Playing Live

One massive change brought about by communication technology is the ability of decisions, and control, to scale. Senior executives earn way higher than front line workers now, partly because the workers are paid their cog value, and partly because a decision, made once, can be replicated. A musician who can record something once, but keep 'Intellectual Property' over it can make far more than someone who only plays live. Labourers play live. In a world that is perfectly transparent, and where it is easy to replicate whatever anyone does, the only control those at the top have is property rights. Those have become easier to enforce (for now). In the past, there had to be delegation of control, and reward, because of distance. Communication technology changed that (for now). In a world where everything you can do can be copied and repeated immediately, the power will shift back to playing live. The real value people add isn't in doing things a second time. It is in relationships and creativity. It is in being present. You can't replicate that.