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dariusjagjag.bsky.social

@dariusjagjag.bsky.social
49 followers 20 following 135 posts
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I was reading Minima Moralia… by the German philosopher Theodor W. Adorno, and I came across this sentence: “In the end, glorification of splendid underdogs is nothing other than glorification of the splendid system that makes them so.” I’ve been thinking about it for days.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
In 40 days, Dead Gowns’ new album Vegas will be released. There’s no start to any album this year that’s more stunning, more ambitious than the first two tracks from it. @deadgowns.bsky.social aka Geneviève Beaudoin has created something very special, and I can’t wait to watch it unfurl.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The Youth & AI Summit at the UN was so rad. I spoke, as did so many teenagers and other youth, sharing their deep concerns about AI. They were fearless and articulate. It was inspiring. Thanks to them, we have a shot at protecting what matters most, especially human creativity.
Sarah Utterback, Darius Van Arman, Kelly Crisp (left to right) at the Youth & AI Summit at the United Nations, August 12, 2026.Darius Van Arman reading his statement at the Youth and AI Summit at the United Nations, Aug. 12, 2026.Katrine Øgaard Jensen, Darius Van Arman and Kelly Crisp speaking at the United Nations Youth and AI Summit, Aug. 12, 2026.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Excited to be joining @kellyrosebud.bsky.social and others at the Youth and AI summit at the United Nations on Wednesday, August 12. (Organized by @iycforyouth.org.) If you’re in NYC then, you can register before midnight today to be able to attend. (Link in comments.)
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Someplace new and outside of time, barely familiar enough to feel like home yet wholly your own. This is what June McDoom's debut full-length album evokes. And the video for its first single, “Without You”, directed by Bing Cao, is absolutely stunning. www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVAH...
youtube.com
June McDoom - Without You (Official Video)
YouTube video by JuneMcDoomVEVO
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Reposted by @dariusjagjag.bsky.social
The Rumpus @therumpus.net · 30/07/2026
“...one of the most haunting and devastatingly edifying American road-trip stories ever written.” Born to Run: Darius Van Arman discusses "The Wind," a short story from @legroff.bsky.social's Brawler (@riverheadbooks.bsky.social). ➡️ buff.ly/qxGk7dw
The cited quote and information written in black against a white background divided into four quadrants by two intersecting black lines. In the lower lefthand corner is the book cover for Brawler.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I wrote a piece of literary criticism reviewing @legroff.bsky.social's short story "The Wind". It examines the American road-trip myth, the impact of generational violence, and why some of us view connection and openness as dangerous vices. It ran yesterday in @therumpus.net!
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Unplanned Bon Iver set happening now at Eaux Claires festival. First live performance of @boniverwi.bsky.social songs by Justin Vernon since August 25, 2023. Justin is covering for Kevin Morby, who is now on paternity leave! (Congrats again Kevin and Katie!)
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
So many incredible moments on this album, Nirosta Steel's "My Skyscraper." Ulyssa’s Eric & John meticulously culled & curated from 40 years of works by Steven Hall, co-conspirator to Arthur Russell. #whenlabelsdogood Pure, unadulterated magic from beginning to end. & I love the description below.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
omg, I get to make dad jokes all day long…and they have to laugh at everything!
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
My career in the music industry and the businesses I am now part of ( @jagjaguwar.bsky.social, Secretly Group, Secretly Distribution, etal.) would not exist without early and critical support from independent record stores. And Rough Trade US's Stephen Godfroy is right… lnkd.in/edcnrK6A
musicbusinessworldwide.com
It’s time independent music retail found its VOICE - Music Business Worldwide
The following MBW op/ed comes from Stephen Godfroy, Co-Owner of independent music retailer Rough Trade…
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
So proud of our approach to reducing our carbon footprint by manufacturing vinyl records from recycled materials. Great credit goes to my Secretly Group partner, Ben Swanson, who consistently pushes all of us at Secretly to use less energy and fewer raw materials. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...
latimes.com
Vinyl records are back, but they're polluting the planet. These labels are trying to help
The resurgence of vinyl records has taken a toll on the environment. Labels are banding together to help alleviate production effects.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
The NPR station in southwest and central Virginia, WVTF/Radio IQ, aired a nice story about the label I founded, @jagjaguwar.bsky.social. Radio journalist Dave Cantor interviewed me about the label's early years, when it was still based in Virginia. www.wvtf.org/news/2026-05...
