The Death of the Middle-Class Musician

Streaming is the biggest scam to have perpetuated the entertainment industry. The way the money is divided among the content creators is absurd and the prices are both too high and too low at the same time.

It's not great. But the economics of selling recordings never worked out for artists; it's possible that most of what streaming does is to kill advances for artists, and royally fuck labels, the perennial antagonists in the stories we tell about the music industry.

It's even more of a scam because none of these companies were making such services with a way to actually profit in mind. It got customers spoiled on unrealistically cheap media; cheap media that was a result of skilled labor that only got more expensive over time. The bubble was going to burst one day.

In some regards, the ZIRP era ending was needed; companies can't just make money by relying on hype for years, even decades before the piper needs to be paid. But of course it couldn't have ended in a worst time.

> In some regards, the ZIRP era ending was needed; companies can't just make money by relying on hype for years, even decades before the piper needs to be paid. But of course it couldn't have ended in a worst time.

Maybe that is why lots of people are struggling more now while the economy numbers say things are better than ever.

Recording worked only as merch to sell at live shows.

recording also works to give a 'real job' to those who insist on making music for a living.

Only a few have ever made a job of performing. The midevil bard was often a second son of a nobel supported as a way to ensure they kill the older brother for the throne. Everyone else music was a hobby they did after farming was done.

For now. I believe the gdp started to slightly contract last quarter. The government never wants to admit times are bad, but eventually even their massaging of the data can't hide the true situation.

Music doesn't the buyer money, at the same time millions are qualified to make it and to boot millions enjoy making it. There is little barrier to entry and there is more than enough of it. Even if another song is never made. It's in the sweet spot for being a low paid shithole.

I'd look at NFTs for similar market dynamics. Some big winners but mostly people not making a dime.

GDP contracted because of a build up of inventory. It was a technicality, the GDP actually grew.

I suppose we'll see if they run through all that inventory. Or worse, don't run through it.

It’s cheap because I can carry a terabyte in my pocket not because of anything else. If somehow we went back to selling 700 MB CDs of uncompressed music I would still fill my pocket with a terabyte of every song to not pay $30 a CD.

Space is cheap, talent is not cheap. That was my point. It's not expensive to fill your terabyte with slop, is it?

Maybe I was not understood. Once MP3 players became a thing it was inevitable that the price of music would approach zero