Found this great quote from Chuck D in 1999, about the digital music boom: “How can I be mad if ten million people get three of my songs for free? I have faith that enough people will recognise that artists need income from making music.” That’s where it went wrong. Nobody explained the last bit. - ThreadSky

gralefrit.bsky.social • 54 days ago

Found this great quote from Chuck D in 1999, about the digital music boom:

“How can I be mad if ten million people get three of my songs for free? I have faith that enough people will recognise that artists need income from making music.”

That’s where it went wrong. Nobody explained the last bit.

Reposted from Joel Morris

Interesting piece on the music biz boom. And as usual, it’s easy for any industry to have a boom, if your solution to a crisis was to keep paying yourselves while stopping paying your suppliers and workers.

Comments

dmorton.bsky.social•52 days ago

His faith seems to have been sadly misplaced

moceanworker.bsky.social•54 days ago

@chuckdpe.bsky.social came from the right place as always. It’s the dead eyed soulless pricks running these companies that missed the memo…..

Paging Daniel Ek……a failed music producer btw. Fun facts.

gralefrit.bsky.social•54 days ago

If digital distribution is a pipe, the focus has been entirely on the end of the pipe that stuff (music, tv, film) comes out. As long as it’s pumping, that’s the only question. The business model at the other end of the pipe has been forgotten, underwritten by excitement at sheer abundance.

gralefrit.bsky.social•54 days ago

It’s because the disrupters didn’t come from the making-stuff industries. They came from the making-the-pipe industries. At best, they were consumers. They understand the end of the pipe where you get stuff, and the pipe itself. They don’t have any understanding of the other end of the pipe.

robm.wtf•54 days ago

I wrote a wee thing along these lines today: https://roblog.co.uk/2025/01/the-new-luddites/

gralefrit.bsky.social•54 days ago

Brilliant.

gralefrit.bsky.social•54 days ago

If you work at the input end of the pipe, it’s easy to surrender, to get caught up in the excitement of the people who build the pipe and the happy people getting hosed down at the other end. But they don’t understand where the stuff comes from, or that it was someone’s livelihood to make it.

gralefrit.bsky.social•54 days ago

We’ve been forgotten. Or told that we should be happy that our stuff is pouring out the other end and everyone can see it. But no business has ever functioned on voluntary contributions from its suppliers. That’s not sustainable.

gralefrit.bsky.social•54 days ago

Well, I’m wrong, of course, it is very sustainable, but it’s stupid. And you should understand that it’s pretty fucking callous as a business plan.

yarragadee.bsky.social•54 days ago

Its slavery

moleymole.bsky.social•54 days ago

“But just think of the exposure…”

mikeslattery.bsky.social•53 days ago

This is very well put. I'd add one point: the second pipe, where the revenue from the first pipe flows back. They fully understand that one. But because they don't understand both ends of the first one, they can't see that there's a connection at the top, as well as the bottom, of both.

casmilus.bsky.social•54 days ago

I got a letter from Spotify/ It said I was a sucker

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply