It used to be so simple. There were the major labels (all 6 of them, or whatever) and there were the independents or "the indies." Over the 80’s and 90s, a position initially adopted out of economic necessity grew into a distinctive cultural mode, with a host of aesthetic and political dimensions. Now things have changed and being "indie" no longer means the same.
To understand this shift, we take a look at the Merlin Network, powerful grouping of independent labels that banded together to grab a seat (or at least, a half-a seat) at the streaming table. Now responsible for roughly 15 percent of the modern music economy, Merlin has been a tremendous success, allowing independent labels like XL, Domino, Beggers Group and others spanning the globe to continue to thrive in an increasingly hyper-concentrated, almost entirely digital industry. But at what cost? We think through what independence can even mean within platform capitalism—and how the lessons of the past can be repurposed (if at all) to our multi-media future.
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K-Pop Merger Mania (feat. the Idolcast)
The Great Music AI Contradiction (Live at Wavelengths Summit)
Blurred Lines and the Future of Copyright
Inside the Algorithm Factory: Music Recommendations (w/ Nick Seaver)
Streaming in the Dark: No One Knows Anything (w/ Meredith Rose)
Spotify Redux (Quiet Threats + Desperate Flailing)
From Houston to the World: The Political Economy of DJ Screw (with Lance Scott Walker)
Metadata Errors in the Lime Green Lamborghini (With Kristin Robinson)
Reggaeton Gets Sued
A.I. in Der Klub (And Your Next Playlist)
What Taylor Swift Tells Us About the Billboard Charts
The Rise and Fall of SST Records with Jim Ruland
Penny Fractions Live with Cherie Hu and Liz Pelly
Dan Ozzi on the Political Economy of Selling Out
The Music Catalog Acquisition Cool Down
Damon Krukowski on Unions, Streaming, and Musical Labor
The KLF: A Foolproof Way To Hit No. 1
Born to Sell: Springsteen’s Tickets + Meta Makes Moves
K-Pop Histories Beyond BTS (Featuring The Idolcast)
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