We've hit a weird period where if I hear about a song, like Lowery's Almond Grove, I can instantly listen to that song on demand on a legal service without payi

We've hit a weird period where if I hear about a song, like Lowery's Almond Grove, I can instantly listen to that song on demand on a legal service without paying anything. (I don't even get a pre-roll video ad.) The underlying economics here have changed from the 90s. Partly because of all the price fixing back then,[0] but mostly things have changed along the lines any economist would have predicted, once you add instant free duplication and teleportation of bits to the world.[1] A right is a right, and Lowery makes great stuff so I want him to get some return. But it seems like he keeps starting fights with all the places trying new business models, trying desperately to fight against the economics. He's picking fights with the few holdouts still trying to trade music for actual money. He's capsizing all the lifeboats because he's angry at the sinking ship. It's like he doesn't understand he's at sea. [0] http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2002-09-30-cd-settlement_x.htm http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2002-09-30-cd... [1] ie, Price tends towards marginal cost. Overly simplistic maybe, but this is an awfully provocative case study: negligible marginal cost and pricing at effectively nothing.