No mention of the reason for this state of affairs -- lack of anti-trust enforcement.
Google was declared an illegal monopolist but paid no real penalty. Apple and Google collect a 30% toll charge on every app purchased on their stores. Microsoft buys Activision Blizzard to the cheers of fanboys -- and promptly does what it promised not to do: fire thousands and raise prices. As Cory Doctorow has pointed out, the only guaranteed outcome is enshittification.
When you have no bar to how big a corporation can get, you are telling every small competitor with better ideas to cash in their chips, sell out and leave. No one can beat the big guys, so why even bother?
Consumers don't realize what they are losing and content themselves with a tolerable status quo, even as tech bros scheme and deal behind the scenes to lock up more and more of human existence. And it's a leading reason why we have an AI bubble, instead of real innovation (see Ed Zitron).
If we don't challenge the tech giants with regulation through actual legislation, nothing will change. We are lobsters in a supermarket tank. Our pincers are bound with elastic bands. We can barely distinguish the looming tech lords shopping for our data beyond the glass. But make no mistake, we are on the menu.
…fight culture with culture…create community, embrace those around you and those that embrace you…seek/make/be local art…just because they make tools doesn’t mean you have to use them or be one…peace and alohahaha…
As an avid, long-time moviegoer, the impact of this centralization has been dire. Hollywood still makes gobs of money, but the overwhelming amount of its product is geared to children, teens, and kidults. Fortunately for people like me, America still has a thriving independent movie industry and there are plenty of movies for adults made in Europe, Asia, and South America.
I guess here on Substack we also have to unlearn the pattern of engaging with people which we internalized on Meta. I mean that urge to produce content at the speed of light, low quality, shallow communication with people in comments, constantly chasing likes and views... I mean, it would be nice to stop playing that quick dopamine game and honestly build and enjoy the new ecosystem here. That requires some work, because social media has been marinating us in the algorithm pleasing for a long time
In the arena of ideas these guys will always lose. Thus evil must be crafty to control which ideas are allowed to proliferate.
People need to start believing in the power of ideas again. As Plato would remind us, ideas rule the world.
Power understands that, which is why they go to so much effort to subvert or isolate independent culture. I’m sure it’s not by chance that Freud’s nephew is a big player in Netflix lol.
Independent creators definitely need to develop more alliances and break out of the silo.
I’m reminded of what Martin Luther King said, "Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war."
Creatives need to learn to organize as effectively as those who wish to control and subvert creativity. To do that, they need understand power.
Yet here I am reading this, the writing of an intelligent and articulate man that I came to know just recently, in spite of the cultural control of a mere fifty.
As someone with personal experience of the music industry I'd like to add my own perspectives.
40 years ago the music industry was run around the A&R system. Artists & Repertoire departments would scout for talent , listen to demos etc. In the modernised version, they are replaced by a system of waiting for artists to gain a lot of traction through gig followings or viral songs, then trying to capitalise on their wave.
Having experienced major contracts as well as operating as an independent label and artist afterwards, I also had high hopes for the internet to make music meritocratic, but in the 90's we could get played on various stations and reviewed , In 2015 I made another album and found that the landscape had become dire. No chance of reviews or radio plays for the independent, the download charts are an echo chamber totally controlled by the major companies , and it is well known that your chances of any exposure or earning money as an independent are virtually nil.
Yes with Soundcloud etc the infrastructure is there but there is just so much content - anyone can make an album now with a phone app and no musical ability by selecting sound building blocks.
There is very little chance of breaking through unless you have a viral gimmick and the vast majority give their efforts away for free.
Would love to have the list of 50 (you name a few and I can guess at maybe a dozen others). We can all work to undermine them in small ways but individual efforts can sometimes become larger efforts and naming names would be a big motivation for many.
I have to say that your assessment also avoids another factor, that the promoted content that still gains exposure is either completely meaningless or laced with social engineering. The executives job is not to promote meritocracy, it is about controlling narratives in popular culture.
On point as usual Ted. My fear is that the fringe will be even more disadvantaged as we move from the age of social media fragmentation to the age of AI-filtered information, where everyone gets their info & media via 3 or 4 AI-based platforms.
One other comment: << Bezos and Musk and Zuckerberg are crass upstarts. >> They are also firmly in the Trump camp -- and we know how much the dictator values "culture"!
I kinda feel like the counterculture, the one thats going to be the "new thing", cant come from us old folks. And i kinda feel like the culture in general is waiting for the youth to wake up to their responsibility in this regard. Some ofc are waiting to pounce on it and capitalize on it. But the rest of us are just waiting for something new and cool to get excited about.
But by no means do i think this happening is inevitable. Great forces are at work to keep peoples eyes and minds right where they are. And i dont think the new exciting thing will come to us through these goddamn phones(screens, whatever). I *do not* think the revolution will happen here. I think itll happen in the real world, and i think being *here* will be akin to being on the outside looking in.
Bc a lot of the problem isnt necessarily the fault of the monopolies. Its what this place *does* to people. Even the wonderful substack isnt immune, just take a stroll through some random comment sections.
The pendulum must swing, but for a new thing its gotta swing in a different direction.
Depends on what one does with the knowledge. But ime knowing alone doesnt change anything. It does however open options for choices. Still, that must lead to action, otherwise it does become just more of the same.
No mention of the reason for this state of affairs -- lack of anti-trust enforcement.
Google was declared an illegal monopolist but paid no real penalty. Apple and Google collect a 30% toll charge on every app purchased on their stores. Microsoft buys Activision Blizzard to the cheers of fanboys -- and promptly does what it promised not to do: fire thousands and raise prices. As Cory Doctorow has pointed out, the only guaranteed outcome is enshittification.
