Industry

The music industry has been pronounced dead six times — by the player piano, radio, the cassette, Napster, streaming, and now AI — and it came back from the first five funerals richer than before. This episode tells the whole 120-year story and takes the machine apart: why labels are closer to banks than record stores, why the singers were never the ones making the money, and why the only artists who ever beat the system did it with ownership, not talent. The sixth funeral is in session as we publish.

Welcome to Industry — the show that breaks down the real story behind the industries that run the world, and how the money is really made. By the end of each episode, you'll know the industry's entire history — and the playbooks the winners used to get to the top.