To me music that is artistically successful reflects and projects a part of the artist and acts like a magic spell by allowing another person to experience the inner world of the artist through nothing but vibrating air. You can't expect to package and monetize that shit.

We're in the process of completely devaluing Art as a human endeavor as we transform it into a Product like any other. That's really what's behind the rise of AI shit: since the Art doesn't matter anymore and we just need Content to make money then machines are the most efficient way to produce it.

At this point it's no mystery how to create lucrative music with 100% reliability:
1) be born rich
2) be hot
3) know how to game algorithms

Know what's missing from the formula? Actually making music that's artistically successful. It's not important to creating Content.

The root of this discussion is what constitutes "success" as a musician. You can be a hustlecuck Content Mill churning out liquid shit on Spotify and Tiktok and rake in a few thousand a year, but is that really what makes success? If music is truly considered art then success means something else.

It took me awhile to figure out that Bandcamp is a far better platform than something like Spotify precisely because it is mostly other musicians and music heads. This implies that a sale or stream on Bandcamp is worth far more because the person listening is more appreciative of artistry.

The reason we're In The Shit right now isn't primarily because of Trump. It's because fascists actually did a form of the long march through the institutions while leftists didn't. So they control enough apparatus of state to make the will of any fascist leader into reality.

Take over your city council or school board. Use it as an incubator to develop candidates to seek election to the state legislature. Take over the state legislature. Use it as an incubator to develop candidates for federal office. This is the only way.

Imagine how effectively an opposition party could be using those levels of deep, deep dislike to organize taking back the government. However, guess who people dislike even more:

The Democratic Party is not a political organization acting to promote any particular policies. It is a marketing front for a consortium of political consultants who use elections as a mechanism to scam money out of liberals.