Cathedrals & Bazaars: dance floors built on parity…
Inspired by music by Ben’s blog inspired by Eric S Raymond’s essay on building in the open, decentralized, and with the people in mind. I chose to dive deeper into the topic and revisit the essay, and it is very relevant to what we are currently building in the music industry.
Raymond’s essay is heavily anchored on two models of building software in which he presented in 1997 in Würzburg, Germany:
The Cathedral model:
in which source code is available with each software release, but code developed between releases is restricted to an exclusive group of software developers. GNU Emacs and GCC were presented as examples.
The Bazaar model:
in which the code is developed over the Internet in view of the public. Raymond credits Linus Torvalds, leader of the Linux kernel project, as the inventor of this process. Raymond also provides anecdotal accounts of his own implementation of this model for the Fetchmail project.
Raymond’s essay refers to “Linus’ law”- which effectively states that “given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow”. Therefore, advocating a mantra for mass collaboration and building “together” instead of in closed rooms. This is then the question that we should bring to the front in the music industry. What does an open-source, or mass collaborative landscape look like for music?
Open Source for Music?
We can have a look at an open source future for music when we think of circular economies when James Blake is creating exclusive releases to micro-communities, Kanye West making TikTok videos to pilot test sounds for an upcoming album, and Kendrick Lamar releasing straight to YouTube. However, all these actions represent a change in philosophy but not a change in the platforms, labels, and distributors that carry that philosophy- the imbalance of the equation of the industry can not hold much longer. The platforms have to catch up, and build with a similar philosophy in mind that encourages collaboration, transparency and parity in terms of income distribution.
Bazaars Vs. Cathedrals
The analogy of “Bazaars vs. Cathedrals" being used in the sense of the music industry is extremely flirting with a revolution to a certain extent.
Cathedrals are top down to the core, even with the architecture, where people come to praise one at the throne or pedestal. For a long time, the music industry has been like this. Superstars, popstars, rockstars…you name it, and of course, their “audience” who are meant to praise and glorify them, and that is how the shell is supposed to work. Behind these cathedrals are the ones that make the wheels tick. In the sense of the music industry, these are the major labels; again concentrated to a limited few; the music industry is dominated by 3 major labels and two major streaming platforms.
This is entirely asynchronistic and agnostic to the reality of what is actually happening in the industry, in which independent release artists are growing at a 27% rate but only 0.47% of musicians actually make a living off their streaming numbers. Critically, the industry is facing a shift and the technology has to follow that shift as well.
This is where the Bazaar analogy comes in. A Bazaar, middle-eastern concept for a market- that visually looks chaotic at times- but, what is the old saying, there is order in the chaos, or chaos in the order? The bazaar, features several independent small markets/shops contributing to an open market, with no central entity to a certain extent- and that is what is brewing up in the music industry-with several DIY Labels, self-distribution and independent being the mantra.
Therefore, it is time to build platforms that fit the current zeitgeist. We need models that are accepting and thrive in the chaos of the bazaar forming in the electronic music industry in which DIY labels and indie artists are at the forefront- solutions that build with this in mind- bazaars can’t fit in cathedrals- they need freedom to roam. Let’s stop confining the electronic music industry to spaces and platforms where it can’t grow.
Platforms that are built with the artists in mind, for the artists, fair and giving artists a voice.
Photo credit: musicben.eth