When you have no bar to how big a corporation can get, you are telling every small competitor with better ideas to cash in their chips, sell out and leave. No one can beat the big guys, so why even bother?
Consumers don't realize what they are losing and content themselves with a tolerable status quo, even as tech bros scheme and deal behind the scenes to lock up more and more of human existence. And it's a leading reason why we have an AI bubble, instead of real innovation (see Ed Zitron).
If we don't challenge the tech giants with regulation through actual legislation, nothing will change. We are lobsters in a supermarket tank. Our pincers are bound with elastic bands. We can barely distinguish the looming tech lords shopping for our data beyond the glass. But make no mistake, we are on the menu.
…fight culture with culture…create community, embrace those around you and those that embrace you…seek/make/be local art…just because they make tools doesn’t mean you have to use them or be one…peace and alohahaha…
As an avid, long-time moviegoer, the impact of this centralization has been dire. Hollywood still makes gobs of money, but the overwhelming amount of its product is geared to children, teens, and kidults. Fortunately for people like me, America still has a thriving independent movie industry and there are plenty of movies for adults made in Europe, Asia, and South America.
kidults...😂🤣😂 I'll be borrowing this term. Thanks.
I guess here on Substack we also have to unlearn the pattern of engaging with people which we internalized on Meta. I mean that urge to produce content at the speed of light, low quality, shallow communication with people in comments, constantly chasing likes and views... I mean, it would be nice to stop playing that quick dopamine game and honestly build and enjoy the new ecosystem here. That requires some work, because social media has been marinating us in the algorithm pleasing for a long time
I try to be witty, but that's an old habit of mine. It's not desperate. I promise.
So long as substack employs the same dopamine-gaming systems, the results will be the same. That pattern of engaging is already baked right in here.
In the arena of ideas these guys will always lose. Thus evil must be crafty to control which ideas are allowed to proliferate.
People need to start believing in the power of ideas again. As Plato would remind us, ideas rule the world.
Power understands that, which is why they go to so much effort to subvert or isolate independent culture. I’m sure it’s not by chance that Freud’s nephew is a big player in Netflix lol.
Independent creators definitely need to develop more alliances and break out of the silo.
I’m reminded of what Martin Luther King said, "Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war."
Creatives need to learn to organize as effectively as those who wish to control and subvert creativity. To do that, they need understand power.
Most of them don’t.
Yet here I am reading this, the writing of an intelligent and articulate man that I came to know just recently, in spite of the cultural control of a mere fifty.
Long live Substack!
As someone with personal experience of the music industry I'd like to add my own perspectives.
40 years ago the music industry was run around the A&R system. Artists & Repertoire departments would scout for talent , listen to demos etc. In the modernised version, they are replaced by a system of waiting for artists to gain a lot of traction through gig followings or viral songs, then trying to capitalise on their wave.
Having experienced major contracts as well as operating as an independent label and artist afterwards, I also had high hopes for the internet to make music meritocratic, but in the 90's we could get played on various stations and reviewed , In 2015 I made another album and found that the landscape had become dire. No chance of reviews or radio plays for the independent, the download charts are an echo chamber totally controlled by the major companies , and it is well known that your chances of any exposure or earning money as an independent are virtually nil.
Yes with Soundcloud etc the infrastructure is there but there is just so much content - anyone can make an album now with a phone app and no musical ability by selecting sound building blocks.
There is very little chance of breaking through unless you have a viral gimmick and the vast majority give their efforts away for free.
Would love to have the list of 50 (you name a few and I can guess at maybe a dozen others). We can all work to undermine them in small ways but individual efforts can sometimes become larger efforts and naming names would be a big motivation for many.
We need to bring back anti-trust laws!
I have to say that your assessment also avoids another factor, that the promoted content that still gains exposure is either completely meaningless or laced with social engineering. The executives job is not to promote meritocracy, it is about controlling narratives in popular culture.
On point as usual Ted. My fear is that the fringe will be even more disadvantaged as we move from the age of social media fragmentation to the age of AI-filtered information, where everyone gets their info & media via 3 or 4 AI-based platforms.
https://jamiefreestone.substack.com/p/the-recentralisation-of-media
One other comment: << Bezos and Musk and Zuckerberg are crass upstarts. >> They are also firmly in the Trump camp -- and we know how much the dictator values "culture"!
I kinda feel like the counterculture, the one thats going to be the "new thing", cant come from us old folks. And i kinda feel like the culture in general is waiting for the youth to wake up to their responsibility in this regard. Some ofc are waiting to pounce on it and capitalize on it. But the rest of us are just waiting for something new and cool to get excited about.
But by no means do i think this happening is inevitable. Great forces are at work to keep peoples eyes and minds right where they are. And i dont think the new exciting thing will come to us through these goddamn phones(screens, whatever). I *do not* think the revolution will happen here. I think itll happen in the real world, and i think being *here* will be akin to being on the outside looking in.
Bc a lot of the problem isnt necessarily the fault of the monopolies. Its what this place *does* to people. Even the wonderful substack isnt immune, just take a stroll through some random comment sections.
The pendulum must swing, but for a new thing its gotta swing in a different direction.
I always struggle to “like” these observations with a heart. They are powerful, but uncomfortable. Does knowing help with the undoing?
Depends on what one does with the knowledge. But ime knowing alone doesnt change anything. It does however open options for choices. Still, that must lead to action, otherwise it does become just more of the same.
Great writing and an even greater reminder of the importance of indie creators, art and culture.