Wow I hear you. This is the way all of this digital stuff is. You don’t own it if Sony or Nintendo or whoever doesn’t upgrade it. Movies, video games and music.
However, I worry that you left 2 important things out of your discussion. First is radio. I know that kids don’t listen these days but it still exists. And college radio is still awesome and commercial free. And most stations stream for free! And second is record albums. People still love them! Even the youngest generations. I just gave Olivia Rodrigo’s new album to my friend’s 9 year old daughter who just received her first record player. She’s loving it!
As a music creator I think of this often from a physical /digital perspective as well. Most everything I have created doesn’t actually exist in the physical world. It’s financially challenging to commit to printing physical music and the medium is ever shifting- digital is easier.
What happens if there’s a giant crash?
But also… music has always been such an ephemeral thing that decorates air - unable to be held etc. unable to be contained in capitalistic constraints… it never stays too long anywhere
I wonder if in a way… music is returning to its essence away from the old systems - and maybe it’s uncomfortable but important.
I am NOT at all saying I don’t want to be compensated and financially supported for my hard word as an artist…. More offering as a thought experiment on the nature of music in general and our tendency to put things in controllable boxes.
A good post. I was about to say something like, "I'm glad I still have most of my music on CD" and then I thought about the fact that I have decades of email archived in my Gmail account. . .
It's hard to completely avoid what Bruce Schneier called the Feudal model of computer security (which is slightly different than the point the post makes about ownership,
"These vendors are becoming our feudal lords, and we are becoming their vassals. We might refuse to pledge allegiance to all of them—or to a particular one we don’t like. Or we can spread our allegiance around. But either way, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to not pledge allegiance to at least one of them.
Feudalism provides security. Classical medieval feudalism depended on overlapping, complex, hierarchical relationships. There were oaths and obligations: a series of rights and privileges. A critical aspect of this system was protection: vassals would pledge their allegiance to a lord, and in return, that lord would protect them from harm.
Of course, I’m romanticizing here; European history was never this simple, and the description is based on stories of that time, but that’s the general model.
And it’s this model that’s starting to permeate computer security today.
"We keep digging our own digital graves." Exactly. As (I think) I've said to you before, I don't do streaming. Physical copies only for me. I get everything on CD (and in some cases, I have some lovely vinyl too). :)
The point about Apple Music paying musicians 3x as much as Spotify is a very good one that I didn't know and I'm pleased you pointed that out.
But really isn't this just a modern gripe about automated systems and the lack of helpful (or even, let's face it, this is Spotify) accessible customer service? Along the lines of 'I bought this stereo system but it doesn't work,' 'I bought this record and it's scratched.'
Edit: Oh, I don't know. You're making some valid points. We probably should pay musicians a lot more than we do, yes. How do we do that? Apple Music is, like you say, a better approach than Spotify. And maybe there are better solutions to this problem waiting in the wings out there, I don't know...
Sure, I think that much of her frustration was down to the inhuman experience of support in this day and age. That said, one day, Spotify will go out of business, or change their model, or lose a bunch of their inventory. It's inevitable that the space will change and probably sooner rather than later. When that change comes, there will be nothing that the consumer can do about it.
I may be too old to understand the concept of feeling possessive over something you're renting from a streaming service.
Isn't that like thinking you own the songs that play over the radio? Does anybody listen to the radio anymore, anyway?
I used to use Pandora to find new music, the way I listened to the radio once upon a time. But the purpose of that was to find music and then ... own it, by buying the album. Now I don't even bother with Pandora.
The irony is that Spotify has never even turned a profit. They have somehow created a business model where no one owns anything and no one gets paid. Not artists, not them, not the listener.
Wow I hear you. This is the way all of this digital stuff is. You don’t own it if Sony or Nintendo or whoever doesn’t upgrade it. Movies, video games and music.
