Read on Twitter
Das Wort zum Sonntag zum Bandcamp Friday: Ich habe im @djlab_ aufgeschrieben, warum mir der Hype um die Plattform überhaupt nicht behagt. https://www.dj-lab.de/bruchstelle-bandcamps-neues-monopol-eine-kritische-betrachtung/
The autotranslation of this one is pretty on point, if you're interested: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dj-lab.de%2Fbruchstelle-bandcamps-neues-monopol-eine-kritische-betrachtung%2F
Mehr Diskussionen (auf Deutsch) bei Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristoffer.cornils/posts/10218580842337243
I've ranted about this on Facebook in early August and there've been quite a few people weighing in there... https://www.facebook.com/kristoffer.cornils/posts/10218278563700466
...and on Twitter. https://twitter.com/scatteringsense/status/1291638137471541248
Don't usually engage in discussions on Twitter, but interested in other people's takes on this. It's absolutely crucial in this time to rethink a lot of structures within the music industry and also question the seemingly safe and friendly ones.
Diskussion geht übrigens in den Kommentaren weiter, was mich sehr freut. https://www.dj-lab.de/bruchstelle-bandcamps-neues-monopol-eine-kritische-betrachtung/#comments
Addendum, because that's something that's been going round in my head since yesterday: I am reminded of the discussions in the early days of Spotify, when people were echoing the Long Tail theory (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_tail ) when defending it.
Basically, the idea is: instead of a one-time payment, you continuously receive revenue thanks to streaming and will be able to sustain a living long-term thanks to that.
There's a bit in the late Alan B. Krueger's »Rockonomics« in which he non-chalantley, er, destroys that notion with facts: »This has yet to materialize in the music business.
»Instead, the middle has dropped out of music, as more consumers gravitate to a smaller number of superstars.« And we have to keep that in mind when talking about Bandcamp, too.
Because also this platform promises potentially continuous revenue flows, but I'm not at all sure if that really works out. (My guess: lol nope).
Don't get me wrong, I am not hostile towards Bandcamp, but I'm hostile towards the system that it operates in and whose structural ills it mirrors and perpetuates.
It's funny how I have received some ad hominem insults for writing about this, how a lot of people ask me to just let it go, Spotify is far worse, at least BC care, why the hate, etc. etc.
I'm not arguing against that, like, at all, and I don't hold a grudge against Bandcamp. But if the reality is a bitter one, then clinging to the least or lesser evil still won't sweeten it up. Instead, we could and should strive for building a different one.
There were barely any organised attempts at tackling Spotify when it was still young and growing, but instead many people shrugging it off. We should not repeat this mistake.
It's interesting to see how a lot of comments on the piece also seep with capitalist realism; the idea that, well, there's just nothing you can do about it.
Because yes, there is, because Bandcamp especially has proven again and again that its willing to work for and with the music workers who provide its content and thus revenue stream.
That's what sets it apart from, say, Uber, even though the principle is simple - platform capitalism. And there's quite a few examples of how unionised efforts have improved the workers' situations in even such an environment.
So that's essentially what I think should happen before maybe in ten years it'll be as fashionable to shake your fist at Ethan Diamond as it is now when it comes to Daniel Ek.
I also think that an intervention at this crucial time in music industry history could set an example for its many other fields and far beyond. There's a real chance here precisely because BC tries to be a good guy.
I know Attali's old news and maybe »Noise« hasn't aged exceptionally well, but the idea that music always has a prophetic function economically rings true to my ears. There's a reason why we speak of the »gig economy,« after all.
So while I understand the many people who say that for the time being, the Bandcamp model works just fine for now, I think now is not and never enough. It's the future we need to think about, and we need to keep in mind what went wrong in the past.
And the lack of organising against Spotify is a lesson we shouldn't forget about. If anyone from the platform's reading this, if any music workers and labels feel like they'd discuss this together: drop me a line under this thread. Thinking about ways to develop this further.
This framing of Bandcamp as the »anti-Spotify« makes me think that apples are just anti-oranges, after all. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-09-22/bandcamp-anti-spotify-streaming
