Musings Report #47 11-22-14 Is the Internet Good or Bad for Musicians, Artists & Writers?
You are receiving this email because you are one of the 450+ subscribers/major contributors to www.oftwominds.com.
For those who are new to the Musings reports: they are basically a glimpse into my notebook,the unfiltered swamp where I organize future themes, sort through the dozens of stories and links submitted by readers, refine my own research and start connecting dots which appear later in the blog or in my books. As always, I hope the Musings spark new appraisals and insights. Thank you for supporting the site and for inviting me into your circle of correspondents.
Is the Internet Good or Bad for Musicians, Artists & Writers?
By now we all know that the Web is a giant copy machine: anything that can be digitized can be copied and distributed for almost no cost.
We also know that aggregators of creative content such as Huffington Post (popular journalism), Spotify (music) and YouTube (videos & music) pay almost nothing per listen/view, and so artists have to amass millions of views/listens to make a middle-class income.
Mega-star Taylor Swift made news recently by exiting Spotify, despite earning $6 million or so from the firm (at least according to some reports).
That the web has gutted the conventional hierarchical model of music distribution (record labels, etc.) and writing (big publishers, etc.) is self-evident. But less clear is whether this flattening of revenues and the distribution of creative content is a boon for unknown creatives or a barrier that few manage to get past.
Correspondent Lew G. submitted an interesting essay by a longtime music industry insider that unabashedly claims the technological changes have given musicians better tools to make a living, as they can reach niche audiences globally at basically no cost.
Steve Albini on the surprisingly sturdy state of the music industry.
"I work every day with music and with bands and I have for more than 30 years. I’ve made a couple thousand records for independent bands and rock stars, for big labels and small ones. I made a record two days ago and I’ll be making one on Monday when I get off the plane. So I believe this puts me in a pretty good position to evaluate the state of the music scene today, as it relates to how it used to be and how it has been.
I disagree that the old way is better. Instead of spending a fortune on international phone calls trying to find someone in each territory to listen to your music, every band on the planet now has free, instant access to the world at its fingertips.
The internet has facilitated the most direct and efficient, compact relationship ever between band and audience. And I do not mourn the loss of the offices of inefficiencies that died in the process."
This is a long article but worth careful study, as the author moves the focus from the old distribution model to the fans' experience and willingness to pay to see bands live.
This model may or may not apply to novels and videos, but the opportunities that have opened up for unknowns to develop large audiences and substantial incomes is very evident. Here is the story of a former waitress who started making YouTube videos of how to apply make-up. She now has a subscriber base of 700,000 customers.
Michelle Phan: From YouTube Star to $84 Million Startup Founder.
Michelle is a savvy businessperson, but that's only part of her success. Marshall McLuhan famously declared, "The medium is the message." Perhaps we can modify that to "the medium is the enterprise."
Summary of the Blog This Past Week
The Astonishing Rise of Central Bank Fear 11/22/14
Have Central Banks Entered an Undeclared War? 11/21/14
The Falcon Can No Longer Hear the Falconer 11/20/14
Why Living in a Post-Bubble World Is No Fun 11/19/14
One Reason Why Sickcare Is Outrageously Expensive: Needless Scans/Tests 11/18/14
The Cruel Injustice of the Fed's Bubbles in Housing 11/17/14
Best Thing That Happened To Me This Week
Finished my book on how we can systemically alleviate global poverty. Whew. This is my second book this year, and it took a crazy amount of time and effort to get it done. Always good to finish a big project....
Market Musings: does this one weird trick beat the market?
There are various forms of financial astrology, and one of the better-known systems is the Bradley siderograph.
While I don't trade off this system, nor am I recommending trading off this system, it has been uncannily accurate recently. Here are the recent Bradley turn dates:
July 17: a week later the market rolled over.
October 16: marked the bottom of the dramatic downturn.
It would be difficult to be any more accurate in terms of picking turn dates than these--and these dates were published at the beginning of 2014. Now check out the upcoming Bradley turn dates:
November 20-22: Hmm. Could the manic rally of the last 5 weeks have finally exhausted itself? (some published versions say 11/20, others say 11/22)
December 7-9: Perhaps the end of the downturn that started after 11/22, and the start of the standard Santa Claus rally?
December 26: End of the Santa Claus rally and the start of a new downtrend?
April 3, 2015: end of the downtrend?
Does this one weird trick allow small traders to beat the market? It's an interesting and highly speculative question. Anyone who sold/went short on 7/16, bought/went long on 10/16 and sold out on 11/21 would have done quite well for themselves. Will following the Bradley turn dates ahead be equivalently profitable? We will just have to wait and see.
From Left Field
How to make ice tea in Thailand (2:00 video) (via C.N.F.) a showman worth watching...
America's journey into the "Heart of Darkness": Jonathan Gruber, Elite Universities and Obamacare -- they're all related, to be sure...
Stop and Seize: 8 articles on the institutionalization of illegal seizure by police in the U.S.
In China, even creating a pollution tracking app is a risky business (via Maoxian)
The Knowledge, London’s Legendary Taxi-Driver Test, Puts Up a Fight in the Age of GPS (via Joel M.)
Report finds Wall Street culture promotes dishonesty (via Steve K.) -- yup....
Extreme Wealth Is Bad for Everyone—Especially the Wealthy (via Maoxian) Michael Lewis discusses wealth inquality from a different POV...
The Economics of Happiness (video) (via Chad D.)
New Battery Turns Ambient Heat Into Electricity (via Steve K.) -- battery technologies will be the next game-changers...
Why Are Some People So Smart? The Genetics of IQ (via Lew G.) -- Chinese researchers aren't as squeamish about the topic as Westerners...
Study finds there may not be a shortage of American STEM graduates after all -- another truism bites the dust?
Tower houses -- some interesting modern examples....
Woman opens professional cuddling shop, gets 10,000 customers in first week -- comfort, trust and affection are scarce in this world ....
"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." Oscar Wilde
Thanks for reading--
charles |
|
