A little while back Seth wrote about all the other things he’d rather do than watch TV. I haven’t had a TV in 7 years myself, and aside from The Office and Lost on Hulu, I’d rather spend my time building my company or helping others build theirs, creating or helping others create. Clay Shirky gave a great keynote at the Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco 2008 on “Cognitive Surplus”, or in other words the left-over brain power we are regaining as we ween ourselves off of passive entertainment and move ourselves back into creating for entertainment. The success of Youtube, Flickr, Blogger and many other communities that run on consumer-created content, combined with TV viewership dropping dramatically over the last few years, show us where this new industrial revolution has been going for a while.
“Media that’s targeted at you but doesn’t include you may not be worth sitting still for.”
Now take that, and translate it into the realm of the music business. We are no longer driving on a one way street with our audience sitting by the side waiting for us to stop by and share our art. We are now engaging with our audience on an equal level, and you better make sure you’re driving in the same direction as your audience is going. Fighting piracy as a strategic component? Next exit, Nicetryville, TN. Feeling above addressing fan questions on Facebook? Oh we missed that exit a little while ago right around Dontcareaboutyoueithertown, VA. Suing fans to stop them from using your artwork to create their own? That exit is coming up right after Begratefulton, OH. (Like Jennifer did with Wakey!Wakey!‘s song “Twenty-Two”, and we loved it.)
We are moving slowly from a consumption to a creation society once again and artists should be on the forefront of that, stimulating fans to create with them, embracing the new ways in which people can express themselves, and applying this as a consistent part of their strategy in getting the word out. Sell your sheet music, give props to those that create using your art, be inclusive and grateful for this possibility to truly bond with others.
This video is well-worth watching for all the insights and provocative imagery. Highly recommended.