Spotify eats music; Souvenirs; Mindful capitalism
Issue #360
š”Think
Hey everyone,
I was reacquainted with a tweet earlier this week, and it very quickly made it to my Notion list of āthings to bear in mindā. Iām going to just present it without opinion, you can take from it what you will š
https://twitter.com/writes_eve/status/1693952406026170804
Have a great week!
š· Look
š Read
ā¶ Spotify is eating the entire music business
This article made me aware that Spotify has never turned a profit. In 2022, it lost over ā¬400m, which is just completely nuts. Itās on a āloser takes allā rampage, and itās made me really consider whether that monthly subscription is doing the music industry more harm than good.
ā· How souvenirs became irresistible to travellers
Little bit of fun with this article. Itās about why when we travel, we search for little mementos of our trip. The weird (I think?) thing is that itās not even a new phenomenon. Back in the 1600s, wealthy teens would look for souvenirs. And even further back in 980BC, it was a thing as well.
āø When mindfulness meets capitalism, it loses its way
This article really goes for the jugular of mindfulness, yoga, Feng shui and others as a way to describe them as ways in which capitalism has asset-stripped religion for a handsome $9.99 per month subscription.
ā
Bonus round
š§ Listen
Synthetic humans
This is a fascinating if not concerning look into the world of relationships with artificial humans (are they even called that?), where people tell stories of their digital companions ā programmed bots positioned as the friends and partners (!) that theyāve always wanted. Whatās odd though is that this isnāt a new thing. Back in the 1920s, American bakery company Betty Crocker ran a mail competition, but ended up with women writing in thinking that the fictional character was a confidant. All explained in the podcast.
Have a great week,
@disco_lu