Magali Speicher

“That’s not a good idea. What you wrote is way too long if you want this to be played on the radio.” As frustrated as this made me, my producer was right. Stuck in the one way track of musicians’ short videos, musicians are trying to please the algorithm and make the thumbs pause for a few seconds before they continue their repetitive movement. The track only leads downwards.

I couldn’t stop picturing a future in which the damage has already been done and music has been devaluated by reckless consumerism. We’ve gotten so accustomed to seeing visuals that they became a necessity instead of an addition. Our brains became used to a fast paced consumption, now we only have seconds to offer to give new music a chance. We’re taking music for granted and let artists get payed peanuts. It’s a vicious circle fed simultaneously by the listener and the suppliers. I call it the chain of consumption; the music industry without the chained musician.

mute. is a dystopian vision on where we could possibly be heading to.

I talked to musician Paul Quinn (Saxon), producer Attie Bauw and other professionals from the music industry. These conversations contrast the fiction with their documentary approach as they touch upon the past, the present and issues within the chain of consumption in a reflective way.