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It's interesting you brought this up, because it's the same thing that happened to the music industry with piracy. A decade of rampant piracy changed the minds

It's interesting you brought this up, because it's the same thing that happened to the music industry with piracy. A decade of rampant piracy changed the mindset of the consumer to value music at $0. Almost all of the musicians I know that were able to make a living without a major label, before 2000, all could no longer make a living. It really hurt the independent artist and only made musicians more reliant on big labels. The same thing would have happened to the software, but many companies moved to SAAS.

droithomme 7y ago
> Almost all of the musicians I know that were able to make a living without a major label, before 2000, all could no longer make a living. Just to verify, your assertion is that no major label musicians could make a living after 2000, but some (what amount approximately?) that were with non-major labels (or does this mean independent artist run endeavors?) were able to make a living? If not please clarify specifically identifying and ranking each group with references. Thank you very much in advance my friend.
- jimrhods23 7y ago
  "Just to verify, your assertion is that no major label musicians could make a living after 2000" I missed a word there. I meant no independent artist I know could make a living on their music after 2000 (I'm not even talking about getting rich..just being able to make their rent). After Napster, many people either demanded that it was free or would just download it and not pay the artist. Since they aren't signed with a big label, making money at live shows was pretty much non-existent. Piracy isn't about stealing a car. It's about destroying value in an entire product/piece of art. Far worse than stealing a physical item. "Thank you very much in advance my friend." Just look at things like Spotify: Most artists are getting fractions of pennies per/play and only the very famous ones are actually making anything. There have been many articles on HN about this. You can find them yourself.
agent008t 7y ago
And yet, there seems to be more new music being produced, catering to every taste, creating new genres, than ever before.
- thirdsun 7y ago
  On the other hand I doubt more of them are making a living off it. To clarify I’m aware that music and arts in general have always been professions that can only be sustainable for the very few, most dedicated talents - yet I imagine it has become worse in the age of being paid fractions of a cent per play.
  - agent008t 7y ago
    Hard to say. At the same time, artists have more global reach, greater ability to engage with fans and build a dedicated base, options like crowdfunding and Patreon, etc.
- abyssin 7y ago
  I see two big differences between music and news. The first one is that good music stays good. The second one is that bad music doesn't pose any democratic problem.

droithomme 7y ago

> Almost all of the musicians I know that were able to make a living without a major label, before 2000, all could no longer make a living. Just to verify, your assertion is that no major label musicians could make a living after 2000, but some (what amount approximately?) that were with non-major labels (or does this mean independent artist run endeavors?) were able to make a living? If not please clarify specifically identifying and ranking each group with references. Thank you very much in advance my friend.

jimrhods23 7y ago
"Just to verify, your assertion is that no major label musicians could make a living after 2000" I missed a word there. I meant no independent artist I know could make a living on their music after 2000 (I'm not even talking about getting rich..just being able to make their rent). After Napster, many people either demanded that it was free or would just download it and not pay the artist. Since they aren't signed with a big label, making money at live shows was pretty much non-existent. Piracy isn't about stealing a car. It's about destroying value in an entire product/piece of art. Far worse than stealing a physical item. "Thank you very much in advance my friend." Just look at things like Spotify: Most artists are getting fractions of pennies per/play and only the very famous ones are actually making anything. There have been many articles on HN about this. You can find them yourself.

agent008t 7y ago

And yet, there seems to be more new music being produced, catering to every taste, creating new genres, than ever before.

thirdsun 7y ago
On the other hand I doubt more of them are making a living off it. To clarify I’m aware that music and arts in general have always been professions that can only be sustainable for the very few, most dedicated talents - yet I imagine it has become worse in the age of being paid fractions of a cent per play.
- agent008t 7y ago
  Hard to say. At the same time, artists have more global reach, greater ability to engage with fans and build a dedicated base, options like crowdfunding and Patreon, etc.
abyssin 7y ago
I see two big differences between music and news. The first one is that good music stays good. The second one is that bad music doesn't pose any democratic problem.