Vinyl Is Hot Again. Sorta.

“People bought 43 million vinyl records last year, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). That’s 6 million more than the number of CDs sold in 2023, marking the second time since 1987 that’s happened and reflecting the steady 17-year-running growth of vinyl sales.”
….
“If you’re curious, nearly half a million cassettes sold last year, too, according to Billboard.”
….
“That doesn’t come close to touching streaming, of course — paid subscriptions, digital radio services like SiriusXM or TuneIn, and ad-supported services accounted for 84 percent of music revenue for the year, or about $14.4 billion. The RIAA says that’s a record.”

— “Vinyl records outsell CDs for the second year running,”  Wes Davis, The Verge

Related:

“Wax and Wane: The Tough Realities Behind Vinyl’s Comeback,” Joel Oliphint, Pitchfork

“The music industry’s newfangled growth business: vinyl records,” John McDuling, Quartz

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How Is TJ’s So Cheap and Popular?

The Wall Street Journal’s Jaewon Kang explains why Trader Joe’s small selection of private label brands and trendy products keeps shoppers coming back for more.

Note: Jaewon Kang is now with Bloomberg

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Big Savings!

The Friday after Thanksgiving or ”Black Friday“ is reserved by global corporations for whipping Americans into a frenzy of over-consumption.  Millions camp out and line up for hours hoping for bargains. Most end up buying things they don’t need at prices they can’t afford.

Save big today. Don’t buy a single thing. If you want to spend something, spend the day with friends and family. Spend time at the library; borrow a book and spend time reading it. Spend time making something. You’re not what you buy. You’re not a “consumer.” You’re a human being.

More:

“Buy Nothing Day,” AdBusters

“Buy Nothing Day,” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“The scientific explanation of why people kill each other over TVs on Black Friday,” Laurence Ashworth, Reuters

“5 Great Reasons to Celebrate International Buy Nothing Day Instead of Black Friday,” Amy Mendosa, TIME

“Anti-Black Friday Movements Gain Traction With Patagonia Clothing Swap,” Meagan Clark, International Business Times

“A Brief History of Black Friday,” Ethan Trex, Mental Floss

“Annual ‘Buy Nothing Day Winter Coat Exchange’ bucks consumerism,” Michelle R. Smith, AP via Providence Journal

“Great Ways to Spend Black Friday Not at the Mall,” Brad Tuttle,CNN Money

“Fight Black Friday by joining a Buy Nothing group,” Lisa Hyma,Grist

“Websites promote Buy Nothing Day,” Kevin O’Neil, Scranton Times-Tribune

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Elon Musk Has Brought Twitter to the Verge of X-tinction

It’s been a year since Elon Musk purchased Twitter, re-branded it as X, fired most of the engineers, eliminated moderation and the election verification team, tried to get users to pay for the privilege of providing the platform’s content, and made the app a rightwing political political playground. So how’s that working out?

The number of people actively tweeting has dropped by more than 30 percent, the platform is hemorrhaging advertisers and revenue, and most tweets (X-es?) are replies or re-posts. Posts by users who pay for “blue checkmarks” are elevated over others. Disinformation campaigns abound. The firm’s value has declined by 60 percent, and the banks that helped finance Musk’s Twitter takeover are looking at billions in losses.

When Elon Musk bought Twitter, he walked into company headquarters carrying a sink. A year later, it looks like it’s all going down the drain.

More:

“A year later, Musk’s X is tilting right. And sinking.” Will Oremus, Elizabeth Dwoskin, Sarah Ellison and Jeremy B. Merrill, Washington Post

“‘Musk destroyed all that’: Twitter’s business is flailing after a year of Elon,” Dan Milmo, The Guardian

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End of an Era

Last week Netflix mailed out the last red-and-white envelopes, ending its original DVD-by-mail service. The company shipped 5 billion discs to subscribers via USPS in the past 25 years. Perhaps Netflix will start a new service helping grandparents hook up that gosh-darned WiFi thingy so they can stream their favorite films. Of course, the streaming giant will need to restore those classic films to their catalog first.

More:

“Netflix’s DVD-by-mail service bows out as its red-and-white envelopes make their final trip,” Michael Liedtke, Associated Press

“The high tech behind Netflix’s old-school DVD service,” Janko Roettgers, The Verge

Update:

Seattle’s Scarecrow Video is starting a nationwide DVD by mail Service of a sort.

“America’s largest independent video store is taking its DVD-by-mail service nationwide,” Mariella Moon, Engadget

 

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Elon Musk May Start Charging for X

After firing 90 percent of the engineers at Twitter, which he renamed “X”, tech genius Elon Musk suddenly decided that the only way to eliminate bots from the social media platform is to charge the few remaining users a monthly fee for using the app. Chances are that will remove most of the human users, too.

