🔵 So... when will change come?

The drawn-out threat of the Constant Now

I have remarked in the past that writing Network Notes can, at times, be quite difficult, not because of any issue on my side (e.g. time, personal circumstance etc.) but simply because there often isn’t much worth commenting on or writing about. Part of this, I’ll happily admit, is that I’d also rather only write when I feel there are things to say. Simply churning ‘stuff’ on a regular cycle feels like a pointless noising-up of your inbox, and if there’s one thing none of us want more of right now, it’s low quality drivel demanding our attention.

Of late though, the very nature of this circumstance has become an issue of its own, as I feel it actually gets to the core of what is really wrong with the music industry at the moment.

In short, progression has stopped.

When I started this newsletter, back in 2011, it went out five days a week. Such was the rate of progression and advancement that even that frequency felt like barely enough to cover everything that was going on. The rate of new startups emerging, of new challengers, or game-changing developments, was almost dizzying. It was certainly very exciting.

Cut to today, and it’s like AI presents almost a distraction against the wider picture. Don’t get me wrong: AI will certainly change a lot of things, but its means to truly up-end culture itself is limited - not least, one might argue, because Big Tech has already up-ended culture, and we’re well into an already rather bleak phase.

So new tech does not feel like it is changing the game much. There are no new audio formats surging forth. Whilst there are new consumption platforms, none are truly lifting off at the rate we’d prefer to see. Ultimately, nothing is truly gaining traction.

So why is that?

I feel the answer is twofold. From the industry side, I feel we’ve hit an awkward point where most labels are realising it is more profitable to dial back on frontline releases and A&R investment in favour of just generating income from what they already have. And, to be clear, I can fully understand that logic: breaking frontline releases has never been harder, and even if you do break through, success is often more fleeting than ever.

In truth though, this means that labels are perhaps not the game-changers they once were. The whole model is being challenged on a fundamental level, but what is challenging it is not in itself a new market sector that could present an existential threat. No, instead it is simply a long, long tail of individual artists who may see some success of their own, but who represent a nebulous, highly transient presence that, whilst large in terms of its market representation, is nonetheless comprised of many, many things coming and going quickly.

In the face of that then, I do understand why labels double down on catalogue, or dial back on A&Ring new artists. I would do the same in their position, because at the end of the day, these are businesses, and businesses need profit and a healthy bottom line. At some stage though, that profit will start to dry up unless new releases maintain any kind of long-term relevance.

The other issue I see is that young challengers simply are not emerging. History - especially music history - is littered with tales of young upstarts coming through and challenging the status quo. Martin Mills wrote in a piece for this very newsletter that “The genius of Geoff Travis and Richard Scott at Rough Trade was to apply Marxist theories of control of distribution to the record market. Between them, their successor The Cartel, and Pinnacle, they proved you could have a number one record independently.”

These were (at the time) upstarts with a head full of great ideas, stepping up to challenge The Big Guys. Some of it succeeded. Some of it did not. But in being there and fighting that fight, these people proved that new models, new approaches, new ways of doing this all, were eminently possible, and all of them created long-term ripple effects that fundamentally shifted how music was released.

In 2025, I simply do not see where that is happening.

Some might point to new platforms like Subvert, or Nina, or any of the others, and whilst in principle the logic of these are all solid and the intent commendable, I am yet to see people flocking towards them with any sense that Spotify et al should be worrying.

Reflecting on this all, I found myself wondering if the issue is simply that most people are now happy with what is there. They have no reason to challenge these models because it Just Works for them. That frustration that might have seen people flocking to new underground releases, possibly because they spoke to someone’s own sense of ennui with the current state of affairs, simply does not seem to be there now.

Equally, whilst generations are being raised to be addicted to phones, and to validate their lives through social media models all defined and devised via the Cult of Silicon Valley, one might argue that they have no compulsion to seek change. Everyone is happy being spoon-fed digital snack-size ‘content’ because that’s as good as entertainment feels now.

(Sidenote: this brought to mind my watching this clip of one of the Fantazia raves from 1992, and how the bulk of comments were simply about how no phones were in evidence back then, and how everyone seemed so much more connected to the event and the music as a result. Telling, I felt…)

Of course, this could all be painted as an out-of-touch, middle-aged man being the quintessence of “old man yelling at clouds”… but I tend to think the opposite. I actively want to be challenged. I want to see things emerge that I don’t understand. I want that equivalent of when my parents would walk in on my watching Top of the Pops and say “What’s this rubbish? It’s just noise!”!

