#031: There’s No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

“If you want to find the truth - have no opinions”

In today’s society, the classic saying “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” has never been more true. When someone takes you out for a free business lunch (or dinner/sporting event — remember those?), it is very likely that there will be some type of ‘ask’ coming in return. This used to be a silent agreement in business which dictated many deals — small and large. As time passed and the introduction of the internet and technological era, these same types of agreements exist; however, many times the consumer isn’t even aware that the transaction is happening and corporate conglomerates now dominate the space.

When you get food at McDonalds or the Mexican restaurant around the corner, it’s a pretty straight-forward transaction. They provide you with food and you provide them with money in exchange. Nothing too complicated there. But when you use Facebook or Twitter, what is the transaction that is occurring? Those are free platforms that have more content than the entire history of cable TV. When there is an imbalance or inability to understand the transaction that is taking place, then you are very likely the product. In Facebook’s case, they are mining your data and learning as much about you as they possibly can — from buying habits, interests, relationships, the content that you share and beyond. They then turn that data around to advertisers (via Facebook and Instagram ads) and they end up monetizing you (the user) in return. Privacy is dead, but only because the consumer can’t resist the addicting and free platforms that have been created.

This same dynamic exists within the music industry in many ways, but none more clear than the ‘free’ tier of Spotify. Most of the major music streaming services charge a monthly subscription rate in order to access all of the music in recorded history. That includes Apple Music, Tidal and YouTube Music. However, Spotify has an option for someone to sign-up and access all of this music for free. Yes, there is a catch. I hope you’ve learned that by now. Spotify launched their own advertising platform, very similar to the Facebook model, that allows brands and now recording artists/record labels to target people based on their music listening habits. Spotify still pays the artist or label for the streams generated by free users, but they pay a lesser rate than a stream from a premium user and the idea of people getting a catalog of music for free is a sore subject for many recording artists. COVID may have altered the ability to receive a free lunch for the time-being, but ‘there’s no such thing as a free lunch’ is still alive and well.

________________________________________________________________________

JAY’S SONGS OF THE WEEK:
Jerub - “Feel It”
Arlo Parks - “Hope”
MVNA - “Oceans”
Marzz - “Feelin’ Me”
King Bone - "On My Block"