wvtf.org
After 30 years, Jagjaguwar revisits its ‘Virginia Years’
Darius Van Arman, like so many others, wound up in Charlottesville to attend the University of Virginia. He initially studied math but said he wasn’t fully invested in academics.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
“The best that can be said is that some of us are struggling. And what we are struggling against is that death in the heart which leads not only to the shedding of blood, but which reduces human beings to corpses while they live.” —James Baldwin on being American (from “Nothing Personal”, 1964)
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
The headline for the Supreme Court ruling we’re still waiting for: Supreme Court Permits Lawsuits Over Human Beings Seized by the United States Centuries Ago
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
The recent New York Times list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters has been bothering me.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
One of my favorite feelings in the world is stumbling upon new music from a new artist and being unexpectedly blown away. Thanks to a Substack post by @emwhitenoise.bsky.social some months ago highlighting new music being played on college radio, I discovered a quartet from Toronto called Potions.
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Brodie Conley @brodieconley.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Credit where it’s due — Secretly moves thoughtfully and w a clear core artist-first mission 🤘🏻 Darius & the distro team esp thoughtful w mission & follow through —- Cargo (physical) distro esp relevant as shared infra that serves artists & is not feasible individually!
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
This is exactly our intention at Secretly. The opposite of extraction. For 30 years, we’ve reinvested our profits into the artists and labels within our community, as well as into our employees & infrastructure, to become a more effective support system for the human creators of great art & music.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
“My luck is so bad that when I touch the ocean, the ocean drowns.” My mother Farideh dropped this zinger on me yesterday.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Yesterday, at roughly 1:23:45 am Kyiv time, it was exactly 40 years since Reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded.
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liz pelly @lizpelly.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
great piece by my sister on p4k today. I especially enjoyed the lore from morby's early days in NYC and the stories from her trip to Kansas City. I know I am biased but I always think Jenn's are masterclass profiles - pitchfork.com/features/lif...
pitchfork.com
Life & Death in Kevin Morby’s Midwest
On the eve of fatherhood, Kevin Morby is celebrating a life less haunted. We visit the singer-songwriter at his home outside Kansas City to drink some beers, talk about his sprawlingly intimate new al...
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Sunday marks the 40th anniversary of one of the most consequential man-made disasters in history, the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. I wrote about it, including how it reveals what might happen if we, as human society, fail to balance our scientific ambitions with our mythologically grounded needs.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
One of my favorite lines, by anyone, ever. I was raised to be in the first group. But I found happiness when I learned that the right place is with the moon howlers and the story makers, not the scientifically instructed.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
"There is a reason, after all, that some people wish to colonize the moon, and others dance before it as an ancient friend."—James Baldwin (Thank you, Jermaine Fowler, for reminding me of this line.)
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
The real danger of current marketing practices—that chase virality, condition public perception, and try to juke the algorithms—is that they are priming the soil for what comes next: a flood of generative AI content and “personalities”.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
No single transaction has greater potential to reshape the music industry than Bill Ackman’s (Pershing Square’s) takeover bid for Universal Music Group. www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/bill-ackmans...
musicbusinessworldwide.com
Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square bids to buy Universal Music Group in $64 billion deal - Music Business Worldwide
“UMG’s stock price has languished due to a combination of issues that are unrelated to the performance of its music business and importantly, all of them can be addressed with this transaction…
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
I'm excited to speak at Harvard Law School's RAP Symposium on March 26. RAP, the "Recording Artists Project" at Harvard Law, offers pro bono legal assistance in the music industry. They also host this all-day event featuring speakers at the intersection of music, entertainment, and law.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
When AI tells me there is a more concise way to phrase something, I reject it immediately, and I then convince myself that this is how I best fight for humanity.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
To protect human creativity, merely engaging AI companies may not be enough. Obtaining equity stakes (i.e. a true seat at the table) could help ensure that AI companies operate ethically and in accordance with humanist and culture-forward principles. musicx.substack.com/p/who-contro...
musicx.substack.com
✘ Who Controls the Future of Music?
