This is society's Napster moment.

They never could kill P2P with the legal system. It took a bright twentysomething from a foreign country to save the record labels' lunch. And now said labels are trying to survive by purchasing the distribution systems of much younger companies led by entrepreneurs. NO ONE running a major label today has ever had skin in the game, they've always worked for the man. They don't know how to be nimble, they're tied to the balance sheet.

But when you're starting with a blank piece of paper...

All the brass at Apple is over 60. Any wonder that the company missed AI? It was so busy trying to squeeze money out of the App Store and subscriptions that it missed the future.

I woke up today to a story in the "Washington Post" about a 25 year old running for a Congressional seat:

"Democrats face another split over age and values in Arizona - Adelita Grijalva is the front-runner to replace her father in Congress but faces an unexpectedly competitive primary featuring a young social-media-savvy newcomer."

Free link: wapo.st/3GI7h63

The money quote?

"Her campaign has been fueled by her large social media following"

I've yet to find a boomer testify positively about social media. Record execs will reluctantly admit records are broken by TikTok, but they don't know how to do this. As for boomers and Gen-X'ers? Social media is THE DEVIL!

Oh, some are still on Facebook, connecting with their high school buddies and showing off, not knowing that TikTok is something different. TikTok is creative, it's about connecting. And to anybody over fifty, it's ANATHEMA!

There's a gap as wide as the culture in between.

Not that Trump is in touch with youngsters either. In fact, if you're on TikTok or Instagram Reels you're constantly chuckling at the AI depictions of our President. He's being mocked on a regular basis, and his team doesn't even know it!

www.tiktok.com/@rev_repeat_offender/video/7494028856190373162?q=ai%20videos%20featuring%20fat%20trump%20kfc&t=1752600637537

As for the bros on X... That's about dissatisfaction over their inability to get laid, inability to get a reasonable job, leaving them with all this time to waste on the service which has a very narrow appeal.

The culture has moved on from the political system. Trump's only hope is he can control the youth via autocratic methods, because the penny is about to drop.

Tucker Carlson? He's 56 and made his name on TV, do you think youngsters care?

So oldsters said Napster was stealing, they sicced the legal system on the service and the end result was that new decentralized services erupted to replace it. Talk about Whac-A-Mole.

Then the brass tried to teach the users a lesson by suing them. And then installed rootkits in the CDs.

Not only was there backlash, NONE OF THIS WORKED!

The MP3 didn't sound good enough, physical product was everything. But the younger generations cottoned to streaming, saving the record labels. They know that access is everything, that ownership is passé. Youngsters don't care that concerts replaced records, they're into the EXPERIENCE!

Meanwhile, my inbox is still filled with people waiting for the old, pre-internet world to come back... IT ISN'T!

This is akin to the youthquake of yesteryear, the one in the sixties. The old guard was just too out of touch. No one wanted to be shipped to Vietnam to be killed.

Today's driver is economic death. Not only can they not get a reasonable job that will allow them to buy a house, the government is adding debt that will hobble their future AND THEY KNOW IT!

Enough of the canard that the youth are ignorant. They're online all day AND THAT'S WHERE THE NEWS IS! Never has a generation been so well-informed, and able to interact with its peers all around the world, instantly, FOR FREE!

Just like you can record in your bedroom for free. The old record label model has been demolished. Recording is cheaper and a broader swath of product is being consumed and the majors' market share is declining. The old model of being able to control the marketplace is gone, NO ONE can break an act. Because today breaking an act means starting so small the old pros can't even see it. It's done in the bedroom using the new tools, communicating with your brethren. Forget polishing it, just PLAY!

That's another thing the politicians can't understand. Stop being measured and start being out there. The past is plowed under by the future nearly instantly. If you don't play you can't win. Making a mistake? It happens! Best to be in the game. Not every TikTok post is good, not every one gains traction, but that does not make people self-conscious, they continue, waiting to catch lightning in a bottle. And on TikTok, as opposed to YouTube or Instagram, the algorithm will allow nobodies to gain instant traction. The past is only prologue to a degree. The youth are used to new heroes constantly appearing and disappearing. Society has never been more fluid. But the oldsters insist it is moribund.

And like Napster all this is happening right in front of our eyes, in plain sight, but oldsters refuse to see it.

This is much bigger than Trump posting on Twitter and now Truth Social. The ball has moved, in typical modern media fashion, and not only are the Democrats behind, so are the Republicans. To succeed in modern society not only do you need to be agile, you must be willing to throw out the past and jump into the future on a regular basis.

Not only are the youth disillusioned, they are growing in number, EACH AND EVERY DAY! It's only a matter of time until their values rule. They're sleeper cells all over the country, just waiting to erupt. And oldsters can't even see them!

Streaming has eclipsed network yet oldsters still ask for money to advertise on linear TV. Who is watching? Furthermore, youngsters HATE ADS!

This is not a right or left issue, Democrat or Republican, this is a societal issue.

Then again, the young lean left.

But it's more than politics. It's culture. And culture drives society.

The markers of change are out there, but in today's multifarious world the obvious can be ignored, until...

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