Founder’s Statement

Louis Marks | CEO, Ropeadope | Founder of TWCA

In 2005, shortly after engaging in the music business, I attended a meeting with a top music distributor. The top executive at the meeting stated ‘the album is dead’. My curious question, “when" was answered with laughter and a schooling on iTunes and the workings of the music business.

Despite that unique introduction to the industry, seventeen years later the album remains coveted. In that time my company, Ropeadope, has curated and released a collection of over 650 albums: some of the finest music of the time from well respected independent artists including Ramsey Lewis, Eddie Palmieri, The Last Poets, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, and Snarky Puppy; from female artists including Shayna Steele, Ellen Andrea Wang, Yazz Ahmed, and Caroline Davis; and from yet to be known artists like Butcher Brown, Rosaway, and Ariel Bart. All are artists who bring a wellspring of creative energy to ‘market’ that represents an essential part of our culture. As David Byrne points out, art is always made for the available venue - from the African plains, to symphony halls, to CBGB’s and to the vinyl and CD formats. When artists have a venue for which to create, they distill their vision accordingly to reach people.

In the process of working with hundreds of artists and helping them meet the market, I have experienced a lonely and often financially difficult process. There have been bright spots, like the early years of social media when the throttle was open. Yet it is increasingly obvious that this process has a persistent effect on the vision; it is hard to properly finance and record a full album and find success in the market. Artists have been wizards in their ability to multi-task with teaching jobs, patronage, crowdfunding and more to keep the vision alive. But now, in 2024, accelerating changes in the industry forces these artists further to the sidelines. User Generated Content (UGC) is one of the most threatening as an artist is faced with the choice of either making their albums available on all platforms or restricting the number of people who can find their music. In the former, which represents most artists’ decision, the music is then available for endless dissection and re-use via UGC. To spell it out, once you deliver music to the system, anyone in the world is free to use it for their own videos to get attention on platforms like TikTok and Youtube. The current result is a mix of some unique and creative pieces, and a plethora of low-quality short videos that obscure the essence of the art. Another challenge is the use of stems and isolated tracks - numerous platforms permit users to take pieces of songs and create new songs - again with a few creative results and many more low-quality tracks. Finally, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is ‘creating’ new music forms, based entirely on the existing database of songs.

We should then ask: Should an artist release music into an ecosystem that devalues it, permits massive alteration, and copies it using AI?

While the answer is an obvious no, there seems to be little choice. An artist would need to forgo Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok to prevent the editing of their music. They would need to forgo download services and streaming to prevent use of their work by AI. Assuming that most artists cannot afford to withhold the music from these platforms, what will artists create in the future? Those who continue with the current system will most likely will create to the venue, and the album as the primary artistic medium will disappear. Along with the album goes the story, the narrative and the context that it serves: context is essential to human culture and existence that defines where we came from, who we are and perhaps even where we are going.

Third Way Cultural Alliance’s goal is to ensure the creative process continues to value the album as a primary format. As a not-for-profit organization with a board and advisors that represent creative leaders, both pedigreed and established, along with younger leaders who are carrying the art form forward, our vision emphasizes the preservation of the album, a culturally important process that our citizen artists create. This is not a complicated process requiring a large organization: We can directly support album creation with careful oversight in real time and with responsible budgets. The Third Way Cultural Alliance board can identify artists globally who are not only representing their heritage, but also breaking new ground in artistic expression.

The starting mission: To preserve the future of the Album as art.  

The First Way: The commercial music market has consistently marginalized world-class musicians who do not tailor their music to the pop market. In recent years the streaming model has delivered disappointing results for most, to the point where the large majority of musicians are working multiple jobs to earn a living. They continue to create music under these circumstances, music that respects history while offering powerful reflections on modern culture. While more artists can now create music due to powerful and less expensive recording technologies, the commercial music market is more crowded than ever, pushing them further into obscurity.

The Second Way: The non-profit sector of the music business values tradition over modern music. Even those musicians who are fully cognizant of, and respectful of, the classic composers of the 20th century can easily be overlooked when they speak to modern times through their music. Ropeadope has been a reflection of this movement of modern musicians, revealing the failure of the non-profit sector to recognize contemporary styles. For 25 years we have chronicled what happens on the street, not in the foundation halls or on the main stages.

Both of these models have advantages and drawbacks, but neither of them is fully focused on preserving the art of today for future generations. Music is created ‘to the venue,’ meaning that a creator needs inspiration and a destination while the artist reflects on and speaks to the culture in their process. The music being created at this time in history is much more important than these models can sustain. We must acknowledge and preserve them for future generations.

The Third Way: a non-profit that creates a solid funding base for musicians to record, and a path to existing commercial channels. In this way, the artist is not dependent on either of the existing channels for survival. This is a very practical endeavor; Individuals, foundations, and export agencies will all achieve their goals of supporting art and bringing that art to a worldwide audience.