+++
title = "Let me buy your stuff"
author = ["Michał Sapka"]
date = 2024-02-14T16:08:00+01:00
categories = ["blog"]
draft = false
weight = 2001
abstract = "Stream-only is not an option"
+++

I don't think many artists[^fn:1] visit my site, but no can can stop me from pledging you.

Musicians, writers, game developers. Please, let me buy your stuff.
Preferably _directly_ from you.

The only streaming I pay for is YouTube, and I want to drop it as well soon.
This means I am getting my dose of media locally.
From _files_ and _audio players_, like a gentleman.

Now, this gives me two options: high seas or purchasing.

Most of the artist I listen to are long dead.
And this makes the problem easy: I have no moral problem with simply downloading the stuff without any care for copyright.
If there is some new translation or the offer is good - sure.
But, looking at _A Love Supreme_:

-   Coltrane: dead since the 60s
-   Elvin Jones: dead since 2004[^fn:2]
-   Jimmy Garrison: dead since the 70s
-   McCoy Tyner: dead since 2020[^fn:2]

The album itself was released almost 60 years ago.
That's a lot longer than I am even alive!

But there are also new, young, and very much alive artists.
Just recently I've been listening to [Ambrose Akinmusire](https://www.ambroseakinmusire.com/). I've bought both of his albums available on [Bandcamp](https://ambroseakinmusire.bandcamp.com/), and they are amazing.
I can't recommend Owl Song enough!

But that's just a portion of his work.
The rest is available only on streaming of by importing CD from the USA.
The first option is a **strong no** for me, as I respect artists too much to just participate in their destruction.
The other is acceptable, but the shipping costs are high (there's also the Amazon problem, but it's nothing compared to streaming).

So, please: if you create any form of art, consider direct sale.
Spotify, steam[^fn:3], netflix, amazon - those are not the only options.
I'm not saying to abandon them, as it would be crazy.
We're not in the good timeline after all.
But let me buy it as well!
I _will_ buy it and, as a result, give you more money from a single album than it's physically possible using Spotify.

[^fn:1]: I respect you too much to use the word "content".
[^fn:2]: Mad respect for living such a long jazz-filled life.
    When you read biographies of the Great Cats of the Past you learn that long lifespan is not something that comes from life on road... and drugs.
[^fn:3]: Vide my article on [Digital Ownership](/articles/digital-ownership/).