🔵 Entropy, Ted’s Doom Loop, and the problem with tech’s vision of curation

Hi there,

I am in Spain right now, on my summer holiday. The sun is roasting us gently and the humidity is reminiscent of the Dominican Republic - that is, uncomfortably high at times. But it is peaceful and life is good, especially out here in the peace of the small seaside town I’m staying in.

Ordinarily I wouldn’t write whilst away, but a couple of articles caught my eye and the way in which they thematically overlap was too interesting not to pass comment on. So, consider this a special edition if you will; no news (though god knows there’s much going on both with Universal’s share price crash and Warner Music undertaking its biggest restructure in decades), just my own writing.

The first article that caught my eye was Ted Gioia’s “How to Know If You’re Living In A Doom Loop”. In the piece, Gioia highlights how information degrades over time unless change is made to inject something new into proceedings. He has various reference points, but perhaps the most notable one in the context of the topics I cover here on Network Notes was a recent study by Nature which concluded that, when merely trained on other generative AI output, any AI soon descends into nonsense. It probably should not come as a surprised: really this is a signal/noise issue at heart and when the quality of the source material stops being rich and diverse, it soon collapses into gibberish. Take note, Udio and Suno.

Gioia’s point is that when we leave Big Tech to lead the way, the end results actually spiral downwards, not up. AI might be the simplest example, but algorithms are much the same, as is UI design on apps and platforms.

All of which leads me to the other article I wanted to reference: “Why I Finally Quit Spotify” over on the New Yorker. Contrary to what you might think, this is not another article about how Spotify (though really all DSPs) aren’t great for artists. Instead, this argument posits that Spotify’s design is the issue. In the article the author argues that if anything, the layout of Spotify’s app, which makes it harder and harder to find your own music, is all a calculated play to disconnect us from the music we love, and instead make us more reliant on Spotify’s own algorithmic suggestions, which in turn tend to suggest an ever-more-bland selection of tracks. Over time, Spotify is getting worse and worse to the end user.

You can hopefully see then how these two article overlap; both are putting strong arguments forward that in fact these platforms are becoming worse over time, not better. A reductive take of sorts might be the ‘enshittification’ term that gains more traction with every passing day. That’s valid, but I think there’s a wider angle here worth focusing on.

Put simply, if we accept the argument that Spotify has every reason to both disconnect us from our music and generally drive down the cost of music provision (and I do accept both), then this further lends weight to my view that if left unchecked, tech platforms will continue a dismantling of all value attached to arts and culture. If left to its own devices, Spotify’s logical end point is it just serving up “some music” rather than something that you might deeply connect with a play on repeat.

In his article, Gioia argues that playing it safe can actually be the most dangerous thing to do in business, with the likes of Kodak being a solid case in point. This again came to mind when reading another article which mentioned the comment from Frank Zappa that the music business had a peculiar heyday when it was being run by suits, because those people had no idea what they were doing and so had to take much bigger risks with their A&R. When the hippies and music people moved in, risk diminished and crazier signings dried up, Zappa felt.

A number of red flags have presented themselves of late. Universal’s share price crashed recently, with investors getting worried about the company’s reliance on catalogue. Similarly Warner Music, under Robert Kyncl’s leadership, is looking to be more of a tech company than a music one - a fact which should ring huge alarm bells to anyone in this industry if we consider how tech people have generally fared in the music space. Things feel like they’re pointed downwards, not least because of the music industry’s reliance on DSPs like Spotify, something I’d argue, based on all of the above, is a Very Bad Idea.

I think the frustration I have around all of this is that - if only statistically at least - we are heavily overdue an evolution in the way we consume music. We also have a clear case for the evolution, again, all stated above. Yet for now at least, that next step continues to hide from us, which I think is becoming a bigger and bigger problem.

For a long time now we have lived in a convenience culture. This is how Spotify established itself: it is so convenient that piracy was rendered pointless. However over time we are now learning that convenience comes with all manner of trade-offs that might not be apparent at the outset.

Over time, it feels like there is an increasing agitation with the current status quo, whether that’s from the creator’s side (in not being compensated properly) or from the consumer’s side (in realising these all access models simply flatten one’s tastes and consumption habits). This agitation is a good thing, as it needs to gain even more traction if change is to really come.

Change cannot come soon enough for me though; I feel increasingly despairing of how things currently are.

Let us not wallow, however. The positive side is that I feel there is still incredible music being made, and glorious weirdos are out there in droves, making oddball, fucked up sounds that I barely understand. And I love that. As I approach 50 years old, I totally accept that I am not meant to understand everything in music and that some of it will just sound like shit to me. That is necessary though; vive la difference and all that. 😊

So let’s pray the agitation continues, as does coverage of this general dissatisfaction of the current state of affairs. That will being change, and change is not just good, but very necessary now.

Until next time,

D.

🎧 listening to “Damaged” by Ghost Dubs. New out on Kevin Martin (AKA The Bug)’s Pressure label, this is another trip into dismantled, ultra heavy dub which amounts to a slowed-down, doomer take on whatever Basic Channel evolved from dub itself. I’ll say this: given where I am, this could not be more inappropriate music to listen to, LOL

📺 watching “Guess ft Billie Eilish” by Charli XCX. I’m ambivalent on the Brat album I’ll admit (which I’m fine with - was this aimed at 49yo men? No, didn’t think so, LOL), but this remix from the record is another masterstroke. Great track, great video - it’s ticking all the boxes. TBH I am just happy to see Charli really having the moment she was meant to get with her last album. Fair play to her.

🤖 playing with bass oscillations in the Agonizer bass synth. This thing is lethal, allowing you to create that kind of ‘wub wub wub’ bass undulation popularised by the likes of Vex’d. As someone who makes music and loves low end, this thing is manna from heaven.

P.S. I am writing this on Substack’s iOS app, which now allows you to create articles. I can’t set any cover image though, so thought I’d add in this dramatic shot taken yesterday as black clouds suddenly (and briefly) descended over the beach I was on, in the hope it simply uses this. Perhaps it’s an allegory for where we are in the music industry right now: dark clouds over paradise, but it will lift soon enough and the sun will shine once more. Adios!