For The Record- 21. October. 2023

All you got to do is walk right in

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Welcome to another edition of For The Record, a good old-fashioned link drop and benefit for paid supporters of On Repeat. If you’re ready to become one, we’d be thrilled to have you!

As a reminder, On Repeat is 100% reader-funded. And as always, there are 7-day trials for anyone looking to test the waters.

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This week, we’ve got news on Liz Phair, hidden ticket fees, Ratboys, and Taylor Swift.

All of that and a LOT more (like, a lot lot).

Let’s get to it!

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Roughly 15 years ago, Delta Air Lines¹ and Northwest Airlines merged. At the time, CEOs from both carriers used a lot of flowery language to calm their skittish workforces.

No one will lose their job!

It’s a new day!

Synergy!

There was no shortage of messaging or swag; synergy was thrown around so much that it became a punchline. 

The outward message was positive- even for my coworkers and me, it was hard not to be optimistic. Behind the scenes, managers were playing a corporate version of Hunger Games to see who lived and who died. Not too long after that, bottles of Visine (“it gets the red out!”) started miraculously showing up in odd places.

While journalists and Wall Street were distracted by neatly tailored press releases, teams came into Northwest stations literally in the dead of night and tore down every last bit of red they could find, immediately replacing it with blue. 

Nothing was safe–I’m not using dramatic license when I tell you my red Swingline stapler, ala Milton in Officer Space, was gone–and 84 years of history were erased between swing shift clocking out and first shift clocking back in.

I share this because I see the same pattern repeating with Songtradr’s acquisition of Bandcamp. It started on a familiar note, with Songtradr issuing a boilerplate announcement, assuring us that they have only musicians' best interest at heart and that, by and large, it’ll be business as usual. Songtradr pledged to “continue to operate Bandcamp as a marketplace and music community with an artist-first revenue share.”