Better ways to music industry

This is why I think we slightly miss the mark when we say that streaming has “devalued music”. If the amount of capital flowing to the sites of consolidated power in the industry is any indication, music is perhaps more valuable than it’s ever been. What has been devalued is the labor that creates it. Left unchecked, a process squeeze is ultimately... See more

I know a ton of people, from when I started researching in 2021, at public libraries around the United States and Canada that have been working on local music streaming programmes, where they pay small flat fees to local artists to license their music for these small-scale, locally focused music streaming programmes.

And it will get worse as Spotify and other music streamers learn how to replace human music with AI slop. They are already doing this—and with more success than anyone anticipated.

Unless record labels develop exciting new human talent, they will have no response to these initiatives. Musicians and listeners will both suffer from the resulting creat... See more

Properly capturing the value of music globally requires investment, policies, education and political commitment to ensure that music—as property—can be owned, managed, monetized, and taxed.

Africa makes up 18% of the world’s population, 3% of the world’s gross domestic product and half a percent of the world’s value of music copyright. Yet, African artists are achieving global recognition, with local genres such as Afrobeats or Amapiano becoming globally consumed genres. It is just as common to hear Asake in a taxi in Saudi Arabia as ... See more