The only honest test of ownership

Here is the test nobody in this industry likes to be given: what happens to you if we disappear?

If Spotify disappears, an artist loses the audience. If Getty disappears, a photographer loses the clients. That is not a bug in those businesses. It is the business.

If Starchive disappears, you still own the catalog. The brand. The pricing. The customer list. The community. The business you built on top of them. You would need to find a new room to meet your audience in — and that is all you would need to find.

We can offer that test with a straight face for one reason: we never take those things in the first place. There is nothing to hold hostage. We are not building a moat out of your relationships. We are building a floor under them, and betting that when leaving is genuinely easy, staying is a decision you keep making because the platform is worth it.

That is what a partner is.