Don’t chase someone else’s version of success.

(From founder of Midjourney)

UMG now owns this ecosystem—giving them control over distribution, publishing & label services that power countless independents.

Every year, indies gain market share.

Majors fight back the only way they know how: consolidation.

I guess if you can’t beat the indies, buy them.

Big news for the indie music world.

UMG just bought Downtown Music for $775M.

Downtown houses vital tools & services for the indie sector:

CD Baby→ Distro for 2m artists
FUGA→ Infra for top indie labels & services
Songtrust→ Pub admin for 445k songwriters
Curve→ Royalty services for 1,500 labels

🫡

Problems are opportunities and the music industry has plenty.

So, I asked 35,245 people “what’s the biggest problem to solve in music?”

Here’s the most common answers:

Don't you Nextdoor Bluesky

Just start with an email & a name and you're lightyears ahead of 90% of artists.

My guess is it's these starter packs, btw!

This is wild.

Why is there a mass exodus from X to Bluesky (and not Threads)?

This is the way.

:tap tap: Is this thing on?

If Spotify paid 100% of revenue to artists, it would be ~$0.0057 per stream.

Happy now?

Let's focus on new models that increase fandom, connection & music's value.