Please read and share this wonderful article about music. We may soon reach a point of no return, never to recover what we've lost. It all boils down to a simple choice: start fighting for new art and new sounds,or start to perish. @dariusjagjag.bsky.social dariusjagjag.substack.com/p/the-strugg...

UMG acquired Downtown, but only after being required to divest Curve Royalties. I'm so encouraged by how effective IMPALA & the broader independent community was in this fight against further market concentration, forcing a serious review by the European Commission & extracting a meaningful remedy.

This morning I walked out my front door, put my headphones on, and Kevin Morby sang to me about how there’s a heaven on earth. My favorite song poet right now. So starting my day off with a huge pep in my step (even though I’m pretty sure I’m listening to a song about death).

A nurse. A researcher. A helper.

Thought-provoking: “Any theory of community will tell you that it is just as important to put up barriers to entry as it is to welcome people in. To make a community feel valuable there needs to be some friction involved.”—Maarten Walraven (Music x)

I wrote about my favorite song from last year, "Me," & the artist behind it, Lucie Lozinski (aka Ski Team). I also talked about the challenges new artists face when trying to get their brilliant new music out into the world & about how my role has evolved. dariusjagjag.substack.com/p/episode-4-...

“When power corrupts, it keeps a log of its progress, written into that most sensitive memory device, the human face.”

“During the Vietnam War… every respectable artist in this country was against the war. It was like a laser beam. We were all aimed in the same direction. The power of this weapon turns out to be that of a custard pie dropped from a stepladder six feet high.”—the late, great Kurt Vonnegut

Thank you so much, @jgrossnas.bsky.social , for the kind words. Not sure my essay is one of the best pieces of music journalism in 2025, but it always feels good to be recognized!

I wrote about Toni Morrison and how I learned from her that making the world a better place starts with protecting our concept of home. (An excerpt from this essay is in the thread below.) dariusjagjag.substack.com/p/episode-3-...

“Poptimism intimated that critics should not just take pop music seriously but celebrate it—or else.…” (1/4)

I wrote about Flannery O’Connor and how her subversive writing was the kindling that Toni Morrison lit on fire. Their stories and essays have changed how we think about ourselves, and, by doing so, they have gifted us a cheat code to changing the world. dariusjagjag.substack.com/p/episode-2-...

Kindergartener just told me “memory is not a sense” and wandered off so I’ve got a new guru.

From @recordoftheday.bsky.social: "we'd recommend taking the time to read Darius Van Arman's recent piece in Stereogum. It’s as much a critique of consolidation in the music industry as it is a meditation on the economics of music streaming & the pitfalls of algorithmically-driven music discovery."

I like very much how my friend Hunter Giles from @infinitecatalog.bsky.social ties whether you’re an independent (in the music industry context) to how you behave. He shared the following: If you’re re-investing, you’re an independent If you’re moving culture forward, you’re an independent

I am starting a substack called "In This Game Together". It will be a journal about culture, writing and music. For thinkers, and for those looking for magic in the cracks around us. (Link in the comments)

In this fight we find ourselves in—the struggle for independence in the modern age—, we need to fearlessly push back against all market concentration wherever it arises. I wrote an essay from the heart and mind about independence and the current state of culture industries.