Three Thought Thursday

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Dear Reader,

Earlier this month, Spotify announced that it would dramatically cut its payouts to artists compared to previous years. This means anyone not named Taylor Swift in the music industry will work double the effort for less of an outcome than in previous years.

This is not an indictment on Taylor (I think she’s awesome) or Spotify (I admire their founder) but rather an observation of a recurring issue: dependence.

Dependence on a single marketplace dictates the success or failure of creators. Whether the creator builds a business, writes music, films content, or does any other creative act, the creator depends on the market where their art is “for sale.”

The problem with dependence is that it divorces the artist’s control of their art. That is what happened in the recent Spotify payout cuts. Spotify pays many artists’ bills, but when they decide to cut payouts, the artist suffers even if they are on top of the billboard…for now.

With the rise of the internet, technology, and the impending Web3, there may be a solution—a solution that is coming sooner than we think.

Internet Ownership- that is the theme for this Three Thought Thursday.

The Importance of Ownership

It was a disaster. Not just because of the sudden crash but also because of the height he fell from. I had a friend, who I’ll call John for his privacy, who was running a thriving business on Twitter back in 2021. He ran a consulting business teaching coaches how to build their brands on Twitter. At the peak of his business, he was pulling in around $50,000…per month. This was even more impressive because he only worked 4-6 hours a day. Everything was sunshine and rainbows until it wasn’t. When Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, everything changed. He uprooted the ecosystem and changed the algorithms, and before John knew it, no one wanted to build a brand on Twitter anymore. His revenue plummeted to making the same amount he would working at McDonald’s. It was brutal. John is still recovering, but I share this story to demonstrate the importance of TRUE ownership. John made a big mistake when he thought he owned his business. After all, he was a “business owner,” and his business was crushing. In reality, the true owner of his business was the platform he did business on — Twitter. Although John controlled the day-to-day, Twitter was the primary marketplace. When the marketplace stopped selling his service, John went out of business. There was a reliance on the “marketplace” and thus no “true” ownership. No “true” control. The fate of John’s business was up to the marketplace.

In the age of Internet Ownership, you must be the TRUE owner.

What You Can Own

It was a hot, dry summer day in 2019 when I bought my first stock in the backyard of a friend’s house in Yucaipa, California. I still own that share of Coca-Cola to this day. That stock made me an asset owner for the first time. Stocks aren’t the only asset you can own. Anyone can own an asset, whether real estate, artwork, or even a business. In regards to the internet, many people “own” various assets online. Books, music, businesses, and so much more. The issue I mentioned above is dependence. In all aspects of owning assets, there is a level of dependence upon a middleman, bank, or company to provide you with your asset’s value and distribution. So, if a bank goes belly up, Amazon takes your book off its shelf, or a social media platform changes its algorithm, your asset can suffer (and sometimes — like John — cease to exist). Only two assets remain free of dependence: websites and email. In the digital world, emails and websites are the only assets you can truly own and control. Owning an email domain and website ensures independence from third-party algorithms and policies, providing direct, unmediated access to your audience and content. Unlike social media platforms, where corporate rules dictate your reach, these assets offer stability and full ownership. For now, they remain the last bastions of true digital ownership.

Email and Websites are the only things you can fully own…for now.

What You Will be Able to Own

What is true internet ownership? It means having full control over your assets without relying on third-party platforms that can change policies or restrict access. Only email and websites offer this level of independence. However, a new type of technology is transforming ownership as we know it…Blockchain. Blockchain achieves true internet ownership by decentralizing control and ensuring transparency and security through code. Users directly own their data and the correlating assets without intermediaries. This decentralization means no single entity can alter the rules or restrict access to your assets, providing a stable and secure foundation for digital ownership. The two key aspects of blockchain are Coins (cryptocurrencies), and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). Coins are digital currencies operating on a decentralized ledger, allowing peer-to-peer transactions without a central authority. NFTs represent unique digital assets that can be owned and traded on the blockchain. Unlike cryptocurrencies, which are interchangeable, each NFT has distinct properties and ownership records. NFTs can represent digital art, music, virtual real estate, and more, giving creators full control over their work and its distribution. Blockchain technology is like a universal set of LEGO blocks. Each piece you own can connect with any other LEGO set, not just your own. For instance, if you create a Star Wars NFT, you can integrate it into any compatible digital environment without needing permission from Star Wars or fearing the franchise's shutdown. This flexibility and control epitomize true ownership in the digital age.

Blockchain enables true digital ownership.

Internet ownership is young, like SUPER young. It’s still in its 20s and probably doesn’t have a wife and kids yet. There is still so much to learn, create, and implement. However, one thing is for sure: true internet ownership will come through the rise of blockchain technology.

Can you do me a favor if you learned something new in this edition? Forward this letter to a friend who may not know about one of these three stories.

See you next Thursday,

Tommy