting music consumption.
About two years ago, respected jazz critic and historian Ted Gioia wrote this blog article called “The Ugly Truth About Spotify Is Finally Revealed.” It seems almost certain to me given this history of shady behavior that Spotify has sunken its teeth into Peloton, too. The updated playlists all sound like lobby background music, and researching most of these artists looks just like Mr. Gioia’s research from a few years ago.
Peloton’s license to play this music isn’t “running out.” They’re not trying to cut costs to avoid passing it on to you as a price increase. That’s not how big businesses run. It’s simply more profitable for them to use this fake music than it is to pay for premiere artists. And why not? Much like Spotify managers are quoted as saying in this article, “listeners wouldn’t know the differences.”