How To Save The Music Middle Class

It’s commonly understood that with most new technologies there is almost always a downside; social media and its contentious relationship with musicians is a prime example. 

The launch of MySpace in 2003, marked an important paradigm shift in the music business. Artists were suddenly able to leverage this social media platform to connect and communicate directly with their fans. The days of a clipboard sign up at the merch table were suddenly obsolete and the stranglehold the major labels had on the industry was losing its grip. This exciting new technology ushered in the hope of a plausible career independent of the music gatekeepers. 

The shift continued with the launch of streaming services like Deezer and Spotify who continued to smashed through the distribution barriers that had faced the middle class of artists not signed to major labels. Discovery of new artists had become democratized and technology was having a positive impact on music. There were more artists than ever making music, distributing their art and building communities. 

For a decade the future seemed bright.

Fast forward to 2023 and the downside has revealed itself;

MySpace was never able to reach its potential and artists have since been hoodwinked into spending time, creativity and money building communities on third party platforms that are implicitly extractive. These new platforms have built unicorns off the backs of creativity, while the artists are forced to accept likes, follows and shares as their form of payment – it’s only recently that the music community is taking notice.

The real irony is that social media sites have become imposing algorithms that have made them anything but social. Where you were once able to send out organic posts and messaging that would reach the bulk of your followers, spark reaction, conversation and discovery, the science behind these platforms now serves the investors solely. It has become virtually impossible without a paid boost to reach even a small percentage of your fanbase and, even when money is thrown at a campaign, the conversion rates are shockingly low making return on investment for artists unfeasible. 

Concentration within an industry rarely benefits the greater good and the middle class of artists are feeling these affects. Digital marketing has become critical for artists to reach a wider audience but left in the hands of a few platforms it is only the one percent that can afford to leverage their service.. 

The current digital structure is eerily reminiscent of the old school “payola” system that dominated the music industry for decades whereby the major labels paid for airplay (and exposure) for a select group of artists leaving everyone else on the outside looking in.

Social media and digital streaming services have become the new gatekeepers, extracting from artists at every turn. They are the new payola; they own our souls.

The future of a vibrant middle class rests in its ability to leverage an infrastructure that creates thoughtful relationships with a core base that the artists own, control and manage . 

The concept of 1000 True Fans conceived by Kevin Kelly in his 2008 book of the same title resonates strongly today. The theory is that any artist that accumulates and connects direct to 1000 true fans should be able to maintain a reasonable living through that community.  Economics aside, success of this theory rests primarily on ownership of that community data. 

There are many that believe Web3 and Blockchain will save the music industry. While this may prove to be true it’s important to note that while there are some fundamental components of blockchain technology that align with the idea of rights ownership it is not imperative to build exclusively on the block to see benefits. Portability is a pillar that should be at the forefront of any service looking to help artists reach their 1000 fans and not reliant on Web3. The simple ability for artists to port their communities out of a platform if they feel it starts charging too much, serving too many ads or generally misbehaving does not currently exist. This decentralization of data is fundamental to a sustainable middle class of musicians. 

Lastly, it’s important to point out that simply because new technology seems beneficial to an ecosystem at first does not mean we should feel beholden to it.  If we’ve learned anything it’s that putting our faith or relying solely on the newest technology is naive. Ask anyone who built communities on Myspace and Vine or more current, Tiktok creators facing the reality that it could be banned in 2023.