ENTRUSTING OUR WORK TO THIRD PARTIES IS A RISK

Apparently this is a regular occurrence in the music streaming space:

i got an email from one of my music distributors (for another project, not fog chaser) essentially accusing me of seeking out artificial streams. they then threaten to delete my account and take down all of my music (which is years of my work)

Whether you’re someone building buzz on social media and waking up to your account being suspended, to stories like this, someone else is in control. Someone else has the keys to the kingdom, and if they deem you’ve done something wrong, you’re done.

These tech bros made a game that we feel we all have to play, and that if we don’t then “we’re nothing without them,” which is a common line we hear in abusive and toxic relationships.

If you don’t put all your music into their music platform, then no one will discover you, and you’ll end up broke and alone.

BUT… even if you do put all your music on those services, you’ll still probably be broke, right? Sure, there’s opportunities to be “discovered,” but you’re still competing with the 100,000 other songs that are being uploaded everyday, too.

Maybe the computer in War Games was right, “the only winning move is not to play.”