However, I worry that you left 2 important things out of your discussion. First is radio. I know that kids don’t listen these days but it still exists. And college radio is still awesome and commercial free. And most stations stream for free! And second is record albums. People still love them! Even the youngest generations. I just gave Olivia Rodrigo’s new album to my friend’s 9 year old daughter who just received her first record player. She’s loving it!
I think there’s still hope.
As a music creator I think of this often from a physical /digital perspective as well. Most everything I have created doesn’t actually exist in the physical world. It’s financially challenging to commit to printing physical music and the medium is ever shifting- digital is easier.
What happens if there’s a giant crash?
But also… music has always been such an ephemeral thing that decorates air - unable to be held etc. unable to be contained in capitalistic constraints… it never stays too long anywhere
I wonder if in a way… music is returning to its essence away from the old systems - and maybe it’s uncomfortable but important.
I am NOT at all saying I don’t want to be compensated and financially supported for my hard word as an artist…. More offering as a thought experiment on the nature of music in general and our tendency to put things in controllable boxes.
Anywho- a great and interesting read. Ty!
A good post. I was about to say something like, "I'm glad I still have most of my music on CD" and then I thought about the fact that I have decades of email archived in my Gmail account. . .
It's hard to completely avoid what Bruce Schneier called the Feudal model of computer security (which is slightly different than the point the post makes about ownership,
but strongly related): https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/12/feudal_sec.html
‐‐--------------------------------------
"These vendors are becoming our feudal lords, and we are becoming their vassals. We might refuse to pledge allegiance to all of them—or to a particular one we don’t like. Or we can spread our allegiance around. But either way, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to not pledge allegiance to at least one of them.
Feudalism provides security. Classical medieval feudalism depended on overlapping, complex, hierarchical relationships. There were oaths and obligations: a series of rights and privileges. A critical aspect of this system was protection: vassals would pledge their allegiance to a lord, and in return, that lord would protect them from harm.
Of course, I’m romanticizing here; European history was never this simple, and the description is based on stories of that time, but that’s the general model.
And it’s this model that’s starting to permeate computer security today.
...."
It's the company store, just digital.
As an indie book publisher, I have never published any of my books in digital form. And I never will.
I'd be very curious to know more about the economics of indie publishing.
"We keep digging our own digital graves." Exactly. As (I think) I've said to you before, I don't do streaming. Physical copies only for me. I get everything on CD (and in some cases, I have some lovely vinyl too). :)
Did you ask what her music was?
I did not.
Ah well. Was just curious if she was leading a band of death metal loving girls down to Ft. Lauderdale or something.
That wasn't the vibe she gave off, but who's to say?
The point about Apple Music paying musicians 3x as much as Spotify is a very good one that I didn't know and I'm pleased you pointed that out.
But really isn't this just a modern gripe about automated systems and the lack of helpful (or even, let's face it, this is Spotify) accessible customer service? Along the lines of 'I bought this stereo system but it doesn't work,' 'I bought this record and it's scratched.'
Edit: Oh, I don't know. You're making some valid points. We probably should pay musicians a lot more than we do, yes. How do we do that? Apple Music is, like you say, a better approach than Spotify. And maybe there are better solutions to this problem waiting in the wings out there, I don't know...
Sure, I think that much of her frustration was down to the inhuman experience of support in this day and age. That said, one day, Spotify will go out of business, or change their model, or lose a bunch of their inventory. It's inevitable that the space will change and probably sooner rather than later. When that change comes, there will be nothing that the consumer can do about it.
Thanks Matty. That's true.
I may be too old to understand the concept of feeling possessive over something you're renting from a streaming service.
Isn't that like thinking you own the songs that play over the radio? Does anybody listen to the radio anymore, anyway?
I used to use Pandora to find new music, the way I listened to the radio once upon a time. But the purpose of that was to find music and then ... own it, by buying the album. Now I don't even bother with Pandora.
The irony is that Spotify has never even turned a profit. They have somehow created a business model where no one owns anything and no one gets paid. Not artists, not them, not the listener.