July 01, 2024

#RespectIndieArtistsWork - Self-Respect!

It’s a done deal! I no longer have to ask myself, should I stay or should I go? I LEFT FOR GOOD, and it feels great and right! 

I was only waiting for the Tunecore sales report numbers from March to May 2024! Here we go. This is a screenshot. In case you can't read it well, I had a profit of $0.45 in March, $0.19 in April and finally $0.01 in May! A total income of $0.66 in 3 months from over 150 STORES WORLDWIDE!!!!!!!

As already expected the numbers are beyond ridiculous. Despite having three new song releases in the previous months, “Ping Pong & Puzzle” in February, “HomeTown” in March, and  “Bowling” in April, I didn’t run any campaign because I was afraid of landing on an AI playlist and be treated like shit again. 

And my open letter to Tunecore and Spotify CEOs remained unanswered, as expected. To these mighty hungry fame and fortune hunters, indie-artists are NOTHING but naive and hopeful idiots! We are only good enough to promote their platforms for FREE, but we are not good enough to receive an answer to a simple question!  

So I have finally taken down my music from ALL The streaming platforms after 2,5 years of wasting my precious time, money and energy, believing naively that I was promoting my songs while instead, all I was doing was bringing traffic and new subscribers to billion-dollar companies such as Amazon, Apple/iTunes, Spotify & Co for FREE!

Nothing good in life is FREE! Why should we work and offer our work for FREE? If my previous corrupt distributor AMUSE.io didn’t treat me like shit after 2 years of “partnership", I would probably continue this madness not realizing the disgusting reality and questioning today’s corrupt music industry with its awful, unlawful, and disrespectful treatment of indie artists worldwide! 

What many artists don't understand and realize is how much time and effort they put into promotion, which is mainly to be added to playlists. Meanwhile, a bunch of corrupt companies located in Pakistan, Bangladesh & Co, have discovered our stupidity and offer Digital Marketing Services which as we know now is mostly if not mainly done with BOTS. 

We land on fake playlists and get fake numbers and analytics. No real humans actually stream our music! As if all this is not crazy enough, we promote our work on our social platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok & Co, hoping to get likes and comments, while NO ONE really cares. Because those who like, comment and look at our stories are not THE ones who stream or download our music, except MAYBE some friends and family members! And we end up being in a circle of nonsense, repeating the same mistake over and over again, release after release again. We are trapped in a hamster wheel and only spending money and making others rich, while we are struggling in silence! 

These Fallen Angels have created a modern way of slavery by making payments of 3 Dollars for 1000 streaming, which means 50 hours of Entertainment is only worth $3! In what world is this OK? Even homeless beggars on the street make more income a day. Toilet cleaner make more income!

I didn’t start my writing journey to make a profit, even though I need an income like anyone else. I started my writing journey after I was unemployed for a long period of time and desperately applying for jobs. Despite my degrees and diplomas in Marketing and PR, I never got a fair chance to get a contract in a proper agency. 

So writing down my memoir was my self-therapy. Then I continued this path and published short stories (because of the expensive payment for editing and translation) and finally, I found my way into songwriting. The power of words/lyrics is what excites me the most. And being able to share stories close to my heart (thanks to the Internet) is beyond magical and joyful. 

BUT this doesn’t mean that I’m blind and stupid and allow billion-dollar companies to take advantage of my hard and expensive work and treat me like dirt with zero respect!

I don’t know how these companies continue their evil and shameful policy with no consequences so far, but this is a nasty game. Sooner or later, Karma will hit them back when they least expect it!!! Mark my words! 

Not only have I taken down my music from Spotify, but I also have deleted all my playlists and my free user account! I have ZERO interest in being near or part of a godless circle of people in power with questionable company policies with NO moral values and ZERO respect for other honest and hard-working human beings.

My advice to fellow indie artists: 

Just learn to say NO to BS! 

Respect yourself!

Respect your precious short lifetime!

Respect your work!

Respect your expenses!

Respect your passion!

And PLEASE don’t allow anyone to toy with you, 

your time and never ever sell yourself short!

I shared my experience openly with my online petition #RespectIndieArtistsWork to warn and protect clueless newcomers. Honesty, integrity, loyalty, and transparency are my life motto and I will always demand the respect I deserve! What about you? 


MY MUSIC IN ONLY AVAILABLE ON LILYAMIS.BANDCAMP.COM





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