I’ve been reading several of the CDBaby DIY articles about Spotify today. I’ve learned it is very important as an artist to get verified, so that you can merge your personal and your artist profile  and start playing around with playlists. But you need at least 250 followers. (Yes, this reminds me a bit of Facebook musician pages and Myspace too.)
But, playing with playlists is actually pretty fun. So, if you are on Spotify and listening to music there and . . . if you like my albums, would you please follow my artist profile? Here is a handy button to make it easier. đ
And please, suggest some artists for ME to follow. I have been fun going down musical rabbit holes and finding new folks to listen to!
Here are some musical rabbit holes for you. I’m limiting things to what is available on Spotify right now:
Laleh – most of her stuff is in Swedish, but she does have songs in English and even some in Farsi. Some good starting points are “Some Die Young” and the rest of her album “Sjung”, as well as her covers of ABBA’s “Chiquitita” and E-Type’s “Here I Go Again”.
Triakel – Swedish neofolk. Their song “Födelsedagsfesten” on “Triakel” was written by Swedish sf author and fan Sam J Lundwall, so even qualifies as filk.
Frigg – a Finnish-Norwegian fiddle-focused folk group.
Kebnekajse – Swedish group combining progressive rock with Swedish and folk music. “HĂ„rgalĂ„ten”/”HorgalĂ„ten” is a classic Swedish folk tune that is a musical rabbit hole in itself, don’t miss their 1973 version.
Thank you Karl-Johan! I am listening to Laleh right now. đ I really appreciate you introducing me to all these bands–I do not think I would have found them on my own.Â
What is your account name on Spotify? (I followed several Facebook friends, so I may have already followed you.)
I’m using my Facebook account over on Spotify.
Here’s a direct link to Födelsedagsfesten: https://open.spotify.com/track/09LyYsnJCwYZnCRoqhTgWz
I even found that they have done a translation of the lyrics, and it even looks decently singable (though I haven’t tried): http://www.triakel.se/images/records/lyrics/english-lyrics-triakel.doc
And then we get the staples of Swedish folksy music, like Garmarna, Hedningarna, and SkĂ€ggmanslaget. Though my favourite band in the genre, SĂ„gskĂ€ra, isn’t available on Spotify.
âFödelsedagsfestenâ I couldn’t find this one on the Triakel playlist.Â
I will confess I have not done much with any streaming services; even the paid Live365 account I used to have has lapsed. But, knowing there are filkers on Spotify does temp me to check it out.
I use them off and on. The first time I got really interested in Spotify was when Zombies, Run! started encouraging the various fans of the game to submit their playlists for specific missions. It was the first time I had heard you could actually use a streaming playlist with your Zombies, Run! app on the phone.Â
Right now, CDBaby’s DIY musician series is posting articles about using Spotify, and it looks fun. đ I think anyone who has sold CD’s through CDBaby (and allowed the tracks to be submitted to streaming services) is on Spotify right now. And yes, that does include several filkers. *glee!*