The Problem With Music According To Steve Albini In 1993

This is the way Steve Albini ENDS his essay:

Some of your friends are probably already this f***ed.

It’s not hopeful. 

But it is helpful. 

This essay came out before I was fascinated by the business part of the music business, but it kept re-coming up once I got curious. I’ll forever be grateful to it. Even when I didn’t understand the words, it helped me know “somebody gets this, and you can learn it.” 

Written in 1993 for The Baffler (Issue #5), Albini is on fire. The article finds him tackling the machine for signing new bands, the machine for cranking out records, and the math that keeps the whole industry machine running, so it can keep f***ing the artists and f***ing up the art. 

It’s dark. 

Every industry has a version of this. 

If you want scale, you need industry. 

If you have industry, you have people extracting value. 

If you have people extracting value, some of your friends who don’t know are probably already this f***ed. 

You either know it’s dark and how to find your way through it, or you don’t realize how dark it is and are going to find out. 

I’ll carry this lesson with me forever. Thanks Steve Albini. You are missed.