You have to hand it to the music biz and the financial sector: They always manage to come up with a new way to fleece the suckers.
The latest scam: SongShares. Basically, if I understand it correctly, soon you’ll be able to buy shares in music royalties the same way you can buy stocks. As a gimmick, I suspect it will be a huge hit at first — I can already picture thousands of people getting a few shares in a song by their favourite artist as Christmas and birthday presents. But as an investment, it seems right up there with buying mining rights to land on the moon. Plus, it seems open to massive abuse — how long will it be before shady types buy obscure songs and maniputes the streaming numbers to cash in? Despite all this, the eternally chipper and enthusiastic Eric Alper is in love with the idea. So naturally, it’s the topic du jour on your Friday episode of Sonic Reducers. Tune in to hear us debate the merits of the plan, speculate about which bands might actually be worth your dough, and discuss which classic-rock band Eric can’t wait to invest in. Sonic Reducers. One topic. Two music nerds. Five minutes. Everything you need to know.
