A Brief Interlude

More writing is coming....

Hi all,

I want to apologize for the brief absence on Substack. Admittedly, it’s been a busy few weeks. My book is coming out in multiple languages this autumn (Spanish, Italian, and Arabic), so this has involved much traveling, which will continue until mid-December (I am writing to you from Vilnius, Lithuania, today).

At the same time, I’ve been working hard on Book #2, which I’m trying to expedite as much as possible. I hope to complete a draft for the publisher by the summer of 2025. Much of my brainpower has been dedicated to that outside of the day job, which means fewer contributions to Substack.

If you missed it, I did add another contribution to Forbes, where I argued that we need to consider music as an alternative asset class in terms of how we think about development finance mechanisms. I also rebutted Bob Lefsetz’s argument that “all clubs and small venues should close if they are unprofitable” in this LinkedIn article.

Lastly, I have been thinking about how, and if, to respond to the recent turn of events in the United States and this continued march towards authoritarianism around the world (not just in the US, but also Austria, Netherlands, Germany, and so on). I wonder what response music and the creative economy should/could have. A thriving creative economy usually promotes multilateralism (through the diversity of offerings and more stuff to watch and listen to). More music and art are being made now than ever, and we are listening to more local language music than ever before. And we’re turning inward.

More is coming, but I wanted to check in. I’m overwhelmed that I have 600+ subscribers, and I want to respect and honour each and every one of you. Hence the update.

Until next time, here are two things I hope will provide hope. The first is this image I took of the sunset in Oslo last week. The second is one of my favorite ‘hopeful’ albums, Our Hope, by Japanese trio Hitsujibungaku.

And the album.