Could the future of independent music exist without Spotify or Meta?

This week, we’re joined by Aaron of Essex, host of Into the Valueverse and the man behind the New Music Nudge Unit, for a crash course in the alternative music economy. We talk Fountain, RSS, Nostr, Bitcoin, sats and how musicians can receive money directly from listeners instead of waiting for fractions of pennies from streaming platforms.

Aaron explains the difference between a platform and a protocol, the easiest ways for artists to enter the Valueverse and why he believes independent musicians should stop sending everybody to Spotify. We also discuss collapsing music budgets, rebuilding online communities and whether technology might finally give artists more control over their work and income.

Elsewhere, Aaron reveals his former life as an award-winning Elvis impersonator, Buddy the Italian greyhound makes an appearance and the Weekly Whinge gets considerably bigger than usual.

Then, in Sound Advice: have we ever chosen music over a lover? The short answer is yes. Every day.

Find Aaron and the New Music Nudge Unit:

https://bitcoinessex.co.uk/newmusicnudgeunit

If you enjoy the episode, like, subscribe, share it with another struggling musician or send us a zap on Fountain.

Musicians have a reputation for taking things too far. Mishkin and Hana would love to tell you they’re sensible exceptions. Unfortunately, this week’s meeting contains evidence to the contrary.

Sweet Extremes Are Made of This explores the highs and lows of life in music, with a few torrid confessions 🙈and some other stories we can only laugh about now.

How much of the chaos comes with the job, and how much do we bring ourselves? And when does a good story become something you’d rather not have lived through?

Pull up a chair. You might feel better about your own life choices.

Find all our links: https://linktr.ee/rockstarsanonymous

We considered getting sensible jobs 💼.

Instead, we made Season 5.

Teaser episode where we share our rebrand and give a little insight into what you can expect for the following season. First episode coming next week 😱