More:

“Musk says X will charge everyone to use the platform,” Sara Fischer, Axios

“Musk: X, formerly Twitter, ‘moving toward’ monthly fee,” Addy Bink, The Hill

“X Users to Require Elon Musk to Pay Them to Keep Using It,” Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

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Elon Musk: X May Fail

Elon Musk, the man who brought you the Hyperloop and the Boring Company, looked into the future of X, the social media platform formerly know as Twitter, saying:

“The sad truth is that there are no great ‘social networks’ right now. We may fail, as so many have predicted, but we will try our best to make there be at least one.”

He said that after his platform, er, X-ed all the links and photos posted before December 2014, deleting them.

You know, now would have been a great time to change the name of the app.

Before Mr. Musk fired that little blue bird in the logo, he laid off about 80% of Twitter’s employees, 6,500 experienced people, including 900 engineers. He also killed off 60 percent of Twitter’s value, 60 percent of its user base, and 50 percent of its ad revenue.

More:

“An X glitch is breaking native images, links posted before December 2014,” Ivan Mehta, TechCrunch

“Elon Musk admits X ‘may fail’ after glitch deletes Twitter photos,” Hibaq Farah, The Guardian

“X glitch wipes out most pictures and links tweeted before December 2014,” Richard Lawler, The Verge

Related:

“Elon Musk’s X follower count bloated by millions of new, inactive accounts,” Matt Binder, Mashable

“Elon Musk Changes His Own Name to WTF,” Tony Borowitz, The New Yorker

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New From Elon Musk: X

The Twitter logo was not the bluebird of happiness for spaceman Elon Musk, so he’s replaced it with an X, as in “X dot com.” Killing off 60 percent of Twitter’s value, 60 percent of its user base, and 50 percent of its ad revenue wasn’t enough; he had to exterminate the helpless birdie and the app’s brand identity. It’s all in hopes of creating a one stop shop for communication, commerce, banking, and what-have-you under a single “X” brand. One app to rule them all. This is the latest brainstorm from the man who brought you the Hyperloop and the Boring Company.

More:

“Everyone Hates Elon Musk’s Twitter X rebrand, ” Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, Daily Dot

“Elon Musk: Twitter rebrands as X and kills off blue bird logo,” Shiona McCallum, BBC News

“From Twitter to X: Elon Musk Begins Erasing an Iconic Internet Brand,” Ryan Mac and Tiffany Hsu,  New York Times

“Elon Musk risks ‘New Coke’-style marketing blunder after ditching blue bird for ‘X’ logo,” Thomas Barrabi, NY Post

Related:

“Elon Musk tried to rebrand PayPal as X.com. Some thought it was a porn site.” Timothy Bella, Washington Post

Update:

“Elon Musk Changes His Own Name to WTF,” Tony Borowitz, The New Yorker

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Greenwashing

Many consumers — and investors — are attracted to companies and products that prioritize products that minimize ecological harms. Corporate marketing that makes empty eco-promises is so common that there’s a name for it: Greenwashing. A Wall Street Journal video.

Update:

“‘A sea of misinformation’: FTC to address industry greenwashing complaints,” Tom Perkins, The Guardian

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DeSantis Finds Trump a Running Mate

While Republicans are historically known for their support of business, Florida’s GOP Governor Ron DeSantis is locked in battle with his state’s largest employer, Disney World. Disney spoke out against the DeSantis-encouraged laws meddling in women’s health and persecuting sexual minorities. In retaliation for these corporate views, Mr. DeSantis targeted the mechanism used to develop and maintain Disney’s huge Cental Florida resort since 1967. That testy move could put Florida taxpayers on the hook for more than $1 billion.

After Disney dodged the DeSantis development-takeover ploy, the governor threated to put tolls on roads leading to Disney World and build an adjacent state prison. Why would Ron Desantis persist in this vendetta? The Yale- and Harvard-educated governor is running for president as a populist culture warror.

Picking a fight with drag queens is one thing; taking on a $203 billion company is quite another. Disney now is suing DeSantis in federal court for retaliating against the company as punishment for Disney’s constitutionally protected speech. By most accounts, Disney is likely to prevail.

Enter Donald Trump, current frontrunner in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Ron DeSantis is obviously set to formally enter the fray after his symbolic world tour. As far the The Donald is concerned, the enemy of his enemy is his friend. Expect to see him leave Mar-a-Lago for an Orlando mouse-hugging daytrip soon.

Fun Fact:  Ron DeSantis got married at Disney World in 2009.

More:

“Donald Trump posts scorched-earth rant against Ron ‘DeSanctus,’ blasts gov’s ‘political stunt’ against Disney,” Mark Moore, New York Post

“Trump attacks DeSantis by suggesting Disney could leave Florida because of the governor,” Antonio Fins, Palm Beach Post

“Man vs. Mouse: Ron DeSantis Finds Taking On Disney Is a Dicey Business,” Charles Homans, New York Times

“The feud between Ron DeSantis and Disney, explained,” Nicole Narea, Ian Millhiser, and Alex Abad-Santos, Vox

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