3 May 2026 · Melanie Bainbridge
Hey, remember when we used ‘derivative’ as an insult?
On Spotify's derivatives announcement, who controls the infrastructure, and what 'new revenue stream' means from the artist's end
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Notes from the pack.
Payout maths, co-op arguments and dispatches from the scenes we cover. Stanley proofreads everything.
26 April 2026 · Melanie Bainbridge
The Exportable Revolution
On cooperative scaling, why every country has the same problem, and what Australia could send to the world instead of raw materials
Read it19 April 2026 · Melanie Bainbridge
What the Algorithm Thinks Australian Music Is
On US taste reproduced as global norm, the specific cost to Australian artists, and why local curation isn't nostalgia
Read it12 April 2026 · Melanie Bainbridge
The archive that doesn't exist
On unsigned artists, undigitised catalogues, and the particular cruelty of losing music that never got loud enough to be missed
Read it12 April 2026 · Melanie Bainbridge
The Poster Problem
On provenance, what audiences feel without being able to name it, and why live music runs on something that can't be automated
Read it5 April 2026 · Melanie Bainbridge
Stolen Songs
On AI training data, cultural IP, and the specific harm the debate keeps leaving out
Read it29 March 2026 · Melanie Bainbridge
Your Distributor Works for the Competition Now
On Universal's $775 million acquisition of Downtown, the data you've been sharing, and what the stickiness trap means for independent artists
Read it22 March 2026 · Melanie Bainbridge
Follow the Money
On the $11 billion that didn't reach most artists, the rights holder who isn't you, and what the value chain actually looks like
Read it22 March 2026 · Melanie Bainbridge
Meet the New Pirates
On Napster, Spotify, and the corporate acquisition of someone else's music
Read it22 March 2026 · Melanie Bainbridge
The 71 Percent
On what musicians actually use AI for, the debate nobody is having, and why honesty is the better argument
Read it22 March 2026 · Melanie Bainbridge
The Opt-Out Trap
On stealing politely, who bears the burden of being robbed, and the silent album nobody asked for
Read it27 January 2026 · Melanie Bainbridge
Build Your Brand, Feed the Machine
The arts - particularly independent music - must look toward alternative means of connecting with audiences and fostering genuine community engagement. Because let's be honest, if your career depends on whether TikTok's algorithm likes you this week, you're not building a career - you're gambling wi
Read it20 January 2026 · Melanie Bainbridge
The Oldest New Idea in Music
The Pack is something different - it's a patron-powered music streaming service that's actually forging mutually beneficial, direct, and transparent connections between local businesses, local listeners, and local musicians. With the radical notion that maybe, just maybe, we can create a sustainable
Read it13 January 2026 · Melanie Bainbridge
Death by a Thousand Closures
We now have just 81 dedicated live music venues across all of Western Australia. That's one venue per 33,000 residents. As a comparison, Melbourne has one per 8,785 residents. Welcome to WA's venue apocalypse, where bureaucratic red tape meets developer greed to create the perfect storm for cultural
Read it6 January 2026 · Melanie Bainbridge
The Cost of the Calling
Every government, funding body, and industry organisation should ask: Are we supporting artist wellbeing or systematically undermining it? The current system extracts maximum value from creative labour while providing minimal support. Artists burn out, give up, or worse.
Read it30 December 2025 · Melanie Bainbridge
Seventy-Two Cents
When the government can magically find $662 million for one town's mining transition but only $3(ish) million for our entire independent music sector, the message to WA’s cultural community is crystal clear: your creativity is about as valuable as yesterday's newspaper.
Read it23 December 2025 · Melanie Bainbridge
Australia's Most Expensive Talent Export Program
Welcome to WA's musical education paradox: world-class training, half-arsed career prospects. It's educational policy designed by people who apparently think "build it and they will come" applies to careers, not just fictional baseball fields.
Read it16 December 2025 · Melanie Bainbridge
Product
After nearly two decades running the world's largest music streaming platform, Daniel Ek is stepping down as CEO of Spotify and into Executive Chairman. And if you're thinking "Wait, doesn't that sound a bit like the corporate equivalent of your dad saying he's 'retired' but still showing up to
Read it11 December 2025 · Melanie Bainbridge
The Label on the Label
When a retro-pop band called The Velvet Sundown racked up a million monthly listeners on Spotify earlier this year with catchy hooks and nostalgic sound, music fans were captivated. There was just one problem: the band wasn't real - every song, image, and backstory had been generated using AI. Th
Read it9 December 2025 · Melanie Bainbridge
Digital Sharecroppers
For decades, we've been told that digital streaming platforms are the great democratisers of music - that technology, competition, and global reach would naturally lift artists out of poverty and give everyone a fair shot at musical success. This idea has been repeated so often by tech evangelists a
Read it9 August 2025 · Melanie Bainbridge
The Maths That Shouldn't Work
On $420 million, $5,000, and the strange arithmetic of Australian music funding
Read it2 August 2025 · Melanie Bainbridge
Where Your Money Goes
On the pro-rata system, the user-centric alternative, and what $7 a month means when it's yours to direct
Read it26 July 2025 · Melanie Bainbridge
The Algorithm That Actually Serves Artists
On who discovery actually serves, why Perth artists can't rely on Spotify to find Perth listeners, and what geofencing is for
Read it19 July 2025 · Melanie Bainbridge
Turns Out the Whole World Wants to Tell Supersized Streaming to Shove It
**On decolonising our right to musical choice**
Read it12 July 2025 · Melanie Bainbridge
Every Stream is a Vote
On Daniel Ek's defence investments, what your subscription actually funds, and why the choice is not as difficult as the industry wants it to seem
Read it12 July 2024 · Melanie Bainbridge
All that Glitters is not Gold
On the music streaming industry unwrapped
Read it23 January 2024 · Melanie Bainbridge
Tuning in to the Future
On music streaming buffeted by the winds of change
Read it18 January 2024 · Melanie Bainbridge
The Sad Tale of Music Algorithms
On why your indie band isn’t famous yet
Read it20 March 2023 · Melanie Bainbridge
This model's not fit for the runway, folks!
On business models that break the backs of brilliant people
Read it13 March 2023 · Melanie Bainbridge
Why taking it slow might be the way to go
On start-up culture and the harms of the hustle
Read it2 February 2022 · Melanie Bainbridge
Is it a Faux Pas to identify yourself as a Female Founder?
On backing your Pack, even if they _are_ women
Read it7 February 2021 · Melanie Bainbridge
Why the arts ARE a social enterprise.
**On an ecology, and an economy, reimagined**
Read it7 February 2021 · Melanie Bainbridge
Lean back listening
Think you’re making your own music choices? Think again.
Read it25 April 2020 · Melanie Bainbridge
Digital Killed the Recording Star?
**On something being rotten in the state of local, original music**
Read it7 February 2019 · Melanie Bainbridge
But You Do It For Love.
On global music streaming impacts: industry and individual health
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