Technology

A steep decline of artistic progress is ahead of us. Things will get reused by corporations even more and we‘ll have to get used to not seeing as many actually new things which I find pretty sad.

It‘s exactly what happened to civilization in the Blade Runner universe. It may look futuristic but they‘re still seeing the same brands and hearing the same music and jingles from a century ago. There‘s very little actually new in a world where there‘s more content than anyone could consume in a lifetime and nostalgia is commodified to the absolute maximum.

This battle will be the same as the others.

Go to the show, and don’t say at the door ‘I’m with the band’. Buy the album on vinyl, CD or cassette. Use Bandcamp where possible for digital music.

Resist with a resurgence of live music where people witness live talent and skill of their instruments, that write incredible pieces and songs. Get involved with your local music scene. Share music you love with people who appreciate the artistry.

Besides the massive hegemons of the music industry, the vast, vast, vast majority of incredible music that are available on streaming platforms from artists, bigger and smaller, barely made them an income from streaming to begin with; they used it as a marketing tool for people to access their art, and otherwise monetize their brand by selling LIVE SHOWS! Selling merch! This is how they really made money off their work. And even then, many of them still have day jobs to make ends meet. They do it because it's their passion man.

The Taylor Swifts and Bad Bunnys of the world will do fine; their labels will find a way to profiteer off AI with their brand and image. Yes this screws over smaller artists again, but what more is a lost fraction of a fraction of a penny going to do for them if they already struggle to begin with? Resist. Go to a live show.

Edit: also note, be mindful of how live music venues are in cahoots with stealing profits from artists and smaller venues. Support your local music scene.

I wonder if it'll become a moral action to learn a bit more about how to make art unassisted.

Meanwhile a surprising number of outlets are advertising %100, including corporate ghouls like iHeartRadio. Hopefully that trend continues as people get sick of slop pushed in marketing.