let's talk about @Spotify
*cracks knuckles*

a joy for listeners, fantastic playlisting, a solution to piracy, hated by artists and ultimately a victim of a broken & outdated financial model.

let's dig in... it's important to make the distinction between the actual people working at spotify and spotify the software.

i've met SO many great people there that truly love music and care about these issues.

i genuinely believe the company has the right intentions.

i’ll be the first to admit that this particular category is nascent and unproven.

for those of us that have been around for a while, we’ve been talking about these ideas for many years now.

some of them are only being proven now in real time.

https://twitter.com/sobylife/status/1499862614377046016

i suspect that the fact that music nfts haven’t captured the attention (and high valuation) of ape jpgs is perhaps a reflection of that unproven track record.

with that said, cryptopunks were selling for 1ETH for many years.

higher the risk, higher the reward.

let's talk about money and music.

<ok let's all take a deep breath>

the friction in between art and commerce is as old as time but i've noticed this anti-commercial sentiment creep up as nfts have blown up. somebody commented one of my posts and said:

"why don't you just admit that you just want money"

you know what? i do.

i want to be paid fairly for my work, just like pretty much everybody else on this planet. am i supposed to hate money because i make music?

introducing racOS v0.1 ✨

▷ rac.fm

a web3 enabled portal for all $RAC holders. it's free for all to use but has some unlocked features if you hold $RAC tokens.

it's not a full OS per se, but it is the base layer to build on and continue to develop for years to come.

I had so much fun making all the OS sounds: boot up, maximize, minimize, etc..

ok so you hate NFTs.
cool, let's talk about it.

i'm not gonna convince you, but at least i can offer the perspective of an artist who has been involved in the space since 2017 before any of you heard about it. first off, ecological concerns.
this is basically solved pending imminent implementation.

https://twitter.com/RAC/status/1369756727587999744

I own several and have them publicly displayed in my rac.eth account.

primarily the @reisingerandres genesis piece. also @beeple @slimesunday @muratpak @Poolsuite

on the collectible side @solflowers_io @KaizenCorpsNFT @themetasapiens @ASCIIPunksNFT

I own @decentraland land

https://twitter.com/third_man_jack/status/1475642073822945286

I haven't really participated in the 10k pfp world, although I do remember brainstorming with @bobbyhundreds on @AdamBombSquad, even though I missed the mint by 1 min lol

I remember when punks were 1-2 ETH, but never dove in. Also missed the boat on BAYC.

Calculating carbon footprint based on transaction count fundamentally misunderstands how ethereum works.

Every argument for this is all based on this flawed principle.

Blocks will happen regardless of your transaction count. I'm baffled by all the misinformation being spread around. I think it's well intentioned (or maybe not) but it's cherry picked data to attack artists for participating in a larger ecosystem they don't even understand. Not to mention, just plain wrong.

Today is the day 👀
My first drop of the year.

@rac x @lucas_zanotto

on @makersplaceco

open editions go live today at 3:30pm PST for 15 min only.
the top collector of each OE will receive a 1/15.
every purchase entered into a drawing.

makersplace.com/drops/collabs/… analog goodness

https://twitter.com/RAC/status/1368301818757869568?s=20

2020...
...what a year it's been.
Here's a retrospective thread of a few highlights✨ The first several months were primarily dedicated to putting out my third studio album 'BOY'. rac.lnk.to/BOY

I couldn't have predicted a global pandemic but we ran with it. Pushing back the album made no sense at all.

there was more of a captive audience anyway lol

My thread on @SoundCloud is making the rounds so just wanted to take a moment to clarify a few things. Nuance lacking on twitter? shocking I know.

https://twitter.com/JeffPonchick/status/1312812436450242561

After Soundcloud Go+ launched, I most likely received some income indirectly in the form of recoupment. AKA they paid my label. For the purposes of this post the vast majority (99%+) of my plays were unpaid. The context here is pre-2015.

https://twitter.com/RAC/status/1312468408592592897?s=20

A thread on @SoundCloud. The good, the bad and my perspective as one of the largest accounts on the platform. First a couple stats:
5.51 million followers
147 million plays
Income received: $0

Today we’re launching something completely new. ✨

It’s called - a community token by @ourZORA. Built on ethereum.

blog.ourzora.com/introducing-rac Artists have historically been deprived of capturing their value by a sea of intermediaries like corporations and platforms that have a monopoly on creative ownership.

This needs to change.

if it's not on ethereum
i'm not interested with the inevitable follow up to say that there's edge cases that should use their own custom platforms (for ex: @CryptoKitties @flow_blockchain ) but right now in 2020, you're shooting yourself in the foot by building your own chain.

just being honest.

here's some @naval style tweets but for music making:

https://twitter.com/RAC/status/1301307068981231618

stay out of the way of the vocal, it's about the song, not your studio tricks.

I'm starting to believe that the ad-based model of the internet is fundamentally broken. Great for bootstrapping, but not sustainable for various industries, mine included.

Nothing valuable in the real world is free, why should it be on the internet? Free isn't totally accurate, because we're actually selling our data at a fraction of its value.

Public goods are typically funded or subsidized by a form of gov/taxes or philanthropy, so not truly free.

Anything free IRL is usually a scam or has some * attached to it.

I've gotten a fair number of new followers from the crypto space, so figured I'd re-introduce myself. 👋

Here's a thread:

(this might get long) I'm first and foremost a musician and that is my life's work. In fact, it's the only job I've ever had. I became a working pro in college (2007) and the rest is history. I've written for TV, film, ads, remixes, originals, even a ballet. Every size artist and label.

some linux memes

BOY, my third studio album is out now. ✨ rac.lnk.to/BOYAT This album is about growing up. I was tapping into melodies that remind me of that period of my life. Rooted in a sense of nostalgia, growing pains and coming of age. It’s an elusive feeling but I tried to capture it and ultimately re-interpret it through a modern lens.

I am so happy to announce that my new album BOY will be out on MAY 8th. rac.lnk.to/SOYAT First single “Stuck On You” ft. @philgoodsmusic is out TODAY! rac.lnk.to/SOYAT

Album Art: 2013-2017
Don’t Talk To... (Andrew B Myers) STRANGERS (Andrew B Myers)

Here’s my brand new @ISO50 remix! This one has been on my bucket list for a while so I’m happy it finally happened. Hope you like it! tycho.lnk.to/rac-mixAT I've been following Scott's work as a designer since 07/08, so when I first heard his music I was immediately drawn to it. I see a lot of parallels in the sonic choices and his own aesthetic.