James Stevens

According to Fiske and Silverstein the three kinds of “new luxury” share certain common traits, which set them apart from old luxury. Whereas old luxury goods were based on status, class and exclusivity, a new luxury philosophy inspires consumers to forge stronger emotional ties to the products and brands. Companies engage consumers and reap the... See more

"Paying rapt attention, whether to a trout stream or a novel, a do-it-yourself project or a prayer, increases your capacity for concentration, expands your inner boundaries, and lifts your spirits, but more important, it simply makes you feel that life is worth living." (Winifred Gallagher, Rapt)

Digital abundance is a mixed blessing: exhilarating, yet flattening and homogenizing. Culture is converted into “content” that blurs together as it flows through the same conduits and across the same interfaces in an endless stream. As we struggle to keep abreast of the accelerating flow of content, drawn by the perpetual lure of the new, we come... See more

There is an overload of music. 60,000 songs are uploaded to Spotify every day. Over 20% of those don’t get streamed even once. The ubiquitous access to almost every piece of recorded music in history has led to a paradox of choice, promoting passive and playlist-driven music consumption and creating winner-take-all effects for the biggest artists.