Welcome to Myriad Streams!
Myriad Streams is a place to come and listen to good music, without the noise and clamour of thousands of other artists being promoted to you by industrial-scale sites. This is human-scale presentation of culture.
Myriad Streams is a calm space where you can properly get to know the body of work developed over one personʼs creative life, meet the musicians that artist works with, each playlist a cross-section of a network of musical relationships, a slice of a single real creative life.
The front page will always contain a free streamable playlist - which refreshes every 3 weeks. Think of this like a music magazine, with a new edition dropping through your virtual letterbox every 3 weeks. An audio exhibition in a gallery, changing regularly. A place to slow down and listen to great music - come here when you are working, cooking, hanging out, or driving.
We think streamable playlists can be very interesting musical meta-structures, each track from a different line-up, composer and time, each reflecting the mix of traditions and personalities of musicians involved, but all linked by a common musical thread; Philʼs unmistakable saxophone voice. Some are from Philʼs own albums, some from those of long-term collaborators, many are never-before released tracks.
This site is an evolving thing- it will expand as Philʼs body of work grows. It features two albums recorded in the last two years, which will be released here over the next year, with more in the pipeline.
Myriad Streams existence in part came about in response to this question, ʻWhat do we want our culture to look like, in 10 years' time?ʼ.
Do we want it controlled by huge distribution platforms based in the US, making a fortune for the wealthy few while stifling the creative economy for most non-commercial artists? Do we want algorithms to decide what we listen to next?
Myriad Streams is about restoring the balance between online distributors and artists. Is aims to foster sustainable creative activity for non-commercial artists.
On huge platforms, non-commercial artists are reduced to a speck, a grain of sand on an endless beach, while a few platform owners become obscenely wealthy. As listeners, your enjoyment of music is monetised with algorithms pushing the next piece of product in your direction.
Here, you are invited to take your time- and listen to one artist and the myriad of musical relationships that formed over a lifetime of creativity. Listen to tracks from start to finish- listen to them more than once.
We invite you to reflect on the power you have to change the future of our culture. If you only listen on the huge platforms, the artists who shout loudest, or those selected and packaged by the commercial music industry will be presented to you. For some people, this is what they love- and thatʼs great. A huge body of classic work has emerged from the commercial music industry.
But there is another side to culture, non-commercial artists who go deeper and slower, build creative output over a whole lifetime, mingled in with bringing up families, and the other paying jobs needed to finance their art. This gives a different perspective, allowing them to produce a different type of music. They donʼt want or need to shout as loud because their energy comes from a different place.
Myriad Streams currently features the music of its founder, Phil Bancroft, but before too long there will be a village of Myriad Streams sites, a community of artists, with each site providing a place to get to know one dedicated, talented non-commercial artist, collective or band- artists who appreciate the value of art over commodification, who make art for reasons other than fame or money.
Sign-Up to our free mailing list, and you will receive a single email before the launch of each playlist or album launch- to keep you in the loop, telling you which musicians are on the playlist, which tracks, or flagging up the next album release.
When we launch, you will be able to buy a membership to get access to the full site, where you can enjoy all Philʼs albums, live recordings and videos, writing, reviews, and loads more. Prices will always be low- starting at £1 for a 24-hour subscription. The first 20 mailing list sign-ups will receive a 6-month free full-access membership.
Shortly we will be launching a sharing credits system- if you have signed-up to a Free membership, when you share a track or album with a friend, that share link is tagged with your membership ID, and if your friend visit the site with that link you gain a credit which you can redeem against a full-access membership or an album download from Bandcamp- so listeners with limited means can still support the creation of music on this site.
We are a values-led organisation interested in supporting the sustainability of non-commercial creative practice in the world of Spotify through building rich direct relationships with listeners, giving a diverse range of listeners a place to build a relationship with an artist and their work— with no noise or hard sell. Myriad Streams has been built with love and care by Paul Egan of Digital Dexterity in partnership with Phil Bancroft, with the support of Creative Scotland.
Thanks for reading!