You see the #legend. Happy Bday Unc! We miss you!
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Not today Justin
will byers stan first human second

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izzy's playlists!

#extradirty
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we're not kids anymore.
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"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
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@sonnydeewhite
You see the #legend. Happy Bday Unc! We miss you!
Happy Thanksgiving!!! I'm thankful for you all! 🦃🦃🌽🌽 (at Circle C Ranch)
Bout to throw them braces on it then it's a wrap. #selflove #gametime
THIS IS ABOUT CITY OF AUSTIN UTILITIES & A PROPERTY MANAGER WHO 'DID', BECAUSE THEY 'COULD'.
I need help from somewhere. I'm the little guy in a bad situation bearing the brunt of burdens carved out by a city's sole water service provider and a property manager who would take advantage of a young family trying to get established to protect his own hide.
As of sometime yesterday afternoon, after posting a CoA utilities payment as recently as 2/11/15, our water was shut off by the City of Austin. This is more complicated than a typical shutoff for reasons beyond just our experience/status as customers of CoA utilities. I've taken issue because this is the first time that our water service has been interrupted in the 30 months since we established the service in August of 2013 and it has been interrupted without recourse due to almost no fault of our own. According to a CoA rep to whom I spoke for 90 minutes last night, and her supervisor, to whom I spoke for 40+ minutes last night, the CoA agrees that we are not responsible and should not have been burdened with billing for the faulty irrigation system, but for reasons circular to the aforementioned logic, the supervisor denied judgment to exercise his authority to restore our service. You can imagine my frustration in hearing that he could actually provide water to my home, but wouldn't on a basis of fairness to others who were deactivated for non-payment. As it stands, our service will not be restored until we have paid the past due balance of $4,106 in full. And here's where it gets truly interesting. The balance is this ludicrous amount as it was incurred due to an underground leak in the irrigation system... Get this... at our previous home that we leased from August of 2013 until March of 2015! The leak itself was unknown to us until after we were billed for it, because it happened 2+ feet underground, in our back yard (at a time of heavy rains, no less) and it sprang from an improperly placed irrigation pipeline. The irrigation line was improperly placed because it was tied to the main waterline. In other words, even had we could have magically known it was the irrigation system, we would have also had to discern that shutting off all water to the house was the only way to stop the flow of water until a certified tech could be dispatched to fix the system. The first 4 utilities bills that we received from the City of Austin read: $335.69, $335.76, $2925.82, $1,085.55, and I'm not sure if the Nov. bill was more reflective of a reduction of our bill as a courtesy given the non-use or due the leak remaining for a short time into the next billing cycle before someone was dispatched to make the repair. Point being, in no way did we cause or aid in causing the leak and in no way did we have purview to identify and fix the issue. Because of the mainline configuration, whether or not the sprinkler system was operational had no impact on the appearance of the leak. In fact, even if there had only been the underground irrigation pipelines and no outboard devices or sprinkler system hardware at all, this particular leak may have still occurred . So here we are in 2016, paying dearly for Oct. - Nov. 2013 and losing our service behind it, when all we've done is try to pay for someone else's burden this entire time. And furthermore the timing couldn't be worse.
Airplanes above us is an independent garage-rock duo from Austin, Texas. The group includes Nowell Ellis on the guitar & microphone and Richard Cory on the drums. They are brothers. They draw inspir
If you like music, you'll like this.
