Music's last decade was all about scale. Streaming raced to onboard as many global subscribers as possible. All at one low price for every song in the world. And music grew: → 600 million more subscribers → $13 billion in added revenue The recorded music industry appears to be 'saved', more artists than ever have a slice of the pie & the world's music catalog is at nearly everyone's fingertips. Good. Here's the not so good: → We consume music more passively → Songs are becoming commodified → Artists are increasingly detached from their work Why? Everything the recorded music industry has done over the last 10 years has focused on the most casual, lean-back experience. Incentives take hold. The way we listen changes. The way we create changes. Music is shorter, more frequent & made to (hopefully) game an algorithm for attention. Music's next decade is about cultivating fans. It's about creating meaningful relationships between artists & listeners, upgrading the experience for the biggest fans & encouraging paths to fandom. It’s about building artists. Not just songs. Our new infrastructure must incentivize artists to experiment & explore. They must be rewarded for speaking to a core audience — and have ways to find that audience. It must also be attractive for fans. Or it won't matter. No easy task. If this seems overly idealistic & high-minded, that's because it is. None of this is promised. It's not a prediction. It's an aspiration. Let’s change the way the game is played.