"When radio stations started playing music the record companies started suing radio stations. They thought now that people could listen to music for free, who would want to buy a record in a record shop? But I think we all agree that radio stations are good stuff"
About this Quote
Panic is the oldest business model in media: a new distribution channel appears, incumbents predict apocalypse, lawyers warm up, and the public quietly adopts the new norm. Zennstrom frames that cycle with a deliberately plain example - radio versus records - to make a more controversial point feel obvious. He’s not really litigating early 20th-century copyright history; he’s laundering a philosophy of disruption through nostalgia. By the time he lands on “we all agree,” dissent starts to sound silly, even antisocial.
The intent is strategic. Zennstrom, best known for Skype and for backing Spotify, is speaking from inside the “permissionless innovation” tradition: technology expands access first; policy catches up later. The subtext is a warning to rights-holders who treat every new platform as theft by default. His “good stuff” phrasing is almost disarmingly casual, a rhetorical move that shrinks a complex economic shift into a common-sense consumer benefit. If you object, you risk looking like the crank who wanted to ban radio.
Context matters because the radio analogy is both true and conveniently incomplete. Radio did boost music discovery, but it also reshaped bargaining power, royalties, and what kinds of artists got heard. Zennstrom’s point works because it targets a cultural memory: we now regard radio as a public good, not a piracy machine. He’s arguing that today’s “free” listening - streaming, sharing, on-demand access - will eventually be domesticated the same way, and that suing the future is rarely a winning long-term brand strategy.
The intent is strategic. Zennstrom, best known for Skype and for backing Spotify, is speaking from inside the “permissionless innovation” tradition: technology expands access first; policy catches up later. The subtext is a warning to rights-holders who treat every new platform as theft by default. His “good stuff” phrasing is almost disarmingly casual, a rhetorical move that shrinks a complex economic shift into a common-sense consumer benefit. If you object, you risk looking like the crank who wanted to ban radio.
Context matters because the radio analogy is both true and conveniently incomplete. Radio did boost music discovery, but it also reshaped bargaining power, royalties, and what kinds of artists got heard. Zennstrom’s point works because it targets a cultural memory: we now regard radio as a public good, not a piracy machine. He’s arguing that today’s “free” listening - streaming, sharing, on-demand access - will eventually be domesticated the same way, and that suing the future is rarely a winning long-term brand strategy.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
More Quotes by Niklas
Add to List
