Tag: cartel
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Cartels without gangsters: Power, coordination, and legality
Where are cartels, and why is it almost impossible to break them? People imagine cartels as gangsters. Guns. Drugs. Violence. That image feels comfortable. It pushes the problem far away. However, modern cartels do not wear masks. They wear suits, they file reports, they hire lawyers. They operate legally. Therefore, the first mistake lies in…
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How would music look if labels were not a cartel?
Music looks free on the surface. Anyone can upload a track. Anyone can stream. Yet power never vanished. It consolidated. A small cluster of major labels still coordinates access, visibility, contracts, catalog ownership, and revenue flows. No conspiracy meetings are required. Structural alignment does the work. Therefore the real question is not whether music feels…