Hollywood vs Everybody

​Here we go!  I don’t think any of us know how big this whole strike thing really is. Two huge entertainment unions against “the man.” And when I say man, what I really mean is, “THE MAN.” Purchasing our music has changed, and will never return to the neighborhood record store, Sam Goody’s or Tower Records. All gone. With it, the way we listened and purchased music and, most important, how the artist was paid. For the most part, I don’t think Musicians actually knew what was happening until they woke up, and “poof” it was all gone. They were too late to do anything about it. Some called it progress.
 
Well, here we are, facing the end of film and television as we once knew it. No one is waiting for the whole damn thing to disappear this time. This time artists are fighting for their lives, livelihood, proper pay, and respect for their artistic endeavors.
 
I am on Linkedin, no brag, it’s one of the places in social media where I like to hang. Get away from the other social media noise and shaming. No body shaming on Linkedin, just income shaming. And, hey, who couldn’t use a bit of monetary inspiration from time to time? Anyway, there are two schools of thought on this whole affair.  One school of thought is basically the “you go get ‘em” roar that is heard all over social media platforms. The other is far more pessimistic, that the enemy camp will settle for nothing less than the scorched earth approach to show business. These latter posts are written with all the emotion of a Vulcan, merely stating what they believe is actually going to happen. Because of this “new model” that Covid and streaming have brought about, there should no more need for unions.
 
I beg to differ. They are needed now more than ever.
 
“The only effective answer to organized greed is organized labor.”  Thomas Donahue