Faith Hahn
@onefaithlove
Faith Hahn
We already know that by ownership independents account for nearly half of the recorded music market. The reality is that the feeding frenzy in the independent sector is a sign of the majors’ weakness rather than their strength.
Streaming has shattered the barriers to market entry the majors created in the CD age. That trend will only continue.
The... See more
Streaming has shattered the barriers to market entry the majors created in the CD age. That trend will only continue.
The... See more
Bruno Guez • Nothing will stand in the way of independents (and why the world’s first three-person indie unicorn is only a matter of time away) - Music Business Worldwide
Indie music and
Wandering—i.e., embarking upon a walk or journey with no particular destination—is good for the soul, and by extension society, and we should all prioritize more of it. Empirical support: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9169417/
By the way, this book could perhaps be described as the result of my own personal quest. For many years now, I have built my research and writing on a very simple statement of purpose—which I repeat, almost as a mantra, on every possible occasion, in print or public lectures: Music is a source of enchantment and a catalyst in human life , and my... See more
Ted Gioia • Music to Raise the Dead: The Secret Origins of Musicology
Musicology and
“Built on a foundation of artist-centric principles, Streaming 2.0 will represent a new age of innovation, consumer segmentation, geographic expansion, greater consumer value and ARPU growth,” writes Grainge in today’s letter.
Murray Stassen • Read Sir Lucian Grainge’s 2025 memo to Universal Music Group staff: ‘Streaming 2.0 will represent a new age of innovation, consumer segmentation, geographic expansion, greater consumer value and ARPU growth.’...
music and
What this actually is, stripped of the Orwellian window dressing, is the largest forced purge of a federal land management agency in American history. It dwarfs anything that’s come before. The BLM headquarters move in Trump’s first term — widely understood, even then, as a deliberate gutting of the agency — involved a few hundred positions. This... See more
Trump administration orders dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service
Journalism and
Unconscionable. Unimaginable. Wanton destruction. They’re looting us before the purge. All for nothing; for to inherit a barren, lifeless, joyless world.
Part of the problem with the Lean Startup mindset is that it sees life and work as an optimization problem. The point is to help people live a good life, not just an efficient life. The goal is human flourishing, not convenience. The goal is a good future, not just a technically advanced future.
Things I'm thinking about
“Because over-the-air transmission by broadcast radio stations falls outside the definition of ‘digital audio transmission,’ radio stations do not need to pay royalties to the performers, record labels, or other owners of the sound-recording copyright to publicly perform a sound recording.”
The major labels are finally facing a crucial reality: Independent music's market share keeps climbing, and controlling the infrastructure behind it is becoming as vital as owning rights.
Universal Music Group's Virgin Music Group led this charge in 2024 — snapping up Downtown Music Holdings in a $775M power move (pending regulatory approval), as... See more
Universal Music Group's Virgin Music Group led this charge in 2024 — snapping up Downtown Music Holdings in a $775M power move (pending regulatory approval), as... See more
Music tech ownership ouroboros, 2025 edition
Blue Cross and Blue Shield began as nonprofits that insured all comers. But as big profit-seeking insurers targeted younger and healthier people, the Blues were left to insure the older and less healthy, which made it impossible for them to continue. They turned to making money. Now, private equity runs hospitals, into the ground.
Robert Reich • How private equity is destroying the labors of love
Capitalism and