🔵 The erosion continues... but the fight back gains momentum

Is the turning point finally approaching?

Today began with my reading an uncharacteristically vitriolic article from

Patrick Clifton

, discussing the fact that Warner Music has seen long-standing UK CEO Tony Harlow exit the company, but that importantly, he will not be replaced, with all UK heads now reporting into the US company exec structure.

Clifton, quite rightly, goes on to voice concerns about the implication of this - essentially arguing that A&R will not now be fully controlled by a UK leader, but will instead have to be signed off via US counterparts. As his rather fine headline suggests, it is indeed as if Warner UK will become a ‘51st state’ type of entity as a sub-office of the USA.

My own view on this development was that, harsh as it is to say, this feels like the end result of something various people (myself included) have been saying for a while now, namely that if the UK A&R situation across the majors did not improve (at least where frontline labels were concerned), we could hit a point where parent companies cease to view the UK operations as worthy of continued investment, reducing them down to just another local office with more of a skeleton staff kind of setup. Ultimately, this is business (particularly at this kind of corporate level), and if offices aren’t delivering the goods, one can expect changes - and cuts. Thus, here we are.

I share Patrick’s view in his article that this could be a disaster for Warner when it comes to signing and generally attracting new talent. Perhaps it would be fairer to let the results speak for themselves rather than declaring it a bust already, but I do share the view that this does not feel like a positive development.

Alongside this however, a small but more notable event occurred, and whilst it is wholly unrelated, I nonetheless feel it helps paint a wider-angle picture as to how our industry landscape is shifting.

For a while now I’ve commented that the backlash against the likes of Spotify will only really gain momentum when an artist of genuine reach quits the platform. Sure, to date we’ve the likes of Ilian Tapes’ Skee Mask boycott the DSP (with the label ultimately following suit), and since then others have joined that walkout, but - at the risk of offending - none were at quite the level that bring a high element of inconvenience to what is, after all, a platform built on the convenience of “all the music in the one place”.

Yesterday, however, Massive Attack announced that they’d instructed their label to remove all their music from Spotify. The reason given is primarily Daniel Ek’s investment in AI warfare tech (though wider concerns are acknowledged in this separate post), but irrespective, this feels far more significant. Granted, that view might be skewed by my own demographic, but I do feel Massive Attack have enough hits such that their absence from the platform will be noticed.

More importantly, this introduces a “well if they can do it…” type of example for others to follow. Will they? That remains to be seen, but make no mistake: this exit feels far more impactful than all the others thus far.

A CEO’s exit, a band’s exit… granted, these are wholly disconnected events. To me however, they are increasing signs of a shift. The majors - well, one of them for now - seem to be sliding into a consolidation move that, for the UK anyway, brings concerns about how domestic talent will be developed.

Alongside that, you have one of the UK’s more respected acts electing to vote with its feet. Massive Attack are vocal and influential, and when you have the No Music For Genocide campaign now counting 400+ artists - including the likes of Primal Scream and Rina Sawayama - all removing their music from the streaming platforms in Israel, one cannot help but wonder whether more artists will follow suit.

Slowly but surely, artists are exercising their rights to remove music from platforms. For now, those reasons are primarily political, but it’s equally possible that - were some to follow suit at this point - a conclusion may be drawn that being on these platforms simply isn’t worth it anymore… and when that happens, streaming platforms have a serious problem.

Ted Gioia

wrote a terrific article yesterday, highlighting a Midia report that detailed how we’ve now hit a point where tracks can have billions of streams on TikTok and yet be wholly forgettable, and the artist responsible unknown to anyone.

As he says:

“Social media apps are now run as isolated bunkers, and the owners do everything possible to prevent users from leaving—so crossover from one platform to another is discouraged at every turn.”

… before going on to state that…

In confirmation of this, MIDIA reports that 55% young social media users want to have deeper engagement with new music. They just don’t know how. In a sane universe, the major record labels would fight against this anonymity and ambivalence. But, instead, they have embraced TikTok—assuming that it will create the next generation of superstar artists.

So you can see that the problem is getting worse, but that crucially, people are tiring of this and are looking for answers. Equally, as Gioia’s article (and Midia’s report) highlights, younger demographics - the most valuable strain of music consumer - are dissatisfied and looking for better ways to engage with music.

Factor in algorithmic and AI-driven slop on social media increasingly leaving people wondering why they spend time there, and you have an environment where users are unhappy, artists are unhappy, and major labels appear to be clueless as to how to tackle that. Right now the only people winning are the likes of Meta and TikTok.

With that in mind, the conditions feel increasingly right for everyone involved - be that artists or fans - to hit a breaking point, where they simply decide this no longer works for them. When the likes of Massive Attack are already fed up with the status quo, that makes for a dangerous combination for stakeholders who thrive on things being as they currently are. This also means that there will be opportunities springing up from this all; one which might see new platforms and options enter the arena, and that is a reason for optimism amid the gloom.

Change appears to be coming then. For now the question remains “how soon…?”.

Have a great evening,

D.


🎶 Listening to tracks from “Implosion” by The Bug & Ghost Dubs. I feel like both Kevin Martin AKA The Bug and Michael Fiedler AKA Ghost Dubs have been exploring the lowest of low ends in their respective works, so this collaborative album felt almost inevitable. Deconstructing tracks to often be sparse, bass-driven explorations of space and noise, there is something in this sound that proves highly addictive - if you’re me anyway. Cannot wait to hear the full album, which drops November 14th.

📖 Reading “Burning Down The Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution and the Fall of the Berlin Wall” by Tim Mohr. After visiting the Stasi Museum in Berlin a couple of weeks back, I couldn’t resist this incredible account of the East Berlin punk movement that developed in the face of brutal repression from the Stasi and the wider communist regime. Shocking and utterly gripping. Highly recommended.

📺 Watching “Jon Stewart's Post-Kimmel Primer on Free Speech in the Glorious Trump Era” on YouTube. In general I am trying to limit my intake of news, not least because after spending time in Berlin learning about the rise of both fascism and oppressive communist regimes, far too many elements of both rang horrifically familiar in 2025. This is quite the watch though, as Stewart turns the tables to bring a vision of what a Trump-approved show might feel like. Well, shot through with extreme satire and sarcasm of course, but the point remains well-made.

🤖 Playing with an ADHD-aware, GPT-powered task assistant. Yes, this might well be overkill, but I’m finding it massively helpful. Create a GPT Project, outline your needs (which in my case was basic enough - remember tasks and ask me how long each one might take to complete) and then just interact with it accordingly. It’s the best task management setup I’ve used - and god knows I’ve used plenty through the years, all with minimal success. Being able to say “I’ve got 20 minutes, what can I get done?” and have the GPT spit back various tasks I can complete in that time is insanely helpful.

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