So I do not feel the issue here is that I simply don’t understand what is going on. I do; and the failure of a movement to step up and challenge all of this is what unsettles me the most.

If that feels unremittingly bleak, I apologise. I’ve said before now that I don’t want Network Notes to be a doom-saying newsletter, not least because I think appetites for that are limited, especially in today’s times.

Change will come, because it has to. However that rate of change is slowing, almost to the point where culture has ground to a complete halt. It feels like all trends are happening simultaneously now, and that’s wildly problematic because those very changes are what help us define the passing of time. These moments nail specific moments in history. In the face of it, the nostalgia industrial complex has risen up, typified perfectly by the zeal for the Oasis reunion. Everyone would prefer to look back, because there’s nothing new happening right now that feels as good.

So, as that rate of change slows, so it means that the path to something new and interesting, one that will speed up the cycle of culture, of fashion, of trends themselves, will take longer than ever to traverse.

That is something we all should be thinking about. Labels cannot dine out on old glories forever. The internet cannot keep recycling popular culture. Nostalgia is finite without anything new to ultimately become old. At some point, the buck needs to stop.

Right now, it feels like perhaps the strongest way for that to happen might be to see less blind acceptance of the agenda set by Big Tech, which, I note has shifted from a more optimistic and positive vibe of old, to a darker and more grim one, typified perfectly by Daniel Ek taking his billions and pumping them into AI defence systems investments.

As things stand, if a platform decides to prioritise a new feature (e.g. Instagram pushing everyone into reposting posts) then everyone dashes to embrace that. Yet I often fail to understand why, when most of these things don’t actually increase any depth of engagement of a qualitative aspect here; they just become One More Thing To Manage, at a time when artists are absolutely exhausted by all of it.

Change is desperately needed now, and as an industry we need to face up to that. Without doing so, we’re condemned to a Constant Now that will simply get more and more dull. As things stand, I’d argue we need the Shock Of The New more than ever.

Pray it comes soon.

Have a great evening,

D.


🎶 Listening to Mark Ernestus’ Resident Advisor podcast mix. What I love about this mix is that Mark is mixing a set comprised mainly of amapiano tracks, a genre I’ve been fairly oblivious to before now, when perhaps one might have expected something different. Equally telling however (and amusing, I’ll admit), is Mark’s entirely blunt interview which speaks to my point above (i.e. in simply answering ‘no’ when asked if any RA mixes had influenced him at all).

📖 Reading “The Accidental Buddhist: And Other Essays on Life, The Universe, and Nothing in Particular”, by Richard Lawson. There is a wondrous simplicity to this book that makes it a no-brainer of a recommendation. Lawson is a successful man who was once a heroin addict and an alcoholic - neither of which are addictions he chooses to view in quite the same way as most. The book is a series of short, easily-read essays on life and life’s meaning, written not from the perspective of a religious monk or zealous self-help nut, but from the perspective of an older man trying to figure out what it’s all about. There were too many moments in this book of chronic self-realisation, not least as I move into my 50th year and continue struggling with ADHD, so if like me you might be looking for some help that brings simple truths and with that a sense of some enlightenment, then this is well worth your time.

🤗 Enjoying a general digital detox. Pretty much zero phone time, helped in no small part by reviewing all notifications and distraction-creators and just turning them all off. More time reading, less time chasing stimuli… this has been an interesting few days in just realising how painfully overwhelming modern life can get, and how much we all tend to simply accept that rather than fighting back against it. Much food for thought coming as I continue to simplify life.

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Other items of note…

• Hyped to confirm I will be doing a keynote and moderating a panel at the brand new Music Frontiers event in Berlin, which takes place September 4th & 5th. This is an evolution of the very excellent Music Tech event I attended last year, so I can’t wait to head back. I highly recommend it as an event, not least because attendees have more range than I’ve seen at many conferences. This was where I met the very excellent Will Freeman last year, which in turn led to our panel at the Games & Music conference in Tileyard earlier in the year. See you there!

• Motive Unknown’s socials have had a do-over! We’re switching up things a little there, so will talking a little more about strategies as well as who we’re working with, as well as featuring more content from our lovely team too. Check our Insta page here, or follow us on LinkedIn for more there too.

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