3. Everything is Awesome! The author treats us to this list of glittering generalities:

Filmmakers alone have raised more than $290 million on Kickstarter for their creations. Musicians are supplementing their income with instrument lessons on YouTube. All of these outlets are potential sources of revenue for the creative class, and all of them are creatures of the post-­Napster era. The Future of Music Coalition recently published a list of all the revenue streams available to musicians today, everything from sheet-­music sales at concerts to vinyl-­album sales. They came up with 46 distinct sources, 13 of which — including YouTube partner revenue and ringtone royalties — were nonexistent 15 years ago, and six of which, including film and television licensing, have greatly expanded in the digital age.

The reward based crowdfunding is a real thing that I support, and the Patronism.com and Patreon models have appeal for musicians. However, these crowdfunding models do not make up for the consistent investment in production, marketing and promotion spend from record companies or the sustaining advances from music publishers. And please don’t tell me that the huge hit to musicians is going to be offset by music lessons on YouTube.

I find it odd that the author had the brass to mention the Future of Music study. Here’s what FOMC had to say about their New York Times experience:

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