Full Rate No Cap

We will be publishing again shortly, having been on hiatus to deal with some personal matters. But please enjoy this important Trapital discussion between Dan Runcie & our founder Bill Werde about the implication for the music business of Penske media, and its ownership of virtually all entertainment trade/business media. And we will be back to posting again soon!

I fully expected this essay to underscore how clearly generative tech platforms are ripping off copyrighted music. But if you, like me, go through this piece and listen to all of the samples that the author uses as evidence of copyright infringement, I actually think this piece becomes an incredibly compelling—and terrifying—argument for exactly how difficult the case will be for copyright holders. If these examples are the best that someone TRYING to prove violations can come up with, well, that’s just scary. Almost none of these feel like slam dunks when it comes to infringement. Can you hear the clear influences? Are some of them incredibly close? Absolutely. And certainly, some of the lyrical reproduction does feel like copyright infringement. But when it comes to the music and the recordings that were generated, if I want to be as generous as possible to the hopes of major labels and existing rights holders, I would say that it still seems pretty clear that these generative platforms can make a strong case that their work is transformative, and not derivative. Between that reality, and the general quality of the songs that this next generation of tech is producing, it is legitimately chilling.

Hi everyone. I’m sorry to say, but Full Rate No Cap will remain on hiatus while I work through a period of some difficult and consuming family circumstances. FRNC has been a labor of love since day one. Providing credible, source-based analysis about this business that has given me so much, for students and now for thousands of folks in the industry, is a true privilege and passion. I will return to weekly publishing as soon as I’m able to give FRNC the time it requires to meet the standards you deserve. Thank you. - Bill Werde

One point to add: the audience on Twitch (and other platforms) forms deep parasocial relationships with their favorite streamers, built on the authenticity of the individual streamer. Brands are far more impersonal than people. So while it's absolutely true that trying to impose an alternate business model on a platform with an already-very-established model is near impossible, it's just as difficult to get an audience to accept alternate content. No one was going to Twitch for "channels similar in caliber to television channels." And ultimately, no one really evolved to want that. Platforms are like giant rivers. No one and nothing has ever swam against the current and won.