Yes. This is important.

So as we know the reason for price changes is the change of demand and supply. And in the software area supply is ->ꝏ.
So prices will go ->0.

And this is exactly the very logical reason why something like the sister site will emerge.
It is a very important and difficult step for people to accept that the only logical price system in the software area is donationware.

NFT's and the implementation of sanctions, restrictions and censoring is only a symptom for people not understanding how this market works. And those systems will definetely not work here.

People will just get criminal. A very trivial but yet not wrong statement was once made by de Sade:
"The occurance of more restrictions will only result in more people violating those restrictions."

 

Thank you very interesting.

I think we can divide this into 2 categories, one is the professional musicians who also play an
instrument perfectly and have to make music and earn money according to their vocation.

The other category is the hobby musician who hopes maybe to earn some extra money
and competes for the attention of the audience. Music needs a higher status in society.

 

What we are trying to imagine has already been invented: it is called “Labor Union”: an organization of workers formed for the purpose of serving the members' interests with respect to wages and working conditions.
Unfortunately, it is a concept that I find very difficult to apply in such an individualistic environment as that of musicians / singers / composers

I'm pretty pessimistic, but never say never

 

Here in Gemany there is the possibility to join the "Künstlersozialkasse"
(part of the statutory social insurance in Germany) as an artist.

KSK
It gives freelance artists and publicists access to the statutory health, nursing care and pension insurance. In contrast to voluntarily insured self-employed persons, they pay there only a contribution corresponding to the employee's share on the basis of their estimated profit from artistic and/or journalistic work for the following year.

Prerequisite: They earn a minimum income from this gainful and not merely temporary activity, do not employ more than one employee and are not otherwise exempt from compulsory insurance.

 

I'm not very optimistic about that either.

You can't expect a phenomenon like Spotify (...) to simply disappear again. The end users have become accustomed to it and it is extremely difficult to replace software that is now ubiquitous.

In principle, there would be two possibilities, whereby I consider the second to be the more promising:
1. founding a comprehensive artist platform to market and stream audio content on the basis of a cooperative.
2. purchase of an already existing platform in order to give artists a direct and cooperative share of the profits.

In any case, a cooperative would have to be founded that has a high level of financial resources to be able to stand up to the music industry.
It would be impossible to replicate a software & contract construct like Spotify in a short time, because Spotify would have an enormous head start.
It would therefore make more sense to buy an existing service like Deezer and organize it in such a way that artists participate directly without large discounts and also participate indirectly as cooperative members.

The main Problem is the money: The cooperative would need several billion $$ to buy a service, therefore every member needs to make a downpayment to become member of the cooperative. But the majority of artists are not very rich and the few rich artists most likely won't pay for the rest.

The organization as a joint-stock company - which would make it easier to raise equity capital - is not an option, as this would result in the artists being controlled again (by stock owners) within a short period of time.
The only remaining option is to raise outside capital in the form of loans or bonds. With both, the financial credit worthiness is important and determines the success of the measure. It will be difficult to find a favorable solution here.

 

Fits the theme of musicians against the overpowering music industry:

Spoiler: Lyrics ^^^

Paranoia is in bloom
The PR transmissions will resume
They'll try to push drugs that keep us all dumbed down
And hope that we will never see the truth around
(So come on)
Another promise, another scene
Another packaged lie to keep us trapped in greed
And all the green belts wrapped around our minds
And endless red tape to keep the truth confined
(So come on)
They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious
(So come on)
Interchanging mind control
Come, let the revolution take its toll
If you could flick the switch and open your third eye
You'd see that we should never be afraid to die
(So come on)
Rise up and take the power back
It's time the fat cats had a heart attack
You know that their time's coming to an end
We have to unify and watch our flag ascend
(So come on)
They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious
(So come on)
They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious
(So come on)

Yes, everything made by individuals needs a higher status. ATM you in most cases can't live as an artist from the work of your hands or your art.
I don't believe in the neo-liberal story of "the market will solve all of our problems" so here is a field where a society must consider whether it wants art or not. And if so, it must be paid for. Since the market as a corrective fails, there is a need for transfer payments from the state.

 

Last edited: Mar 14, 2022

A nice song from AtomTM:
Stop imperialist pop

 

Very interesting, and very surprising that it was published on Forbes. I think that "American Psycho" was a darkly satirical view of this.

 

The fact that musicians with this much influence in the public at large and this much clout in the industry decided to support other artists is a GREAT thing. Paul McCartney has the financial ability to create his own streaming platform, have someone else manage it completely, and screw over artists on his own, yet instead, he is calling for a change like this, BRAVO!

 

We do have the Internet - need like labels and bosses ? Let's use our brain and come up with something.

 

A new type of streaming service, one that pays artists fairly, is what I'm thinking about. However, the main barrier to entry is of course the means to house all of the data they are sending. It would have to start small.

 

I understand what you're saying but it is fundamentally a philosophical question. What we are talking about are short term solutions that work within the market(s) we happen to be trapped in.
A society where value is determined by input (labor) would be better, of course.

 

I understand what you're saying but it is fundamentally a philosophical question. What we are talking about are short term solutions that work within the market(s) we happen to be trapped in.
A society where value is determined by input (labor) would be better, of course.

 

I was thinking more of a basic income for artists.

 

I get my music from the same place that I get my audio apps. Bittorrent!

Artists need to realize that the old model is dead. Give your content away and make your money from touring.

 

Fuck all streaming services, anyone supporting them is a fool & has no concept of what other's (we know who we are) have been fighting & striving towards for decades. Only worthwhile platform with the right ethics towards artists in today's market is Bandcamp. This report is based on an archaic system & is been fought by archaic artists from an archaic time, the future is no middle-man, just consumers purchasing music direct from the artist & if you can't see that & instead support battles that skew the path to actual freedom, then you are the one eyed man.

Love to all my indie artists pushing out dope shit & doing it separate from the industry, fuck the mainstream