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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · 1d

Co-ops are common sense

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · 1d

Socialist Bandcamp
(@subvert.fm)

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · 2d

“but we have bandcamp” is the rallying cry of relative-best apologists, the accidental status quo defenders

willing to defend union busting and corporate ownership as long as it’s not spotify

they don’t understand that critiquing the best option is how you get better options

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · 6d

Saw Corey Doctorow talk to Lina Khan last night about enshittification

Loved the point about the limitations of founder virtue

Founders may see themselves as omni-benevolent, but they’re not omni-competent.

Corporate benevolent dictatorships are not durable

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · 6d

Today I heard “I’m starting the Subvert of Hollywood”

austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · 8d

Today I heard “I’m starting the Subvert of science”

So cool

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · 8d

Today I heard “I’m starting the Subvert of science”

So cool

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Reposted by austin robey

Subvert @subvert.fm · 9d

Last month we traveled to Spain's Basque region to visit Mondragon, the world's largest worker cooperative.

92 co-ops. 70,000 workers. €11 billion in revenue. Spain's 7th-largest company.

All collectively owned.

Here are 5 lessons for building a "Mondragon of Music"

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · 10d

A co-op can be a social base for future institution building

🌐

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · 23d

In <5 years @subvert.fm co-op will own a multi-use building in nyc

Mondragon of music

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · 27d

Market socialism is common sense

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · 29d

The founders to idolize are not Steve Jobs or Elon Musk - it's Jose Maria Arizmendiarrieta

92 cooperatives
70,000 worker owners
€11 billion revenue
a university

All for the dignity of workers and community benefit. This is why there is a statue of him

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Reposted by austin robey

Subvert @subvert.fm · Sep 2

subvert.fm

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · Sep 1

I think what I’m doing would make 15 year old austin proud

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · Aug 29

I want to build a co-op

I want to meet with members

I don't want to go to a music industry mixer and shake hands with someone that works at suno

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · Aug 28

Music streaming discourse:

“Spotify’s founder invests in a military contractor

Instead, we should use YouTube music, a company owned by Google, a direct military contractor

A true alternative way to continue paying $10.99/ month to access all music”

🤯🤯🤯

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · Aug 27

If your “alternative” to streaming is a company with

-opaque deals
-opaque ownership
-undisclosed funding sources
-no democratic corporate governance

It might not be that much of an alternative

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · Aug 27

Hear me out. I think too much is blamed on Daniel Ek.

By suggesting systemic problems are the result of flawed individuals, we obscure and further mystify larger systemic challenges

Yes, ridicule him

But also remember that solutions don’t come from cooler capitalists in charge

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · Aug 27

100 new members joined Subvert Co-op yesterday

Each one owns as much of the company as I do

austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · Aug 26

Music tech:

The platform is not the solution
Any startup is at best a future problem
Solidarity is the only solution

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · Aug 25

Sometimes the co-op community gets this backwards and confuses the means with the ends

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · Aug 25

Co-ops are a tool, not the end goal

What matters most:
-broad-based community ownership
-democratic governance
-less worker precarity
-greater utility and material benefit
-greater resilience, integrity, trust, and longevity

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · Aug 22

“Co-ops are great in theory, BUT…”

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Reposted by austin robey

Subvert @subvert.fm · Aug 20

Our newly elected Board has approved our platform revenue model:

Optional Contributions instead of artist and label platform fees.

Supporters can optionally contribute at checkout. Artists and labels keep everything they earn.

0% platform fees. 100% community control.

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · Aug 16

Cooperatives are a means, not the end

Success isn’t -forming a co-op

It’s enabling broad-based ownership and creating material benefit for workers, and reducing precarity

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austin robey @austinrobey.xyz · Aug 16

From Caroline Woolard in "Ours to Hack and to Own": "So You Want To Start a Platform Cooperative"

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