In the streaming era, Substack helps indie rockers pay the bills. Can it last?

The email subscription platform has been a source of inspiration and financial freedom for Pitchfork favourites struggling in the streaming economy

I jumped from my chair and knelt over my father, cradling his head. As if in a movie, I held his head in one hand and snapped the other in front of his face, yelling for him to wake up," writes singer-songwriter Kevin Morby in a recent post on his Substack newsletter, recounting a night his father had a medical scare. Thankfully, moments later, his eyes, like cherries in a slot machine, quickly dinged forward and he looked around the room without moving his head."

Morby loves his Substack. The Kansas City-based musician, who is adored by Pitchfork and recently released his seventh album, This Is a Photograph, joined the email newsletter platform in April at his manager's suggestion. He now sends his several hundred subscribers a series of rambling, poetic vignettes every few weeks.