The Spotify Paradox

There are only so many ears.

Only so many minutes in a day. Only so many songs a person can love at once.

So when your track gets played, someone else's doesn't. Right?

This is the zero-sum thinking that keeps musicians up at night. The scarcity mindset that turns every other artist into competition.

But here's what's fascinating about zero-sum games: they're rarely as zero-sum as they appear.

The musicians who win aren't the ones frantically calculating market share.

They're the ones asking a different question entirely: "What can I create that didn't exist before?"

Not "How do I steal listens?" but "How do I earn them?"

When you focus on captivating instead of competing, something magical happens.

You stop trying to sound like everyone else. You stop chasing trends. You start building something that can't be replicated.

You create a new genre. A fresh sound. An experience so unique that it expands what people thought they wanted.

Here's the thing about pies: they're not fixed.

Every time someone falls in love with a new song, they don't love music less. They love it more.

Every time a breakthrough artist emerges, they don't shrink the audience. They grow it.

The pie gets bigger.

So yes, there are only so many ears.

But there's no limit to how deeply you can move them.

The question isn't whether you can win the zero-sum game.

The question is whether you're brave enough to change the rules entirely

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