Why I No Longer Trust Microsoft
I am the CEO of an SMB. I recently purchased a new Lenovo ThinkPad with Windows 7 preinstalled. For more than 2 years I remained on Windows 7 amidst myriad pressures to upgrade to Windows 8. Windows 7 - as far as I could tell - was more aligned and more essential to my use of the Windows OS than was Windows 8. However, since I purchased my new laptop and since the subsequent release of Windows 10, I have received daily messages and advertisements from Microsoft encouraging me to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10. After much deliberation and independent research, I finally decided that Windows 10 seemed stable and functional enough to deliver a user experience matched to my needs. Upon upgrading my machine to Windows 10 I immediately began experiencing an issue with my dual monitors - attached via my Lenovo laptop’s docking station. My displays appeared to be shorting in and out at a high frequency - the on-screen images jumping between one another, visible and non-visible - basically making it impossible for me to use my computing station as I had done so in all the time prior to installing Windows 10. As I began to troubleshoot the issue, I conducted a few hours of research and then gained quick access to Lenovo’s customer service to troubleshoot any potential hardware issues, ensuring that it was not their product causing the displays to malfunction. I certainly appreciated the 1-2 hours of service that Lenovo provided, even in spite of the fact that we agreed Windows 10 was the only ‘new’ variable that had been introduced into my computing environment before it began to malfunction and behave erratically. With confirmation that the hardware was not to blame, I shifted my attention to Microsoft’s customer service to address potential software issues. After a 5-6 hour session, the Microsoft customer service rep identified that Windows 10 would not work with displays requiring 2 different drivers. According to the rep, this meant that my laptop would no longer be able to display to 2 monitors of differing brands or differing models (in a lot of cases). The rep then advised that I should purchase 2 monitors of the same make and model because the Windows 10 OS was configured to work properly with dual monitors using a single driver. I heeded the advice and proceeded to invest more than $250.00 in the suggested hardware solution I was lead to believe would eliminate the problem. However, installing two monitors of the same make/model did not correct the issue I was experiencing. As such, I attempted to reconnect with Microsoft’s customer service to conduct more testing and troubleshooting until the issue was resolved. The ensuing customer service calls I have made to Microsoft, have taken an additional four or more hours of my time (beyond the previous 5-6 hour call from which I learned that an alleged driver issue was to blame to no avail). To date I have spent 10 or more hours combined on the phone with representatives from Microsoft. On the subsequent calls after I had been given what now appears to be misinformation about Windows 10’s capacity to handle dual monitors on a single driver, I have been told on an additional 2 separate occasions that my case would be escalated and that I would receive a customer service call from a “Tier Two Support Technician.” In the first instance that I received this promise from Microsoft, they even called me back to assure me that the call would come from The Tier Two Support Technician as early as 7AM the following day. No one from Microsoft – Tier 2 or otherwise – placed a call to me on the next day as I had been promised they would. Furthermore, when I called Microsoft back to inquire why I had not received a call as promised they responded by attempting to solicit my credit card number in order to charge me for a service that they had already established Microsoft would be providing at no charge. When I refused to provide a credit card number, citing my overall irritation with their inconsistent information and failure to meet a commitment, I was told that the case would again be escalated and the rep again set an appointment and my expectations for a direct call from a Tier Two Support Technician at no charge. In the following days (10/27–11/1) this appointment was missed and reps from Microsoft set one additional appointment that was missed, bringing the total number of missed appointments to 3. After spending 10 hours and almost 3 weeks trying to have what by my estimation was a simple driver issue corrected, I’ve not received adequate service or even service as Microsoft has promised and committed to providing me. At this point I would not recommend use of Windows 10 or any Microsoft Product as the Microsoft Customer service organization seems to be in disrepair and run by a group not competent enough to service Microsoft’s products; a group also easily characterized as caring too little about Microsoft’s customers and Microsoft’s brand to keep the promises and to meet the commitments it makes to Microsoft’s paying customers in need of service. My case numbers with Microsoft customer service are 1310927985 and 1310592129; all the information I have disclosed is documented under case files associated with these case numbers.
When making your products the best products available is not a priority, customer service had better be.
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Not only do they have a fleet of luxury vehicles to meet any ground transportation needs, they also have several vintage luxury vehicles just like the 1963 Bentley depicted here. Check out 4 Leaf Limo in Austin today! Because... it's never too early to schedule a trip to where you need to go.
Wake Up Music Business... Physical Sales are a Marketing Tool
Buying physical #music is like paying money for a flier advertising a concert. Albums are #marketing! #Musicbiz https://t.co/mZymTvpoOC
— Sonny D. (@damionlwhite) April 16, 2015
I'm reading your post about post racial America, and I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it. I understand the idea of individualism and personal responsibility, are you saying that those are ideals that are created by freedom/democracy or that they are in conflict with freedom/democracy? It's a bit of a difficult read, I haven't had my critical reading hat on in some time 😝
Thanks for reading! I intended it to be an essay written by racism itself, if Racism could be a person. It represents every platitude shared by people I’ve encountered in discussions of race. Many of them have claimed they were not in fact racist, while spreading the POV that what is experienced by marginalized people has nothing to do with racism or discrimination. It’s the whole: “I’m not getting ahead because my skin is white, but black people seem more prone to crime argument.” I just thought I’d put it all together to shock and awe people when they realized that - even if what i was saying isn’t what they thought they were saying - what I was saying was exactly what they were saying. And that specifically is that we all have the same chance at everything because… Democracy and Freedom. And they rationalize/insulate that empty platitude by invoking personal responsibility and individualism - neither of which mean anything to me personally.
Ahh ok I see, what did confuse me was that in reflecting on POC attitudes toward racism I have encountered the perspective that “I can’t change that idea in society, so it’s up to me to get ahead and do what I can without help” that’s where I got confused.
I like the the agency and self-determination behind the idea of “personal responsibility” but the flip side of that coin are those who think their morals/integrity and relation to others are of no consequence. It can be a bad thing for racists and a good thing for those who are its victims.
I think i just misinterpreted the sarcasm toward freedom/democracy — champions of democracy/freedom would purport that to curb toxic thinking infringes on individual freedom. It sounds like rational thinking, but it is on par w the negative sides of personal responsibility. I see what you’re saying now. Let me reread it
Love the discussion as it puts a finer point on the conversation and builds a bridge from my brand of sarcasm (which I know can be obtuse). I'm anxious to get your thoughts after you reread. And I don't want to color the reread too much, but what you were saying about "agency" and "self-determination" vs. A more loaded and symbolic term like "personal responsibility" is spot on. It's the rationalization of a system that isn't what it says it is... Because... Morality.
I'm reading your post about post racial America, and I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it. I understand the idea of individualism and personal responsibility, are you saying that those are ideals that are created by freedom/democracy or that they are in conflict with freedom/democracy? It's a bit of a difficult read, I haven't had my critical reading hat on in some time 😝
Thanks for reading! I intended it to be an essay written by racism itself, if Racism could be a person. It represents every platitude shared by people I’ve encountered in discussions of race. Many of them have claimed they were not in fact racist, while spreading the POV that what is experienced by marginalized people has nothing to do with racism or discrimination. It’s the whole: “I’m not getting ahead because my skin is white, but black people seem more prone to crime argument.” I just thought I’d put it all together to shock and awe people when they realized that - even if what i was saying isn’t what they thought they were saying - what I was saying was exactly what they were saying. And that specifically is that we all have the same chance at everything because... Democracy and Freedom. And they rationalize/insulate that empty platitude by invoking personal responsibility and individualism - neither of which mean anything to me personally.
The Preservation of Racism... From the voice inside a black man’s head
Everything happens for a reason.
Much of this began as a post I drafted over a year ago in response to an online discussion that arose after a former colleague shared her reactions to the news of a black reality TV star who made headlines for calling a white co-star “mediocre.”
The discussion sparked by my former colleague’s commentary was mostly in a business-corporate context – my response centering around a phrase she coined: ’Fallacy of Meritocracy’.
Revisiting this more than a year later I realized that I had (sarcastically) written:
A New Treatise for Perpetuating Racism Successfully in 21st Century, Post Racial America
I've edited the original post, eliminating the original backstory and setup and adding a few minor tweaks. What remains is Racism's mantra - personified as the voice in my head – or as the voice in my head giving the comprehensive speech back to all those who've deposited their support of the American way (or racism, if you really mean it).
——–
Like this if you support racism… or… if sarcasm is beyond you…
Any republican and, or tea-party candidates found plagiarizing this in speeches will be dealt with accordingly.
Upward mobility is an individual enterprise.
Even in a society as progressive as ours is today, freedom and democracy are at risk – meaning that our way of life is at risk. Everything that we do – everything that our forefathers did – protects our way of life.
To continue protecting our way of life we have to refute any notion that assails the sanctity of individualism and personal responsibility. These are the devices of our forefathers and the backbone of our exceptionalism. We must let no men convince other men that there are impediments put upon these devices aside from those that may reside within themselves.
Not history, nor politics, nor poverty, or anything the like shall be accepted by any individual who believes in our ideal. Group dynamics are a myth if you believe in Freedom – if you believe in our way of life. We shall remain dismayed and bewildered in the eyes of those claiming there are disparities caused by our ideal – we must never offer concession or admonishment to them – in fact, we must not even acquiesce that there is a “them” in this context.
Adherence to this treatise is license and rationale for dismissing all suitors who want the fruits of our way of life without accepting its ideal. No biases shall be held against us – or be defined as biases for that matter – because the attribution and definition of our “biases” may be discredited on the grounds that they are simply an inverted view of our ideal – the ideal interpreted in the absence of acceptance.
Remain steadfast that our ideal is infallible and most critical to sustaining our way of life – our way of life being beneficial to those who falsely claim they are better than they can possibly ascend in our society. The core principles supporting our ideal shall be defended as serving an accepted moral authority and those aspiring to reach higher ground shall be reminded that it could be worse.
No credit or merit shall be given to those who define us and our ideal as unjust or partial – we only care about the best. Therefore, all systems, institutions, or beliefs to which we ascribe and, or supply our support may not be credibly labeled as unjust or partial, because:
1. It is bias against Freedom and Democracy – an unjust and undue claim against our way of life – that gives rise to discontent among men who would perceive this great freedom as part and parcel to an institutionalized or systemic device, solely designed to give partial treatment and undue access to individuals on a preconceived basis.
Furthermore such a 'machine’ shall forever be regarded as wholly imperceptible to those who believe in Freedom and Democracy; therefore creating further evidence with which to invalidate the notion that those who live in support of our way life are, or could be, unjustly positioned, especially not in a way that is affective to other individuals.
–AND– 2. As perpetuating Freedom and Democracy are irreproachable, so too then are the means with which we ensure such perpetuation. The perceptions held among those men claiming that their personal freedom is somehow an unjust enterprise - and that which they would use to characterize this phantom injustice – are, by extension, no more than an elaborate attempt to subjugate Freedom’s protectors (you and me) to their own means for exerting power unfairly. It’s better to be called a victimizer - if in the name of our way of life – than it is to become a victim. Sticks and stones…
–AND– 3. The words of men who seek to convince other men that Freedom and Democracy are impure or unjust, shall be rebuked by those who believe in our way life, for these assailants are to be treated as cloaked assassins – believers in anarchy – who are merely engaging in an attempt to project, externalize and be rid of the responsibility to care for this great freedom they have been given as a citizen of our society.
Make no apology for the circumstances and conditions experienced by discontentment – an untenable enemy of our way of life. Deny all claimants, as no requester of shared responsibility shall be honored above individualism’s champions, especially those of whom claim that the effort of other men are by design responsible for their circumstances and conditions.
Refute all such claims and deny all opportunities to cast Freedom and Democracy - our way of life – as scapegoat. Let not the mouths of men abuse those who believe in our ideal with their claims of victimization at the hands of some 'collective’ to which they shall also claim Freedom and Democracy provide you and I exclusive access and membership.
Let it be confounding and unfathomable to you that any such ‘collective’ could exist amidst the purity of our Freedom and Democracy. How can one perceive that which is imaginary? Freedom and Democracy – nor their champions – may be described as excluding – all individuals are welcomed to excel, even those men who presently seek to assail our way life.
Heretofore it is decreed that claims made of the existence of some force – seen or unseen – shall not be allowed in the presence of those who accept our ideal – nor will such claims be allowed to desecrate Freedom and Democracy, in such a way to describe the plane upon which the efforts of our citizens manifest as imbalanced or unjst.
The efforts, skills and talents-in-life possessed by individuals living within the reach of our way of life serve only to propel those individuals to the ends of their desires and aspirations. Certainly the attributes of individuals must be set forth on the platforms of work ethic and personal enterprise, and consequently our defenders may cite the absence of any, or all such attributes when those seeking to assail Freedom and Democracy make claims that they have been impeded or denied in spite of their subset of wonderful attributes.
Those who would deny that our way is as pure and as just as we know it to be, will double down on their libelous claims that there is a collective fueled by the prejudices of specific individuals, and that this collective and its prejudices are responsible for the undesirable conditions and circumstances experienced by the discontent – by the would be assassins of Freedom and Democracy.
Beware of the individual that would generalize the defenders of Freedom and Democracy as synonymous with the phantom collective upon which they project their malaise. Those who ascribe to our way of life will be accused of gaining access to the fruits of Freedom and Democracy only by right of birth. We know this to be untrue as our undying individualism and personal responsibility are the lighted path to fully realizing the benefit of Freedom and Democracy.
Your accuser will seek to limit Freedom and Democracy’s defenders by claiming that any and all ascension, achievement and triumphs belonging to us are singularly defined by our membership to the collective of their imaginations.
Cast them out as Christ would a demon; lamenting that they would blaspheme against Freedom and Democracy. Remind them that individualism and personal responsibility, each of tremendous purity and grace, exclude no one! Reverse their ilk by shedding light upon them and their tendency to shrink, fail, and retreat as defined only by their self-diagnosed lack of access to this phantom collective – or even worse and perhaps representative that some are a lost cause – as a direct result of the actions carried out by this non-existence collective.
Maintain extreme disbelief that any soul within the reach of Freedom and Democracy might perceive this (imaginary) collective – as an entity unaware of itself yet intentionally limiting the existence and causing the perceived impediment of individuals – individuals who strangely have in common, disdain of their position or station within our society – a society that we know provides unfettered access to all things deserved.
As a preserver of the ideal, the point of view held by the assailant is everything in life to which we are categorically opposed. The assailant provides a definitive illustration of the truly dire consequences awaiting us if we ever acquiesce that a better could be undone or denied by a lesser.
He who believes what the assailants believe is foreshadowing the lack of capacity and moral fiber and high character – inherent among those who defend the ideal, as evidenced by [INSERT ANECDOTAL EXPERIENCE/ACHIEVEMENT HERE]. Our fall from grace – if we allow subversion by those who would destroy our way of life – will dismantle the work we have done and that our forefathers did to ensure that all souls in the care of Freedom and Democracy would enjoy the fruits of great effort.
Gone will be the abundance of wonderful innate traits working in concert to bring about desirable outcomes – that we the defenders of Freedom and Democracy celebrate – even when we must do so in the face of [INSERT HARDSHIP THAT INTERSECTED MAJOR TRIUMPH HERE] – a trial that may have likely destroyed a lesser person (and let it remain unsaid, that this be especially true of those who refuse personal responsibility and denies the truth that freedom is mankind’s greatest equalizer)."
Thoughts are Real, so Heaven is too. Part I
A friend of mine shared a status this morning that stopped me in my tracks. My friend's post is what inspired me to create this entry.
The post had such a profound impact on me because it was one half of a related thought that had been on my mind for most of the morning and in the moments just before I opened my Facebook app. It was as if the Universe was commanding me to further develop my thoughts. As I am inclined to see the signs, I will oblige.
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A lot of folks out here believe that the Bible, church, and Christianity are meant to keep people "controlled"? Really,...
Posted by David C on Monday, April 13, 2015
Not even 10 minutes before reading...
David's post, I was thinking about Heaven and religion - my thoughts on heaven being more primary and in the context of it being a "thought" or an idea (vs. it being a place); the tangible (or real) nature of thought in general; and the relationship(s) between evidence and the absence thereof.
The mind makes it real.
-Morpheus
In what I considered an epiphany, I became wholly comfortable with the idea that Heaven could be real for some and not real for others. You see, Heaven - an eternal utopia and the preferred afterlife destination for faithful and righteous followers of various dieties most popular in western cultures - is at this point, more than it is anything else that we can prove or disprove, a widely held idea or thought.
As an idea, Heaven is such the meme that it indiscriminantly prevades the thoughts and minds of those who beleive in it wholeheartedly and those who think that believing in its existence is completely preposterous. Bill Maher probably alludes to Heaven (and themes of religion) as much as a Christian minister.
More compelling perhaps is the fact that even by the evidentiary standards of science the tangibility of human thought is undeniable.
Along these lines my thoughts traveled from how little we know about measuring the subconscious (or perhaps the super-conscious ;-)) mind, to the depth and complexities of memory, intuition and unexplainable familiarity (i.e. deja vu), then onto the nothing we know of any thing related to non-physical attributes experienced in death, and finally then to the fact that death's domain cannot be reached by science.
Just as we've observed dimensions of time and space beyond the 3 in which we "live" and sought greater understanding thereof, humanity has a similar - much longer lived - relationship with death. And I think the lineages are so similar for many of the same reasons; the obvious commonality among death, time and space being that life seems inescabably bound by all three.
The Heaven is in the mind of the beholder...
This morning I realized that humankind's will to conquer death - the drive to sustain and to preserve life, as such to even transcend death - quite possibly holds within it the proof that there can be a Heaven. As such, I can no longer find cause to refute the belief in a Heaven based on the absence of evidence, or more succinctly, based on the inability of a believer to produce evidence of a Heaven while only having experience of and access to Earth.
You may not know anyone who has ever been to Heaven, but you know plenty of people who are entirely convinced that they're going (or that they will at least have the chance to go) eventually. Regardless of its origin - the historical accuracy of the stories describing its creation - Heaven is no more or less a part of humanity than are academic disciplines. The fundamental difference being that there is a precluding experience (death) that in and of itself is inaccessible to and unbound by the governing principles of the living-physical world and as such, Heaven - if it does exists - is by logical extension inaccessible to and ubound by the governing principles of the living-physical world.
As a result, believing that Heaven is a "place" where human life can be present is inherently vulnerable to detraction based on the fact that is impossible to satisfy the burden of proof in the context of life. There simply isn't any evidence that exists this side of the >River Styx.
And conversely - before you think this is an endorsement of Heaven (it is not) the belief in a Heaven falls along the spectrum of human nearest those most prone to fanatiscm. What I call, the conflict between human rationality and everything else about humanity is why I think this is the case. It's the consequence of living in defense of a position that can rationally - read: bound by the principles of what we know in the context of a history of life on Earth - be considered indefensible.
Nevertheles, it is a falliable logic to demand proof of a 4th dimension be represented within the context of 3-dimensional existence, and so to then is the logic that demands proof of the nature of death somehow be comprised in the nature of life. As far as we know and can prove, death is a point of no return, meaning until we explain the means to travel between the states of life and death, all we truly know is that we don't truly know what's in store after our bodies are no longer viable in this realm.
End. Part I.
Tune in next time, for why debating our beliefs in comparison to others' beliefs is a huge waste of time!
Two of my favorite photos of the day. Time to give America a raise, b/c it's not as if the well-to-do executive in FDR's example has studied the economics of raising the minimum wage. And legislation limiting term limits in congress.... is well... just... DUH!
What Could Jay-Z’s $56M in Tidal Really Have Bought: Investing in Pride is Investing to Fail
If you follow music and tech, then you might have heard about the star-studded unveiling of new - high-fidelity, lossless audio - music streaming service Tidal. Spearheaded by a $56M investment from Jay-Z, Tidal wants your business because it sounds great and because it is morally ethical for you - the listener, the fan - to support a list of starving artists worth more than $1.5B!
Please support these starving artists by paying $240 a year for a usually free service #TIDALforNOONE pic.twitter.com/iajv9AAjRA
— Justin Matters (@JudasNokktern) March 31, 2015
A great writer and friend of mine, David Dennis (@DavidDTSS) brilliantly spells out why this move by Jay-Z et. al was a "Tone Deaf" debacle and transparently obvious money grab. And I definitely agree with him. I define this as Jay-Z and co. being about "their" art vs. being about "the" art [of music]. This wouldn't be problematic had it not been for the 'somber faced melodramatic tone' invoked by Jay-Z's cast of characters signing on at Tidal's inaugural presser - as described by David D.
I also agree with Randall Roberts' reveiew of Tidal and these 10 things wrong with Tidal from techradard.com's, Duncan Greere.
But that's not what I'm writing about. I'm writing to list a few things that I might have done differently if I had $56M lying around to invest in a music streaming service.
1. Help Spotify become profitable.
Paying artists will never be a priority for a company that hasn't paid off. While curtailing piracy, Spotify's coffers are all but non-existant under the crushing weight of licenscing-sync fees that it has paid to the major record labels and other music rights owners.
Although the streaming music giant generated over $1B in revenues in 2013, they are still not yet profitable. That said, it's pretty obvious to me that artists - who rarely own the 'art' that they create (... ahem... Taylor Swift...) - because they rarely pay the costs and expenses to create said art and, or distribute it en masse - stand to be the last in line to get paid by a service like Spotify.
And the great irony here is, I - an unkown artist by all accounts - have actually had enough streams to make whole dollar amounts on Spotify even though they only pay about $.00064 per stream on average. That's without any promotion, major label support, or even a release in more than 6 years for that matter! So I'm pretty bearish on Spotify as a result, especially considering that I have seen no mention that new, up-and-coming or unsigned artists have a place within the pantheon of Tidal content.
The ire of these wealthy, but self-proclaimed inadequately compensated artists should be directed at their labels, publishers and distributors - the companies who also currently own a 20% stake in Spotify and who gobble up 70% of the company's revenues before it spends a dime on anything else. Instead Jay-Z's band of music brethren have undertaken the task of "Revolutionizing" music (so they say) by cutting out the middle man in an already f***ed up system.
Going directly to Colombia for one's 'keys' is not any more revolutionary than killing the supplier to take over his position. You're still selling coke!
My point here is that Jay's $56M could have been invested in an R&D project bringing Aspirio - the company he bought to power the high-fi tech side of Tidal - into Spotify's pipeline to improve the audio quality of Spotify's streams and as a bargaining chip to negotiate better payment terms for artists. Along these lines Jay's $56M could have gone to a series of marketing materials, online petitions, etc. that would have forced the hands of the major labels with respect to their terms and conditions for syncing and licensing agreements with Spotify. And this list could go on!
2. Actually invest in art, artists and artistry
Even the most ritualistic listeners - those who prefer not to listend to radio played artists - know of Jay-Z and most of the clowns who joined him for the press conference announcing Tidal. It was embarassing to see them standing there asking for their devoted fans to identify with the argument that it might be a more morally upstanding alternative to streaming at $9.99/month (for Spotify premium) to stream [high-quality and exclusive content] for $20.00/month. It was ghastly. Many of the jokes and mocking tones employed to describe the event reference the gravitas these artists hoped to bring to the stage, as if they were doing something that was actually meaningful or important beyond their own interests. Along those lines $56M could have gone a long way to help unknown artists gain access to and feedback from the poor-rich folk Jay-Z brought out to Tidal's press conference. How about a streaming platform that allows established artists and unkown artists to release collaborative efforts? Or that allows established artists to review, share, buy "stock" in and promote the music of indy and up and coming artists to their benefit and to the benefit of the indy artists? What about a streaming service that shares the artists' favorite music - known and unknown - theirs and others'? There's a million-and-one ways that I could envision spending the $56M to this end, I just wish I had it to spend!
3. BE F***ING HONEST -
If I had $56M to invest in streaming music, I wouldn't be disinegenuously peddling anything, ideas, platforms, services or otherwise! We live in the age of transparency and the public will not have their intelligence insulted - not even by the talented likes of Jay-Z, Beyonce, Jason Aldean and Alicia Keys. Had they stood smiling on that stage lead by Alicia Keys remarks, and had those remarks been more honest and along the lines of:
"We're filthy rich, but we are not compensated in the way that our predecessors were due to the poor deals we've signed with record labels, the trends of digital piracy and filesharing, the poor response to digital piracy and filesharing that we decided to put up with from the record labels we signed so much of our livelihoods over to in our record deals, and because of this we feel that we should combine our present-day clout, capital and connections to take back what we've lost to the industry that is powering your - the fans' listening experience. None of this is savory business, especially not for you all, but if you trust in us, we will at the very least leverage our platform to provide you with a better listening experience, even if marginally so. With that in mind, we won't be broke - and our kids' grandkids' grandkids' likely won't be either - if you don't get behind this effort, we just hope that you will, because perhaps the record labels and music industry at-large will become better for our efforts so the next generation of artists can just focus on making art and not on making business decisions. Because, maybe not now, but when we started we were only concerned about making art, not making business decisions.
Tidal might actually have a shot. The fact that Alicia's remarks were otherwise suggests that not even they believe the bulls*** they were trying to sell!
Some players didn't shake hands. Now throw those stones from your glass houses, America. You're lucky I wasn't in a uniform last night. I would have told you all what you really needed to hear. A smart man said that no Duke team would have behaved this way... Well, seeing as how no Duke team has ever been 38-0 playing for a berth in the college national championship game, that's speculative at best. And I like Duke and Coach K as much as any other program, but now that Kentucky has lost a game a lot of people - especially those who root for underdogs over domination - are doing a disservice to what an incredible season we just witnessed. No greater example of this than the unfettered expectation that these young men - most of whom are still teenagers - would demonstrate fantastic sportsmanship in what they likely consider their darkest hour not involving life and death or peril for themeselves or family members. No Duke team has been 38-0. No Duke team has been 38-0 in the final four. No Duke, or any other college sports team for that matter, has been the subject of such a magnitude of media attention and public opinion as this Kentucky team endured. Not even the 2007 New England Patriots had to deal with the scrutiny and pressure of being expected to go undefeated. What these Kentucky kids put up with - cameras in their faces at every turn, sponsors getting rich while they got nothing, the NCAA smarmyness, accusations of misconduct, naysayers hoping and praying for their demise, the Millions of Dollars made by everyone involved in this journey except for them (despite maintaining the greatest amount of responsibility for it) - was more than most juniors and seniors in college could deal with, and let alone win 38 straight games while doing it. What the hypocrites and armchair analysts among us are choosing to ignore is just how much the degree of scrutiny, reverence, admiration, adoration, media and public opinion shaped the context of Kentucky's season and how it came to an end. Although these were young men, they weren't too young to know that the second that they ran out of time on going 39 or 40-0 it was all over - all for naught. The public couldn't wait to discredit Calipari's recruitment of such a talented team, couldn't wait to be proved right in their hope that the best don't always win because of systems and chemistry somewhwere, anywhere in middle America. These kids knew it was their fans and them against an overwhelming negative thought energy - they knew people not even interested in college basketball or sports at all would be willing them to lose. They also knew that succumbing to this will would mean that all the hard work, blood, sweat and tears, and sacrifices they made (at least 5 Kentucky guys could have been in the Nat'l player of the year conversation if they chose any other program) in the last year - or two for several of them - would be rendered basically worthless if they didn't win the championship. As they stood there, in the most public of forums for amateur basketball players, in a moment more vulnerable than any of us have come remotely close to knowing, what would we have had them do? Shake hands? Really? Is that what this is really about? If I played for Kentucky last night I would have had no recourse for controlling an outpouring of negative emotion, let alone shake the hands of the all-too-pedestrian opponent I just gave a chunk of my legacy away to for no apparent reason. Anyone remember the Fab5? Why? It certainly isn't for how fabulous they were - and they were indeed fabulous. These guys had to win it all or else the weight of the world they carried for so long was just the crushing weight to carry that so many people hoped that they couldn't overcome. Because if they did carry that weight and succeed, how then could we all live with the thousands of accidental victories we applaud and hope for in our own lives every day? And with that thought, I want out of that gym as fast I can get out of there, too.
