Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking. Login or Take a Tour!
kleinbl00 · 1840 days ago · link · · parent · post: The Economics of 24/7 Lo-Fi Hip-Hop YouTube Livestreams
In which Gen Z discovers muzak The economics are precisely muzak. Muzak was invented so that businesses could pay a gatekeeper a pittance in order to have background music. The mechanical royalties of originals were such that enforcers could drive around and say "if you keep playing the radio we'll sue on behalf of ASCAP" and strong-arm the local haberdasher into a cheap rendition of Burt Bacharach. It all went to shit when nobody was paying anything anymore, at which point every local haberdasher plugged in their iPod or their Pandora but now, even the pittance Pandora collects is too much so what we're left with is DIY muzak streams of guys tweedling in Traktor or whatever making zero point nothing.