That’s the miracle of creation—song-writing, filmmaking, art, product building: the ability to conjure something from nothing. Freedom is never given; it is earned.

The digital age has brought unprecedented disruption to the music industry, upending traditional distribution models and empowering independent artists in new ways. Something I’ve been thinking about for 10+ years is what innovation looks like on the financial side of the industry. The financial infrastructure underpinning this ecosystem is tethered to legacy systems, characterized by friction, inefficiency, and inequitable distribution of value.

The design of nosocial started with many threads that came together very slowly at first and then suddenly formulated in a rush. This project deviates from traditional social media paradigms that aligns with the emerging agenctic AI era. There’s a philosophical point-of-view in early design choices as I think about how a network like this captures value for its users.

It was an interesting year for the economics of the independent music industry. Non-major labels and independent distributors accounted for nearly 50% of the recorded music revenue, the independent sector’s highest ever market share. This was knee-capped by the late news of Universal Music Group acquiring Downtown Music Group and its subsidiaries, who collectively would represent a significant chunk of this independent revenue.

This year’s best songs are bold in the visions and executions by artists who are profoundly capturing the political, cultural and creative ideas of our time.