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Important disagreement, thank you. I make music. What we do isn't a commodity business, it's an art we practice and explore, like math. Products are totally di

Important disagreement, thank you. I make music. What we do isn't a commodity business, it's an art we practice and explore, like math. Products are totally different. Extending your simile of music being as essential as sex, the way people make that a business is with porn and services. Music may be the porn and services of what are essentially math noises instead of sex. I had also looked at white lablling some, er, intimate products to go with albums but was too bourgeois to pursue it. Basic idea was a crossover between music and firmware for the, um, device. Immersive experience. There is a future in which a Trent Reznor of vibrators will emerge. We will look back and laugh that people just used to put things in their ears. Insane, but this is the kind of thinking it's going to take to make music a viable living.

CPLX 5y ago
> I make music. What we do isn't a commodity business So do I. Yes, it is. An incredibly popular one: https://www.google.com/search?q=aerial+photo+of+woodstock+festival&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjH15K_qdL0AhVQEFkFHU3EBZsQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=aerial+photo+of+woodstock+festival https://www.google.com/search?q=aerial+photo+of+woodstock+fe... https://www.google.com/search?q=areal+view+of+glastonbury+music+festival&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwimlpTCqdL0AhVXE1kFHc9AAk8Q2-cCegQIABAA&oq=areal+view+of+glastonbury+music+festival https://www.google.com/search?q=areal+view+of+glastonbury+mu... https://www.google.com/search?q=aerial+view+of+Donauinselfest https://www.google.com/search?q=aerial+view+of+Donauinselfes... I could post 100 more of these of course. The product being sold here is people coming to hear and see the performance of music. It's one of the most popular things there is. Millions and millions of people spend time and money daily just to be in the proximity of people making music. It's also art. It's also a hobby for many. It's many things. But my point that it is, all by itself, a tremendously popular product for people, seems inarguable.
- motohagiography 5y ago
  I'd say the disconnect is about what a Product is, which is the eternal question on HN and in startups. Music isn't really a product unless you are on the publishing/licensing side, and even then a license is just an insurance policy against being sued. Spotify and Apple Music sell distribution services, not music. Further, artist compensation on streaming services is so poor that most artists lose more money from inflation against their savings in the time it takes to choose and listen to their album than the platforms pay out for listeners. This is not an economic characteristic of something that is in high demand. It's a different kind of economic good. I agree that music is beautiful and universal. What I'm saying is, a Product is something else, and the business practically depends on musicians not understanding it because it trades in them. Business doesn't run on truth and beauty, it's a trade in desire and money. This is even harder for writers and journalists to accept, but it's the same dynamic.
  - CPLX 5y ago
    > Music isn't really a product Yes it is. It's a business transaction that's about as simple as it gets. I go to a place and play the music. You pay me money to be allowed to come to the place. This thread is profoundly confused.

CPLX 5y ago

> I make music. What we do isn't a commodity business So do I. Yes, it is. An incredibly popular one: https://www.google.com/search?q=aerial+photo+of+woodstock+festival&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjH15K_qdL0AhVQEFkFHU3EBZsQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=aerial+photo+of+woodstock+festival https://www.google.com/search?q=aerial+photo+of+woodstock+fe... https://www.google.com/search?q=areal+view+of+glastonbury+music+festival&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwimlpTCqdL0AhVXE1kFHc9AAk8Q2-cCegQIABAA&oq=areal+view+of+glastonbury+music+festival https://www.google.com/search?q=areal+view+of+glastonbury+mu... https://www.google.com/search?q=aerial+view+of+Donauinselfest https://www.google.com/search?q=aerial+view+of+Donauinselfes... I could post 100 more of these of course. The product being sold here is people coming to hear and see the performance of music. It's one of the most popular things there is. Millions and millions of people spend time and money daily just to be in the proximity of people making music. It's also art. It's also a hobby for many. It's many things. But my point that it is, all by itself, a tremendously popular product for people, seems inarguable.

motohagiography 5y ago
I'd say the disconnect is about what a Product is, which is the eternal question on HN and in startups. Music isn't really a product unless you are on the publishing/licensing side, and even then a license is just an insurance policy against being sued. Spotify and Apple Music sell distribution services, not music. Further, artist compensation on streaming services is so poor that most artists lose more money from inflation against their savings in the time it takes to choose and listen to their album than the platforms pay out for listeners. This is not an economic characteristic of something that is in high demand. It's a different kind of economic good. I agree that music is beautiful and universal. What I'm saying is, a Product is something else, and the business practically depends on musicians not understanding it because it trades in them. Business doesn't run on truth and beauty, it's a trade in desire and money. This is even harder for writers and journalists to accept, but it's the same dynamic.
- CPLX 5y ago
  > Music isn't really a product Yes it is. It's a business transaction that's about as simple as it gets. I go to a place and play the music. You pay me money to be allowed to come to the place. This thread is profoundly confused.