Ok, I see what you are saying. The centralized, monopolistic corporate impulse is going to kill off all kinds of industries. However, this not the end. I don’t know all the steps in between, but this is leading to a decentralized world of local communities. This world does not resemble a corporate structure with all its administrative overhead. It is rather a network that shares. I realize that what I am saying is not new. The ideas have been out there. The application, the action to implement, has not been there. Why? Because we have been programmed to see the world as having a controlling center with the real enterprises out on the periphery. When the center greedily abandons the periphery, new centers form around the peripheral enterprises. This not just happening to the music industry. It is happening to every place where creativity has a real world connection to people. For the past year on Substack, I’ve been writing. My subscription numbers grew when I started dialoguing with other writers in the comments of their posts. What I am saying is that we have to stop marketing and start interacting with each other. New communities will emerge from that process. I don’t know if this solves the immediate problem that you describe. But it is all that we will have when the system collapses. There is no single, simple answer. There is only shared hardship out of which a new future can be created. And the beauty of this is that it will spark fresh creative output. I am already seeing this happen.
I’m guessing in 2023 we’ll be seing a bunch more Major Label owned artists told to exploit their own burnout on social media because it’s great algorithm fuel.
I keep circling back to thinking maybe a new open-source web browser kind of thing could come into play in order to change things. Along the years we’ve been tricked into interacting with the world via these new gatekeepers that extract all of the value in the connections people create with their favourite art. Substack is a good step in the right direction.
I keep expecting a major “great logout” event where everybody globally understand that the way they currently interact online with most things is not designed in their favor.
One of the great travesties of our times is the corporate treatment of musicians and music. To them it is a mere commodity like shoes. I hope that Ed Brenegar is right but the signs ahead are not good.
a) I didn't know that Pitchfork was a Condé Nast publication, but I don't really pay that close of attention to it usually anyway..
b) I bought the VHS of The Year Punk Broke when it came out, and actually watched it a couple of months ago and realized that I didn't remember any of it - I kind of think I never actually watched it until now, too! It was really strange to see from this late date. Thanks for the commentary about its relevance to today. There's a lot to think about.
There should be an independent network of record labels, venues, online 'zines, and college radio serving a kind of music that could be "marketed" as "indie rock.".... Uh, oh, wait a minute. Sorry.
Ok, I see what you are saying. The centralized, monopolistic corporate impulse is going to kill off all kinds of industries. However, this not the end. I don’t know all the steps in between, but this is leading to a decentralized world of local communities. This world does not resemble a corporate structure with all its administrative overhead. It is rather a network that shares. I realize that what I am saying is not new. The ideas have been out there. The application, the action to implement, has not been there. Why? Because we have been programmed to see the world as having a controlling center with the real enterprises out on the periphery. When the center greedily abandons the periphery, new centers form around the peripheral enterprises. This not just happening to the music industry. It is happening to every place where creativity has a real world connection to people. For the past year on Substack, I’ve been writing. My subscription numbers grew when I started dialoguing with other writers in the comments of their posts. What I am saying is that we have to stop marketing and start interacting with each other. New communities will emerge from that process. I don’t know if this solves the immediate problem that you describe. But it is all that we will have when the system collapses. There is no single, simple answer. There is only shared hardship out of which a new future can be created. And the beauty of this is that it will spark fresh creative output. I am already seeing this happen.
I’m guessing in 2023 we’ll be seing a bunch more Major Label owned artists told to exploit their own burnout on social media because it’s great algorithm fuel.
I keep circling back to thinking maybe a new open-source web browser kind of thing could come into play in order to change things. Along the years we’ve been tricked into interacting with the world via these new gatekeepers that extract all of the value in the connections people create with their favourite art. Substack is a good step in the right direction.
I keep expecting a major “great logout” event where everybody globally understand that the way they currently interact online with most things is not designed in their favor.
One of the great travesties of our times is the corporate treatment of musicians and music. To them it is a mere commodity like shoes. I hope that Ed Brenegar is right but the signs ahead are not good.
a) I didn't know that Pitchfork was a Condé Nast publication, but I don't really pay that close of attention to it usually anyway..
b) I bought the VHS of The Year Punk Broke when it came out, and actually watched it a couple of months ago and realized that I didn't remember any of it - I kind of think I never actually watched it until now, too! It was really strange to see from this late date. Thanks for the commentary about its relevance to today. There's a lot to think about.
c) Happy new year!
There should be an independent network of record labels, venues, online 'zines, and college radio serving a kind of music that could be "marketed" as "indie rock.".... Uh, oh, wait a minute. Sorry.