Folks, when it comes to music/videos - if you see/hear something incredibly horrible - IGNORE IT.
DO NOT send it to your friends saying “THIS IS THE WORST SHIT EVER”. All that does is add to its stickiness while the talentless assclown hack who created it pockets the money from their sponsor.
The insta-fame culture of modern celebrity has refined attention whoring into a science (not an artform - note the distinction). Content is specifically engineered to test the limits of obnoxiousness that prey on your remaining shreds of incredulity - which in turn, fuels the reaction they need to get your clicks and their sponsor money up.
Kids are HIGHLY SUSCEPTIBLE to this sorta ‘mob mentality’ tactic, so we end up with shit like Justin Bieber, Rebecca Black, Ke$ha and a Kim Kardashian single (and that’s just the beginning, really). Snookie is functionally retarded, but she’s a millionaire and you’re not. You just couldn’t look away, could you?
Meanwhile, there is a TON of great music/art/film being made RIGHT NOW that goes completely unnoticed, because it gets buried under the weight of 12,000,000 views and charting iTunes downloads. Just imagine if people paid the same attention to the good stuff.
The entertainment industry is a numbers game, people. Editorial, news & culture sites are only concerned with getting your click. I could literally shit into a ceramic bowl and pay 2 female midgets to eat it with a side of whole-wheat pita while my cat, Gus, chases a laser-pointer in the background on camera for YouTube and I guarantee that would get more hits than any music video or song I will ever make.
Should I do that, then? Hell to the fuck no. Granted, I could prolly parlay that into some real monetary opportunities and put a down payment on a house - but that would essentially negate everything I’ve ever stood for as a human being. My point is - there is simply no way for actual artists to compete with actual ‘art’ without playing the same game. This in turn, lowers the bar another notch on a daily basis.
I completely understand that the appeal of horrible shit is that ‘it’s funny’ and people shouldn’t take it seriously, etc. And believe me, I love me some jokes… but if there’s no balance between satire and actual legitimate work, then this shit no longer a joke.
If you can’t stand the current state of music and culture, please know that you’re not alone. There are MILLIONS of you out there. Understand that advertisers want your eyeballs, and they will shell out MILLIONS of dollars every year to co-sign the worst shit out there - because they know you’re not immune to cheap thrill of seeing a train-wreck.
If you can’t bring yourself to look away, consider what we’ll all be forced to look at instead.
Hollerate!
Tonedeff
P.S. Check out the attached video, where Christopher Weingarten breaks down the modern musical landscape and the impact of social networking has on it - he’s right on the money: http://thefindmag.com/?p=3631
...Except Chris Weingarten isn’t talking about what you’re talking about much at all, and doesn’t stand for what I think you stand for, IMO. To a degree, he does the OPPOSITE of what you’re suggesting. He is the definition of a “troll” - he repeatedly rails against legitimate musicians and artists that get widespread critical acclaim out of a self important idea of being a “music critic”, to bring attention to himself. Why doesn’t he just give props to the artists he likes without taking away from the ones he doesn’t?
A perfect example, glancing at his most recent tweets:
“I like Skrillex more than Burial. I hope no one finds out (oops)”
Why couldn’t he just give Skrillex props and leave it at that?
The underlying message is to repeat that pitchfork and blog hype is “wrong”, and the lesser acclaimed artist who he, completely subjectively says he likes more, is more deserving of props. As usual, it’s an awful comparison - they sound NOTHING alike. Burial gets wrongly placed under the “dubstep” category, and does ambient subdued melodic glitchy electronic music with manipulated R&B acapellas for vocals, while Skrillex does a kinda prog-abrasive dubstep electro thing. IMO, both of these artists are dope and i’ve enjoyed both their music, but Burial is clearly the more original and innovative one, and deserves all the props he gets. He adds the (oops) to be obnoxious and rub it in that he’s going against the grain and that Pitchfork-esque blogs would never agree with it. So annoying.
The artists he calls out aren’t the Rebecca Blacks and Ke$has - I’ve seen him put down Broken Social Scene, Flying Lotus, and Fleet Foxes, off the top of my head. Even if you think those are overhyped artists, it is not the same thing at all. He actually seems like he would be quicker to give props to MTV Bullshit than legitimate indie artists if they’re embraced by “hipsters”.
Good call, Tone. I had similar thinking after watching Jersey Shore season 1. Once they announced a season 2, I knew it had gone beyond “hey, look at these guido assholes.” They were proud of it and became millionaires. Ignoring is the only defense but it’s such a passive defense and that’s the problem. As soon as you mention them even if you make a case why they’re the Antichrist, you’re fueling the cycle, and I agree with this point you have made. What else can be done? Getting Ig-Nor-Aaaant?
“Midgets and Gus” would definitely be a hit, though.
...Except Chris Weingarten isn’t talking about what you’re talking about much at all, and doesn’t stand for what I think you stand for, IMO.
