Digital Disconnect

The digital disconnect was an interesting exercise in self-awareness.

The snapchats piled up. The Facebook notifications came in. Not surprisingly, no Tinder notifications came in. Each app flashed that inviting red number in the corner, flagging someones interest in connecting with me – and my obligation to check the notification.

Beyond those awkward moments between class where there wasn’t anywhere to look other than down at your phone, being disconnected from social media was so refreshing. I was completely aware of all those times I would ordinarily be checking to see if something dramatic had happened. I even extended the 24 hour lockout by another three hours, in a smug act of defiance against social media.

Music is probably one of the few legitimate reasons for me to check social media. One week ago, Kendrick Lamar released his second record a week early. Social media blew up about it. The internet, in general, blew up. It was a rare moment where I validated my persistent checking of social media. But other than taking suggestions from music publications on the latest underground to check out, I should really try and find excuses to disconnect more often.

Power

Sharing content on ‘Who’s On Bass’ engages the fans, or the consumers of particular artists.

The blog is mode of creative expression, that converts very derivative forms of music journalism such as album or gig reviews, into 100-word snapshots, sharing forgotten music, or expansive artist features. In just under 12 months, the blog has had over 3000 hits. The location settings tell us we have small bands of followers in the USA, Canada and Western Europe.

It’s difficult to measure the influence the blog has on the reader and the artist. Hopefully being a penchant for local music- and exposing those artists to overseas readers, there is the potential for those artists to benefit from the blog.

Sites like change.org provide an almighty platform for the consumer. In days gone by they would hush the consumer, and sweep the issue under the carpet. They often justify their power, because they believe all the power is monopolised by government and large insititutions.

My Digital World

The Smashing Pumpkins: Announced in 2008 that they would no longer be releasing albums

The digital age has savaged and revived the music industry in the last 20 years.

However, music has been in a constant state of re-invention and transformation for longer than 20 years. Vinyl became cassette, cassette become CD before CD gave way to MP3. Vinyl has had life breathed into it, by audiophiles searching for the warm wholesome quality it gave the music but that is a limited segment of the market.

The latest transformation of the music industry is the transition from MP3 to streaming. An innovation aimed at reducing the illegal downloading that plagued the MP3 age, it has divided the public, with some championing it, whilst others like Thom Yorke calling Spotify declaring it “the last fart of a dying corpse”.

For upcoming artists, they don’t enter an industry where their music will by those they can physically reach (with the exception of giving the EP to a radio station), but a digital environment where a single Soundcloud track upload could land them a record deal. Already established artists have released themselves from the traditional methods of releasing music in album formats, to developing elaborate marketing campaigns to generate interest. That is an aspect of the landscape, with infinite opportunity and one I would like to pursue in my professional career. The power now belongs to the listener, their expectations have changed. They want to treated like individuals instead of being told what is current. It’s difficult to envision an era where universal phenomenons like The Beatles or Michael Jackson could ever exist again. Whilst some artists may try to reclaim the power, or deny that it was ever transferred to the listener- the successful ones will adapt. Listeners aren’t restricted to only listen to the music they can afford to buy on CD or MP3, but they can find their next favourite song on YouTube before sharing it with 450 friends on Facebook.

With prolific databases like Spotify now freely accessible online paired with suggestion radio services like Pandora now prominent, it raises questions about what the next chapter of the music industry has in stall. Do we listen to fewer or more artists than the pre-digital era? Will the innovation continue to lead the listener, or will the listener lead the innovation?

Music plays a major part in the digital narrative, and the digital world plays a major part in the narrative of music.