we’re living in strange times folks. long story incoming. tl;dr - we’re fucked.

too dramatic? read on.

i got an email from one of my music distributors (for another project, not fog chaser) essentially accusing me of seeking out artificial streams. they then threaten to delete my account and take down all of my music (which is years of my work)

well, damn. okay. i’ve always done things above-board. how do i defend myself? the facts in the case:

• the song in question is 7 years old.

• it’s the last track on an album i haven’t thought about in a long time.

• the track has about 5400 streams.

• i am not promoting it now, i don’t think i really promoted it then. 7 years ago.

i wrote to my distributor (who i have had a business relationship with for well over a decade, paying them thousands of dollars over the years) via a contact form (because, hey, how can i expect them to have enough bandwidth to talk to little ol me directly?) and said:

hey - 1) this is offensive; 2) we do not engage in soliciting artificial streams, never have, never will, and i can prove it; and 3) if we did, don’t you think we’d shoot for more than 5400 streams? don’t you think this track would be in our top 10? (it’s not)

here’s the thing though - it’s not just that they’re threatening to take down the music (which is aggressive and mean, but i guess we’d figure something else out), or that the tone of the email is incredibly dickish (which it is), it’s that they are immediately treating me as someone who has done something illegal, which, when you’ve done nothing wrong is especially infuriating. it could also hurt my reputation as a musician. not to mention that it throws a very large wrench into my day, sending me flying off the handle to write this unhinged note so you all can share in my misery.

look, i’m no scientist, but i’m pretty sure these efforts to sniff out shady activity are driven by their own AI/algorithmic processes, designed to analyze and flag songs that might be receiving artificial streams. but it just goes to show you how imperfect those systems must be when you can just fire off an email accusing someone of doing something they certainly didn’t do.

YET, so, so many are relying on systems like these - distributors, banks, software companies, etc.

all that’s to say - it’s a reminder to me that we don’t really own anything. not anymore. we are at the whim of the monoliths now, and they don’t give a damn about us as people, users, or customers. not at all. it’s not like I can call up this distributor and have a conversation. it’s all…automated. it’s dystopian. (see

’s excellent piece on how things have flipped, titled “an ugly new marketing strategy”).

in it, Ted writes:

“When I was trained by the great marketing gurus, they told me to collect data constantly from users, and pay close attention to it. But in the Annoyance Economy, you ignore all that.

They annoy you. They monetize you. They track your every move. But they absolutely don’t want to hear what you think.”

exactly. now, it’s easy to just want to throw my hands up and walk away from it all. this is just one example of a handful of recent experiences i’ve had that make me go, ‘hmm…this isn’t fair’

i mean, what power do i have?

all i know is that all of us need to be extremely wary of who we give control to, across all areas of our lives. many of these things seem innocuous at first, like we’re in it together with whichever entity we’re entering into partnership with - whether that’s your internet company, Netflix, or someone distributing your art. but given time, you’ll see those folks’ true colors, and often those colors look like greed. and they’ve got us right where they want us - over a barrel.

they’re taking all our money, stealing our work to repackage it and sell it for their own gain (hello AI), and then treating us like we’re the questionable ones. (when in actuality, the only actual criminals in this situation are the Apples and Spotifys…actually).

the marketing language on the landing page of my distributor’s website says: “stay in control of your career.” well, shoot - i’d love to. tell me more.

i’ll leave you with a question: what happens when the very company or person you’ve entrusted with your work changes things midstream, or worse, accuses you of something you didn’t do, threatening to remove the very thing you created to put into the world but for which you needed the system they created in order to put it into the world in the first place?

i think we’re all just tired of this. i know i am. but we’re struggling to find a way forward.