I also watched again to see if I'd misunderstood the first go around. I don't think I did. Also read the article Bud and Janice posted. Depressing on the face of it, but may also have held the seeds of a new beginning.

Here's a wild thought from just me, here on the far-fringes of the music industry. Seems like now is the perfect storm for a new and stronger "union" to emerge, including the possibility of strike. Why? Because streaming income is so ridiculousness low, what is there to lose?

I'm curious if the same phenomenon has affected writers in the film and TV industries. It seems to me that the proliferation of TV/Video providers has not had the same effect on the creation of product in shows and film as has the ascendance of streaming services for music had for song-writers. With broadband, movies and TV are pretty much equally "download-able/stream-able" and that is the direction that consumption is taking. Aren't DVD/BluRay sales flat or down? I don't really know.

Along those lines, neither mentioned synching rights and payment (the use of music and (I'm guessing?) songs in film and TV productions. How do those people get paid, and what is the state of that? More importantly, WHY is the state of that what it is/is becoming?

As the article pointed out, these industries are unionized. Those unions have struck before. Who is "management"? Well...management is just the working wing of capital. Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and others are now in the business of producing (or at least financing the production of) content, not just streaming what others have produced. MAYBE a way forward for music streaming services is to supplant or partner with record producers.

The public at large basically doesn't even know much of anything about what either the Video or the article are talking about. But sometimes coordinated symbolic action brings on the beginnings of change. Pressure and effective action then have some traction. Think about the possibilities for protest on YouTube comment sections alone.

As for me, I don't have a Spotify account and I will not pay money to a music streaming service unless I have transparent evidence that they are paying song-writers a worthy amount. So far, I don't know of one. And if there is ever a song-writers Union, I'd be prepared to either join or support, even though I have no expectation this will add a dime to my bank account.

I haven't always been so "thoughtful" with other creators of digitizable content, but that's been my "position" concerning songs since the days of Napster. It's only gotten more firm.


BIAB 2021 Audiophile. Windows 10 64bit. Songwriter, lyricist, composer(?) loving all styles. Some pre-BIAB music from Farfetched Tangmo Band's first CD. https://alonetone.com/tangmo/playlists/close-to-the-ground