I'm launching a newsletter in 2 weeks I'll be writing reflections about: -Cooperative legacy and heritage -Cultures of ownership -Alternative business logics -Theology of work -An inside look at building @subvert.fm Comment and I'll DM you a link when it's published

Your reminder that Daniel ek is a symptom, not a cause

Our platform is here for you to test. After a year of building with 15,000+ co-op members, our collectively-owned Bandcamp successor is live for testing at alpha.subvert.fm Join today to help test it before public launch.

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DIY culture is anti-credentialing Want to start a venue or a label? You don't need an MBA. You just need care, curiosity, and action. Who's the right person to start something like @subvert.fm? I don't know. The real question: If not us, then who? If not now, when?

@subvert.fm passed 12,000 co-op members My favorite forum comment this week: "We are trying to build a parallel ecosystem. Maybe we all need some time to take a breath in the midst of excitement and realize the responsibility."

Co-ops are common sense

Socialist Bandcamp (@subvert.fm)

“but we have bandcamp” is the rallying cry of relative-best apologists, the accidental status quo defenders willing to defend union busting and corporate ownership as long as it’s not spotify they don’t understand that critiquing the best option is how you get better options

Saw Corey Doctorow talk to Lina Khan last night about enshittification Loved the point about the limitations of founder virtue Founders may see themselves as omni-benevolent, but they’re not omni-competent. Corporate benevolent dictatorships are not durable

Today I heard “I’m starting the Subvert of Hollywood”

Today I heard “I’m starting the Subvert of science” So cool

Last month we traveled to Spain's Basque region to visit Mondragon, the world's largest worker cooperative. 92 co-ops. 70,000 workers. €11 billion in revenue. Spain's 7th-largest company. All collectively owned. Here are 5 lessons for building a "Mondragon of Music"

A co-op can be a social base for future institution building 🌐

In <5 years @subvert.fm co-op will own a multi-use building in nyc Mondragon of music

Market socialism is common sense

The founders to idolize are not Steve Jobs or Elon Musk - it's Jose Maria Arizmendiarrieta 92 cooperatives 70,000 worker owners €11 billion revenue a university All for the dignity of workers and community benefit. This is why there is a statue of him

I think what I’m doing would make 15 year old austin proud

I want to build a co-op I want to meet with members I don't want to go to a music industry mixer and shake hands with someone that works at suno

Music streaming discourse: “Spotify’s founder invests in a military contractor Instead, we should use YouTube music, a company owned by Google, a direct military contractor A true alternative way to continue paying $10.99/ month to access all music” 🤯🤯🤯

If your “alternative” to streaming is a company with -opaque deals -opaque ownership -undisclosed funding sources -no democratic corporate governance It might not be that much of an alternative

Hear me out. I think too much is blamed on Daniel Ek. By suggesting systemic problems are the result of flawed individuals, we obscure and further mystify larger systemic challenges Yes, ridicule him But also remember that solutions don’t come from cooler capitalists in charge

100 new members joined Subvert Co-op yesterday Each one owns as much of the company as I do

Music tech: The platform is not the solution Any startup is at best a future problem Solidarity is the only solution

Co-ops are a tool, not the end goal What matters most: -broad-based community ownership -democratic governance -less worker precarity -greater utility and material benefit -greater resilience, integrity, trust, and longevity

“Co-ops are great in theory, BUT…”

Our newly elected Board has approved our platform revenue model: Optional Contributions instead of artist and label platform fees. Supporters can optionally contribute at checkout. Artists and labels keep everything they earn. 0% platform fees. 100% community control.

Cooperatives are a means, not the end Success isn’t -forming a co-op It’s enabling broad-based ownership and creating material benefit for workers, and reducing precarity

From Caroline Woolard in "Ours to Hack and to Own": "So You Want To Start a Platform Cooperative"

Subvert has critics within the platform co-op space. Purists say we shouldn't: Raise money to pay workers Aim to be competitive Build a community before launching a product If this is controversial, so be it. Labor should be paid. Co-ops should win, not be noble experiments.

Resonate was a platform cooperative that was both venture funded and a crypto project I love resonate and think it's an important project But it's interesting to me that anti-VC and anti-crypto folks continue to pedestal it Is it just the passing of time- or nostalgic amnesia?

If market socialism sounds too scary, just call it economic democracy

I'm going to Mondragon in a month

im the product manager, community manager, customer service rep, head of business development, and intern at @subvert.fm

User-owned platforms are obvious. Do you see it yet?

Put it in your calendar. The most peaceful week in New York is coming up.

"Spotify doesn't pay artists enough. I'm moving to a different service that also allows me to only contribute $10.99/ month for endless access to music. That will fix things." - music consumer

I think we should have democracy in both spheres: our government and also our workplaces Even though I think Curtis yarvin is wrong, he’s consistent (anti-democratic) 99% of libs are happy to be someone’s dictator at work

Maybe we should stop fucking around and just build socialist platforms

We need less vapid tech lib culture Less diet capitalists, b-corp apologists, neutral observers Less keynotes. Less panels and roundtable dialogues More focus on just implementing market socialism

woke up today going to make a socialist bandcamp

tech loves to repackage old practices with invented buzzwords co-ops honor a lineage of shared effort, rather than claiming authorship of innovation what’s old becomes new again

Locking in for 3 more weeks. Then I’ll be social

Building @subvert.fm is fun

A good tactic is one your people enjoy - Saul Alinsky

What people want from music platforms isn't a platform We're saturated with utility and tools People want trustworthy stewardship of cultural infrastructure And capitalist companies can't provide that

transparency is easy companies would just rather avoid uncomfortable questions from workers, customers, or the general public

Building in public Clear eyes, socialist heart, can’t lose

I want to build socialist tech for the rest of my life