Culture Over Cash is a short zine exploring how structural forces rooted in capitalism — including financialization, consolidation, and platformization — are reshaping who owns music, who controls the infrastructure through which it circulates, and whose interests the music industry ultimately serves.

The zine was co-developed with artist, organizer, friend and collaborator Stefan Christoff for a public panel discussion on October 21, 2026, at Concordia University's SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation, supported by Social Justice Concordia and organized by Stefan.

We explore these questions through several contributions:

• Stefan Christoff reflects on independent culture, community organizing, and collective resistance to corporate power.

• Firuza Huseynova, a music researcher and DJ (iPod Baby), discusses alternative music platforms, cooperative ownership, and community radio.

• Brodie Conley (me!) contributes an introductory essay née ‘beginner’s guide to on music under capitalism’, the structural forces driving inequality, and ways we might collectively push back.

• Mauro Pezzente, co-founder of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Casa del Popolo, discusses autonomous cultural spaces and their connections to social movements in a conversation with Stefan.

Designed and laid out by David Widge, with artwork by Stefan's daughter, Leonora ❤️

Prefer to read offline? Download the zine as a readable PDF!

Want to print copies and share them in your community? Download the print-ready version!