Tracy Chapman refuses to stream music and honestly, it’s the punk move we didn’t know we needed
In a rare interview with The New York Times, legendary singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman shared her stance on the current state of music – specifically, her preference for physical media.
At a time when the world is swimming in algorithm-fed playlists and $0.003-per-stream royalties, Chapman has made it clear: she doesn’t stream, and she doesn’t think you should either.
“I only buy music in physical form,” she said. “Artists get paid when you actually buy a CD or the vinyl. That’s important to me.”
Chapman, now 61, admits it’s not the most convenient way to consume music – “it limits what I listen to, because it’s a physical commitment of going out into the world and finding things” – but for her, it’s about principle over practicality. And honestly, respect.
The singer’s comments come after her quietly monumental return to the stage at the 2024 Grammys, where she performed her iconic track Fast Car alongside Luke Combs. It was her first performance in nine years, and the internet predictably went wild. Following the duet, streams of Chapman’s 1988 original jumped a whopping 241 percent. But even with nearly a million daily plays post-Grammys, Chapman still isn’t sold on the streaming model.
In the same interview, she took a moment to shout out artists like Chappell Roan and Charli XCX – two wildly different but equally fearless voices in pop. “It’s not music that I would make,” she said, “but I appreciate that we’re in this moment where there’s a path for artists like that, and they can even have success.”
It’s a rare thing: a music icon who’s happy to cheer on the next wave while sticking to her own rules. No press cycles, no TikTok trends, no algorithms. Just Tracy Chapman, still doing it her way.
She hasn’t released a new album since 2008’s Our Bright Future, but if you ask her, nothing’s really changed. “Between the 16-year-old who wrote Talkin’ Bout a Revolution and the 61-year-old sitting here with you now, my values are the same,” she said.
And that might be the most punk thing of all.
