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The `Bowie Bond' from around the same time, was a much more interesting innovation: https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2016/01/11/2149761/a-short-history-of-the-bowie

The `Bowie Bond' from around the same time, was a much more interesting innovation: https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2016/01/11/2149761/a-short-history-of-the-bowie-bond/ https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2016/01/11/2149761/a-short-histo...

dang 6y ago
Discussed a bit in 2019: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18827158 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18827158
cosmojg 6y ago
Archive link for those who don't want to create an account: https://archive.md/ubmyY https://archive.md/ubmyY Also, holy crap, David Bowie was incredibly prescient. > ”The absolute transformation of everything that we ever thought about music will take place within 10 years, and nothing is going to be able to stop it. I see absolutely no point in pretending that it’s not going to happen. I’m fully confident that copyright, for instance, will no longer exist in 10 years, and authorship and intellectual property is in for such a bashing.” > “Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity,” he added. ”So it’s like, just take advantage of these last few years because none of this is ever going to happen again. You’d better be prepared for doing a lot of touring because that’s really the only unique situation that’s going to be left. It’s terribly exciting. But on the other hand it doesn’t matter if you think it’s exciting or not; it’s what’s going to happen.” If only we could hurry up and abolish intellectual property so we could get on with restructuring the economy around the inevitable. Also, it's cool to see decentralized financial platforms like Ethereum already enabling a democratization of the kind of thing Bowie was trying to do with the Bowie Bond: https://asone.andysimon.co/ https://asone.andysimon.co/
- Mediterraneo10 6y ago
  Sure, Bowie was right that the industry overall would swiftly move to a situation where many people are getting music for free (or for next to free on streaming) and artists tour to actually make money. Yet he himself was still able to spend nearly a decade from 2004–2012 not actively working, living entirely off his royalties that persisted thanks to those copyright laws, so things didn’t develop as suddenly and drastically as he suggested.
  - verelo 6y ago
    And the bonds! That’s the amazing thing, he wanted the cash but knew it was at risk, so he made a financial instrument to extract that value before the market could price the risk. Brilliant!
selimthegrim 6y ago
TIL James Altucher actually had a job at some point

dang 6y ago

Discussed a bit in 2019: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18827158 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18827158

cosmojg 6y ago

Archive link for those who don't want to create an account: https://archive.md/ubmyY https://archive.md/ubmyY Also, holy crap, David Bowie was incredibly prescient. > ”The absolute transformation of everything that we ever thought about music will take place within 10 years, and nothing is going to be able to stop it. I see absolutely no point in pretending that it’s not going to happen. I’m fully confident that copyright, for instance, will no longer exist in 10 years, and authorship and intellectual property is in for such a bashing.” > “Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity,” he added. ”So it’s like, just take advantage of these last few years because none of this is ever going to happen again. You’d better be prepared for doing a lot of touring because that’s really the only unique situation that’s going to be left. It’s terribly exciting. But on the other hand it doesn’t matter if you think it’s exciting or not; it’s what’s going to happen.” If only we could hurry up and abolish intellectual property so we could get on with restructuring the economy around the inevitable. Also, it's cool to see decentralized financial platforms like Ethereum already enabling a democratization of the kind of thing Bowie was trying to do with the Bowie Bond: https://asone.andysimon.co/ https://asone.andysimon.co/

Mediterraneo10 6y ago
Sure, Bowie was right that the industry overall would swiftly move to a situation where many people are getting music for free (or for next to free on streaming) and artists tour to actually make money. Yet he himself was still able to spend nearly a decade from 2004–2012 not actively working, living entirely off his royalties that persisted thanks to those copyright laws, so things didn’t develop as suddenly and drastically as he suggested.
- verelo 6y ago
  And the bonds! That’s the amazing thing, he wanted the cash but knew it was at risk, so he made a financial instrument to extract that value before the market could price the risk. Brilliant!

selimthegrim 6y ago

TIL James Altucher actually had a job at some point