iCapitalism and the Cybertariat: Contradictions of the Digital Economy

In: Monthly review: an independent socialist magazine, Band 66, Heft 8, S. 42

Abstract

The commodification of art and culture is the continuation of a process with a long history. Artistic work has been paid labor for centuries, and cultural commodities also have a long pedigree, produced under a variety of social and contractual conditions. What has changed in recent years has been the scale of their incorporation into capitalist productive relations, the concentration of capital in these sectors, and the introduction of a global division of labor into the production of cultural commodities. In the late twentieth century, the income and working conditions of writers, film-makers, and musicians were largely dictated by the terms they could negotiate with vertically organized film companies, record companies, and publishers whose profits were directly linked to the sale or distribution of commodities such as films, records, CDs, books, and magazines. Now the markets are increasingly dominated by companies that produce hardware alongside distributing the content for them. Adapted from the source document.