I just pointed it out as an aside. In terms of Chris Weingarten, I’m not in accordance with his musical tastes at all, but his assessment of how social media turns music into math in this video is dead on.
The way he breaks it down is pretty much identical to how I see it transpiring. Whatever’s on top stays on top and it becomes a homogeneous glut of “taste” that deadens any coverage/spotlight on real creativity/insight. Media outlets, in their current form are completely reactionary to the “lowest-common-denominator” of taste. THAT’s why I’m pointing it out.
I’m no fan of music critics to begin with. But I’d prefer that to the “homogeneous hive mind” we’re turning into. As y’all know, I’m 100% for balance of representation. There’s always gonna be horrible shit. But so long as there’s a flipside that is equally supported… I’m all for it. We’re not moving towards that, unfortunately.
Tonedeff said:DON’T FEED THE TROLLS - The insta-fame culture of modern celebrity has refined attention whoring into a science (not an artform - note the distinction). Content is specifically engineered to test the limits of obnoxiousness that prey on your remaining shreds of incredulity - which in turn, fuels the reaction they need to get your clicks and their sponsor money up.
Tonedeff said:
I’m no fan of music critics to begin with. But I’d prefer that to the “homogeneous hive mind” we’re turning into. As y’all know, I’m 100% for balance of representation. There’s always gonna be horrible shit. But so long as there’s a flipside that is equally supported… I’m all for it. We’re not moving towards that, unfortunately.
Yeah, I agree. I think Weingarten doesn’t want balance, he seems to want to bring down whatever gets “indie”/blog hype and say something else is better - even if the artist getting hype is actually good.
Sorry for going off on a tangent…it’s just every time I watch him say “the new broken social scene song sucks, everybody” I want to punch him in the face.
...Except Chris Weingarten isn’t talking about what you’re talking about much at all, and doesn’t stand for what I think you stand for, IMO.
I just pointed it out as an aside. In terms of Chris Weingarten, I’m not in accordance with his musical tastes at all, but his assessment of how social media turns music into math in this video is dead on.
The way he breaks it down is pretty much identical to how I see it transpiring. Whatever’s on top stays on top and it becomes a homogeneous glut of “taste” that deadens any coverage/spotlight on real creativity/insight. Media outlets, in their current form are completely reactionary to the “lowest-common-denominator” of taste. THAT’s why I’m pointing it out.
I’m no fan of music critics to begin with. But I’d prefer that to the “homogeneous hive mind” we’re turning into. As y’all know, I’m 100% for balance of representation. There’s always gonna be horrible shit. But so long as there’s a flipside that is equally supported… I’m all for it. We’re not moving towards that, unfortunately.
This is a great point, and it affects me directly. On our site, we’re constantly faced with an attempt at resolving this issue.
While we’ve chosen to take a decided slant—highlighting underground/independent hip hop and ignoring more mainstream artists—it’s still a game of numbers, even if we don’t want it to be. No matter how admirable the mission is in the beginning, i.e. to showcase new, unknown, talented MCs/producers, at the end of the day if it’s going to become legitimized and a self-sustaining business, it’s about the clicks and page views and the ad sales. And, the means by which to achieve these ends is plain: Talk more about artists that people already know, care about, are predispositioned to listen to, and are most likely to Google search.
Unfortunately, that runs counter to what we attempt to do in giving some shine to the artists that you don’t know. And, by and large, the only plausible way to go from Point A (artist you know, i.e. Atmosphere) to Point B (artist you don’t know, i.e. Epsilon Project) is to make some sort of white-wash comparison between the two artists (“Epsilon Project SOUNDS LIKE Atmosphere” [They don’t, by the way]).
I rarely, actually probably closer to never, step out from “behind the curtain” in a public forum like this, but this seemed like such a pertinent subject that’s been at the forefront of my mind lately. So, maybe the QN5 forums can help us address this issue.
Here are my questions for you:
How do you highlight indie rap by rappers that no one’s ever heard of?
How do I, as a writer, or we, as a magazine, make you care about a new artist that we interview if you’ve never heard of them?
Who is the last “new” artist you “discovered” or were put onto?
How/where did you first hear them?
What enticed you to take that initial step and check out their music?
Do you guys remember that Simpsons Treehouse Of Horror episode where all the advertising icons, such as the Lard Lad (the giant kid holding the donut), all come to life and destroy the town? And then Lisa, with a little help from Paul Anka, sing a song to get rid of these monsters. Then after everyone stops paying attention to them, they all just fall apart and don’t become a nuisance to the public anymore.
I think this song can also be used to get rid of the insta-fame “artists”/celebrities that we all think are annoying/awful.
Here’s how the song goes.
Paul Anka: To stop those monsters 1-2-3,
Here’s a fresh new way that’s trouble-free,
It’s got Paul Anka’s guarantee…
Lisa: Guarantee void in Tennessee.
All: Just don’t look! Just don’t look!
Just don’t look! Just don’t look!
Just don’t look! Just don’t look!
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