I was prompted to interpret. So I did… LOL! RE: The thought process leading to Kanye approaching the stage: He approached the stage as a joke. …Because his inner monologue found it funny….? RE: Kanye's relationship with Taylor Swift He respects Taylor as an artist - she has really blossomed into a force to be reckoned with since the VMA’s in 2009. They’re now going to collaborate. [Not interpretation: It will likely amount to some of her best work yet]. RE: Beck as an artist; RE: Beck being OK with Kanye Beck is a great artist. No bones about it. He’s a great artist, period. The gesture - whether perceived as a joke or not - will amount to more fandom and album sales for Beck. The POV that Kanye West is an asshole will continue to dominate as the most pervasive worldview. Kanye West doesn’t mind that POV or that a benign gesture (albeit the ruffling of our feathers) continues to fuel and justify that POV… because… well Beck will gain of it! RE: Chiropractor Analogy. Sometimes someone raising an issue, challenging status quo, or coloring outside of the lines can be therapeutic and downright cathartic for all of us. So, deal with it. RE: The notion that, "You're rich, so STFU, diva." Because artists are rich and because the Grammys are a media spectacle and because networks make a shit-ton of money off of advertising during the Grammys, the general public takes for granted that some (not all) artists care what happens. Not to suggest everyone should care about Grammys or that life doesn’t go on for both the winners and the losers, but for a select few creators - who really care about the craft - it matters, even if for just a millisecond. [Not interpretation: Would it really hurt to see how this makes megastars and wealthy entertainers more relatable - more like us - than less?] RE: Why so adamant about defending Bey? Beyonce is an angel - a saint - an artist he truly admires. She would never raise her hand or her voice to challenge another artist, the institution or break from proper decorum to do anything remotely like so. She is one of few artists that Kanye West reveres in this way - one he also believes that - much more than himself - is acceptable by the academy’s standards. As such, he is passionate and very emotional about Beyonce being passed over or dismissed by the music institution, because if Bey can’t gain recognition, then it’s unlikely that any of us who don’t look Taylor Swift or Beck ever will. [Not interpretation: that’s a shitty POV, admittedly - I tend to see things in terms of abundance not scarcity, but it’s not so unfathomable that he’d feel that way].
http://mashable.com/2015/02/11/kanye-west-taylor-swift-beck/ I was prompted to interpret. So I did... LOL! He approached the stage as a joke. ...Because his inner monologue found it funny....? He respects Taylor as an artist - she has really blossomed into a force to be reckoned with since the VMA's in 2009. They're now going to collaborate. [Not interpretation: It will likely amount to some of her best work yet]. Beck is a great artist. No bones about it. He's a great artist, period. The gesture - whether perceived as a joke or not - will amount to more fandom and album sales for Beck. The POV that Kanye West is an asshole will continue to dominate as the most pervasive worldview. Kanye West doesn't mind that POV or that a benign gesture (albeit the ruffling of our feathers) continues to fuel and justify that POV... because... well Beck will gain of it! Sometimes someone raising an issue, challenging status quo, or coloring outside of the lines can be therapeutic and downright cathartic for all of us. So, deal with it. Because artists are rich and because the Grammys are a media spectacle and because networks make a shit-ton of money off of advertising during the Grammys, the general public takes for granted that some (not all) artists care what happens. Not to suggest everyone should care about Grammys or that life doesn't go on for both the winners and the losers, but for a select few creators - who really care about the craft - it matters, even if for just a millisecond. [Not interpretation: Would it really hurt to see how this makes megastars and wealthy entertainers more relatable - more like us - than less?] Beyonce is an angel - a saint - an artist he truly admires. She would never raise her hand or her voice to challenge another artist, the institution or break from proper decorum to do anything remotely like so. She is one of few artists that Kanye West reveres in this way - one he also believes that - much more than himself - is acceptable by the academy's standards. As such, he is passionate and very emotional about Beyonce being passed over or dismissed by the music institution, because if Bey can't gain recognition, then it's unlikely that any of us who don't look Taylor Swift or Beck ever will. [Not interpretation: that's a shitty POV, admittedly - I tend to see things in terms of abundance not scarcity, but it's not so unfathomable that he'd feel that way].