Requiescat, Partisan!
"[Steve Albini] was always right, even when he was wrong." Thurston Moore
We were stunned when we learned of the death of legendary recording engineer Steve Albini. The Cadence was fortunate enough to interview Albini just last November, where we discussed topics like venue merch fees, spatial audio and collective actions. In honor of Albini, we’ve dropped the paywall on the full hour-long conversation so that all of our readers can receive wisdom from one of the best to ever drop it.
Long before there was Twitter, there was Steve Albini. For a generation of indie-minded music fans, the famed engineer (he hated the title producer) who helped commit artists like Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey and The Breeders to tape did more than just man the board. He was also at the barricades, battling for the indie ethos in an era when the punk counterculture could credibly punch up against the corporations eager to co-op the sound and style.
Albini fought them in the studio, and he fought them onstage. His own band, Big Black, was as aggro as anything that emerged from the 1980s American underground.
But as fierce as he could be with a guitar, Albini was just as furious with a pen. He wrote for underground fanzines throughout the 80s, becoming infamous for the caustic evaluations he would level on his fellow citizens within the insular punk rock nation. He was a gatekeeper and gadfly who pulled no punches, even with bands with whom he shared a social or professional relationship.
Yet, as some of those acts rose in prominence in the early 90s, Albini became the go-to pundit for critiquing the major label machine that was determined to bear hug the bands to death. The same community Albini once skewered from the inside; he now felt compelled to defend from outsiders.
The conflict peaked in 1993, when Albini published his definitive essay, The Problem With Music, which unflinchingly examined the machinations of the majors—right at the moment when his mainstream profile was peaking thanks to his work with Nirvana’s In Utero.
At that moment, Albini went from advocate to icon — an avatar for fighting against the system while still working within it. He famously refused to take royalties on In Utero, a practice he considered unethical. It was a decision that cost him several million dollars. He then made up for some of that loss by charging British alt-rock pretenders Bush double when they wanted that Albini magic for their major label album, Razorblade Suitcase. (Years later, Albini would later give the band props for its “genuine motives.”)
As alternative music faded from fashion, Albini settled into a long workman's career, collaborating with bands of all stripes at his Electric Audio studio in Chicago. His output rarely made headlines in the mainstream music press, but he was still occasionally called upon to comment on the music business.
In 2014, Albini claimed that “The single best thing that has happened in my lifetime in music, after punk rock, is being able to share music, globally for free.”
At the time, he focused primarily on independent artists' newfound ability to circumvent the major label machine while still reaching a global audience. But he was also flippant about the paltry payouts that came with this worldwide reach. “I actually think the compensation is not as preposterous as anyone else,” he said. “It’s like complaining that cars are going faster than horses.”
But Albini allowed that opinion to evolve. In 2022, he removed all of his music from Spotify, telling Attack Magazine:
Given the paltry payments credited to the bands and the profitable years posted by the labels, it stands to reason that this arrangement is fundamentally unfair to the bands, but proving that in the intentional absence of any information would be a difficult forensic task.
He then went on to advocate for regulatory intervention, if necessary, to “pay the bands fairly.” So it’s safe to assume that Albini privately endorsed the Living Wage for Musicians Act, even if his once-active Twitter account went sadly quiet at the end of 2023.
Before that happened, in September of last year, Albini took on the topic of venues keeping a percentage of merch sales from touring artists, another practice he considered proof of wrongdoing against artists. We tangled with him a bit online. A few weeks later, Live Nation cut the merch fees at dozens of its small- and medium-sized clubs.
Then, in November, The Guardian ran a well-circulated article about Albini where he issued an unequivocal mea culpa regarding the edgelord persona he inhabited during the 80s and 90s. The once ferocious agitator had become the wise old crank of common sense whose combative shots he saved for bad-faith politicians.
After the Guardian article, Albini would occasionally pipe up to defend Taylor Swift or shit on Steely Dan. But now, his essential voice will remain silent.
Last week, we announced that this will be the final month of The Cadence. It’s no comparison. But as we look back on our own 3 1/2-year archive, it’s easy to see where we sometimes struggled to strike the right balance of enthusiasm and skepticism for the music business.
In walking that line, we’ve realized that A) people who fight about music do so because they truly love music, and B) fighting about music will inevitably lead to some strong opinions about how music gets made and who gets paid.
Recently, an artist we respect made a biting post about Daniel Ek’s investment in a medical tech company. It is as if, because Spotify isn’t a panacea for all musicians, the CEO who runs the world’s largest music streamer couldn’t possibly have anything to contribute to global health.
We get it. The instinct to defend underdog artists. The power felt when punching up at corporate interests. The schadenfreude of seeing high-flying capitalists flounder — not stopping to consider that art and commerce need each other.
We don’t have the answers. Neither did Steve Albini.
But we came here for the conversation, and that conversation will be less interesting without Steve Albini's contribution.
Requiescat, partisan!
TAKEAWAYS
Salient statements from this week’s music news.
1. Concord Bows Out of Hipgnosis Bidding War
Concord announces it will not raise its latest offer – leaving global investment firm Blackstone as the frontrunner in the ongoing takeover battle.
Takeaway: Blackstone’s latest offer values the company in the region of USD $2.2 billion, higher than a recent valuation by Shot Tower Capital, which had a midpoint of $1.95 billion (based on HSF’s performance as of the end of September 2023).
2. AI Deepfakes Beware: Copyright Infringement Can Cost Up To $150,000 Per Copied Work
Drake’s deep-faking of Tupac is an obvious violation of personality rights. But the real deterrent will depend if it’s also copyright infringement.
Takeaway: As opposed to a California right of publicity violation, which would be relatively easy to prove and incur limited damages, copyright infringement is federal and comes with statutory damages of up to $150,000 per work infringed. That means a company that ingests 20 works to create one would be liable a maximum of $3 million.
