Is the web making us more real?
I just finished the book ‘Small Pieces Loosely Joined: A Unifying Theory of the Web’. Most of it is pretty interesting. David Weinberger paints a compelling portrait of the web as the mechanism through which the human race (perhaps ironically) rediscovers its authenticity. That is a very crude distillation of the themes he weaves together but, I think, not entirely inaccurate.
One specific idea that resonated with me from the book and that seems to be emerging as a trend within the broader communication and marketing medium is the dissolution and erosion of ‘corporate speak’ as the tone through which companies interact with their consumers. We all know that generally when big companies speak we’re being lied to. The web, through social communication systems, has created a platform that breaks down that traditional relationship. As a result, the power of the authentic human individual narrative, replete with all its frailty, imperfection and yearning, seems to be gaining traction as a credible vehicle through which things can be marketed and, of course, sold. More and more people are connecting with the personal voice. The real voice. People getting their news from blogs with opinions, from Fox News, from Andrew Sullivan, from Josh Marshall, etc. (Talking Points Memo is actually a perfect example of a corporate voice emerging that is more ‘authentic’, mixing a transparent point-of-view with actual news coverage)
What’s the corollary for music? Within the loosely defined critical realm there are of course bloggers and writers that are posting their thoughts unfettered. But that’s not really new. There’ve always been critics who’ve been largely untethered from the need to hide behind generic phrases and idioms. Lester Bangs was telling it like it is over 40 years ago.
Instead I’m thinking about the artists themselves and how they are choosing to market themselves. At the big levels — the big indie artists, major label bands — they’re actually close to an authentic voice in their bios, their websites. But many of the indie artists I see, my peer group so to speak, are still caught up in this notion that you essentially have to lie in your marketing materials to make an impact on the world.
Every bio I read is working so transparently to try and convince me that this band is the huge next big thing. They won some award somewhere. They were featured on some podcast. They recorded with some famous producer that you’ve never heard of and things are really starting to get exciting. They have over 5,000 people on their mailing list. Blah blah blah.
On the one hand, you obviously need to create a persona online and it’s important that people feel there is a sense of momentum around your work. On the other hand, you really seem kind of lame when you have to work so hard to convince me that something is happening for you. Seems very Music Biz 1.0 to me. Some manager/A&R type writing up some boilerplate bio because that’s how it’s always been done. There should be some ability for artists to be more real about the troubles they’re facing getting exposure and letting more of their marketing reside in the power of their songs to inspire their audience. At least, I’d connect more directly with something like that. Something powerfully individual that highlights all the good accomplishments but has a mechanism through which I can feel a real unforced connection with the artist. But that could also be hopelessly naive.
Tags: internet, music and the web
September 4th, 2008 at 5:59 am
[...] Some people posit that, with the onset of digital communication technology, new music distribution channels, and social communication media like self-publishing tools, fans will get closer to the artist. Closer to the real. I talked about that phenomena here. [...]