And: Culture as foundational; 21st Century co-op ecologies
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
In a letter to shareholders today, Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl noted that just 27% of US music streaming consumption in 2024 came from new releases, versus 45% a decade ago. 1/4
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Generative AI models that create music represent a new challenge for the music community. I wrote about AI's threat to human artistry, and what we can do as music independents to protect what matters most. www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/rise-of-the-...
musicbusinessworldwide.com
Rise of the Music-Making Machines - Music Business Worldwide
Darius Van Arman explores the threat of AI to the music-making community and how independents can best position themselves against the inevitable and rising tide of AI…
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the_beka @thebeka17.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Please read and share this wonderful article about music. We may soon reach a point of no return, never to recover what we've lost. It all boils down to a simple choice: start fighting for new art and new sounds,or start to perish. @dariusjagjag.bsky.social dariusjagjag.substack.com/p/the-strugg...
dariusjagjag.substack.com
The Struggle for Independence in the Modern Age
Our Shared Fight Against Market Concentration And For Art, Culture, And Access
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
UMG acquired Downtown, but only after being required to divest Curve Royalties. I'm so encouraged by how effective IMPALA & the broader independent community was in this fight against further market concentration, forcing a serious review by the European Commission & extracting a meaningful remedy.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
This morning I walked out my front door, put my headphones on, and Kevin Morby sang to me about how there’s a heaven on earth. My favorite song poet right now. So starting my day off with a huge pep in my step (even though I’m pretty sure I’m listening to a song about death).
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Mina Kimes @minakimes.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
A nurse. A researcher. A helper.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Thought-provoking: “Any theory of community will tell you that it is just as important to put up barriers to entry as it is to welcome people in. To make a community feel valuable there needs to be some friction involved.”—Maarten Walraven (Music x)
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
I wrote about my favorite song from last year, "Me," & the artist behind it, Lucie Lozinski (aka Ski Team). I also talked about the challenges new artists face when trying to get their brilliant new music out into the world & about how my role has evolved. dariusjagjag.substack.com/p/episode-4-...
dariusjagjag.substack.com
episode 4: song of the year you didn’t hear
On Lucie Lozinski, her song “Me” and starting a music career in the 2020s
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
“When power corrupts, it keeps a log of its progress, written into that most sensitive memory device, the human face.”
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
“During the Vietnam War… every respectable artist in this country was against the war. It was like a laser beam. We were all aimed in the same direction. The power of this weapon turns out to be that of a custard pie dropped from a stepladder six feet high.”—the late, great Kurt Vonnegut
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
Thank you so much, @jgrossnas.bsky.social , for the kind words. Not sure my essay is one of the best pieces of music journalism in 2025, but it always feels good to be recognized!
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
I wrote about Toni Morrison and how I learned from her that making the world a better place starts with protecting our concept of home. (An excerpt from this essay is in the thread below.) dariusjagjag.substack.com/p/episode-3-...
dariusjagjag.substack.com
episode 3: our own rapidly disintegrating sense of belonging, part 2
Toni Morrison suggests that finding heaven on earth starts with protecting our concept of home.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
“Poptimism intimated that critics should not just take pop music seriously but celebrate it—or else.…” (1/4)
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
I wrote about Flannery O’Connor and how her subversive writing was the kindling that Toni Morrison lit on fire. Their stories and essays have changed how we think about ourselves, and, by doing so, they have gifted us a cheat code to changing the world. dariusjagjag.substack.com/p/episode-2-...
dariusjagjag.substack.com
episode 2: our own rapidly disintegrating sense of belonging, part 1
Flannery O’Connor’s subversive writing was the kindling that Toni Morrison lit on fire
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The Joe Gross @joegross.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Kindergartener just told me “memory is not a sense” and wandered off so I’ve got a new guru.
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
From @recordoftheday.bsky.social: "we'd recommend taking the time to read Darius Van Arman's recent piece in Stereogum. It’s as much a critique of consolidation in the music industry as it is a meditation on the economics of music streaming & the pitfalls of algorithmically-driven music discovery."
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
I like very much how my friend Hunter Giles from @infinitecatalog.bsky.social ties whether you’re an independent (in the music industry context) to how you behave. He shared the following: If you’re re-investing, you’re an independent If you’re moving culture forward, you’re an independent
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
I am starting a substack called "In This Game Together". It will be a journal about culture, writing and music. For thinkers, and for those looking for magic in the cracks around us. (Link in the comments)
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dariusjagjag.bsky.social @dariusjagjag.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
In this fight we find ourselves in—the struggle for independence in the modern age—, we need to fearlessly push back against all market concentration wherever it arises. I wrote an essay from the heart and mind about independence and the current state of culture industries.
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