Greetings all – this is just a quick message to explain that Arx Atrata albums have been removed from streaming services, with no plans to return them.
This is primarily because streaming services simply do not provide fair payment to the musicians for the music they provide. Worse, over time these services have become even more hostile to musicians by employing ‘fake’ artists, allowing AI-generated music, and even refusing to pay out at all for tracks receiving fewer than 1000 plays.
This music was never written to be a commodity that someone receives as part of their subscription to a technology company. It was created both to be my personal musical expression and to give voice to the intangible connection between ancient history and the timelessness of nature. Each record is written over many hundreds of hours and at some financial expense as well. Receiving a $0.015 payment from a streaming service in return for someone playing the album in full is not just insufficient but insulting.
The music will continue to be available as digital downloads on Bandcamp and Ampwall, and potentially any other platforms that offer downloads for sale. The Bandcamp app also allows convenient streaming for those who have previously purchased downloads. But the days of this music being available as part of an all-you-can-eat buffet of musical ‘content’ are over.
