I Stream the Line Between Good and Evil

Aida Baghernejad, Johann Scheerer

Streaming is often said to have democratised the music industry. It has never been easier to release music, reach an audience and work independently. At the same time, criticism of the platforms that increasingly determine which music becomes visible, who gets paid and which artistic voices have a chance of being heard continues to grow.

Few people have articulated these debates as publicly and as incisively in recent months as Johann Scheerer. In his widely discussed social media videos, the label owner, producer and author regularly examines the power structures of the streaming economy, the working conditions of musicians, the interests of major platforms such as Spotify and the question of who digital music culture actually benefits.

In conversation with journalist Aida Baghernejad, he will discuss the promises and contradictions of the streaming era, artists, platform capitalism and the future of independent music culture. Who benefits from the existing structures? What alternatives might be possible? And how does the relationship between art, the public sphere and economics change when algorithms increasingly take on the role once occupied by editors, labels and local scenes?

Johann Scheerer is an author, music producer, and managing director of Clouds Hill. Alongside the label, he runs Clouds Hill Studios in Hamburg and works with artists from a wide range of musical backgrounds. As an author, he has published several books, most recently the novel »Play«. His sharp observations on the contemporary music business now reach audiences far beyond the industry itself through social media.

Aida Baghernejad is one of the most distinctive voices in German-language cultural journalism. Through her writing and podcasts, she explores pop culture, media, politics and the social conditions that shape cultural production. For outlets including taz, Kaput – Magazin für Insolvenz & Pop, Deutschlandfunk Kultur and Zeit Online, she combines analytical precision with a keen understanding of the political dimensions of pop culture.