Let’s Get Real with Jeff Paulick is a column on Metal Insider featuring the thoughts and opinions from Lazarus A.D.singer/bassist Jeff Paulick. He’ll be sharing his views on everything from the music industry to life on the road (and everything in between) in this bi-weekly column.

What’s up everybody? It’s been a few weeks, but I’ve been busting my ass preparing for tour (which really means working overtime so I can eat on the road, haha). Just played Heavy MTL on Sunday with KISS and to say the least, it was freaking awesome! Got to rage with some friends and make some new ones, including the fans! A big shout out to Jäger for letting us kill a fifth during our signing sesh. I’d never gone from 0-60 so fast!! Anyway, back to what’s good. I have to ramble about what every other musician is rambling about right now: fucking SPOTIFY.

As you know, Spotify has finally arrived in the US (if you didn’t know please remove yourself from this blog and walk into oncoming traffic ) and the best analogy I got is this: it’s like that movie you’ve been waiting for 4 years that finally comes out, and there’s so much hype that you’re skeptical, but you go see it anyway. And it exceeds all of your expectations. Spotify is The Dark Knight, it has set the bar for all future subscription-based streaming services. I got it the day it came out, and I love it! I abso-fucking-lutely adore it.

It’s not much different from say Rhapsody as far as the guts go, but where it really shines is its speed. This shit is lightning fast. Obviously I travel a lot, and I got the $10 a month service so I could use it on my iPhone (duh, is there another phone?). I’m 100% satisfied. The catalog is overwhelming, a toddler could work the interface, and like I just said, the streams are fast. It might as well be a real MP3 player. I have my settings set to the highest quality, and, trust me, there is no consumer who’s gonna be able to pick out the difference.

The only drawback right now is that there’s plenty of metal that is not present (and big bands like The Beatles, etc) But guess what, I can sync the music I own straight to the program and it seamlessly meshes right in. I’m sorry, not own, stole, cuz NOBODY BUYS MUSIC ANYMORE. As this service gains more popularity–I think something like 70,000 people signed up in the first week– more music will be added (ed. note: 70,000 people paid for subscriptions in the first week – far more are using the free service). The Internet will be faster and this is the beginning of the future.

Which also brings up what I think is going to occur. As streaming services take over, the physical product is going to be produced less and less. I think file sharing is gonna disappear in the music world. Who the fuck can’t afford $10 a month???? Be legit, stop stealing, and force the industry to head in this direction. Don’t try and fight this current. It’s one wave you wanna ride, trust me.  So go sign up for Spotify!!!