If a musician writes a records and doesn’t upload it onto Myspace, does it make a sound? Well, sure it does, but before the advent of the internet (for the average person) this sound was limited in the distance it could travel and number of ears it could reach. However, now with online communities and the easy transference of digital information, people can create music and have it heard by almost anyone with a computer all over the world- assuming they network as well. Being online isn’t enough. It’s necessary to share and connect to one another- not only open up the possibility of finding a larger audience, but also to create opportunities to socially collaborate with others, something I learned first hand through using Myspace.com.
Although this networking site lacks a decent search engine or efficient tagging system to classify its musical content, the “Top Friends” section (a selection of links to other people’s pages) makes up for a lot of the organizational short-comings. I’ve found if you enjoy one group’s music, often someone in their “Top Friends” will suit your fancy as well. Using this method of browsing by association has lead me to numerous bands I really like, including a one man industrial act out of Los Angelas, entitled “Birth!” After “randomly” finding his profile on Myspace I became an avid fan, and looked forward to the chance of seeing him perform live in person. Eventually, an opportunity for this did arise. However, my involvement with this show would not be passive as I originally suspected. He was hoping to do a West Coast Tour and asked for my help in organizing a show in Vancouver. Having the summer off and needing something to do with my time, I decided to go beyond helping out with just one in town show and ended up touring with him as a “Roadie” from Portland to Vancouver instead.
(clip from a show at pub340 in vancouver)
Despite what Oprah tells you about online strangers, this turned out to be a great decision and the entire trip ended up being a lot of fun. Naturally, we had our mini-disasters along the way, including having to cancel a show due to a medical emergency, which also cut short our time to work on a music video together. However, I’d still consider the entire experience a success and a good example of the possibilities of collaboration over the internet, made possible through linking. If Tapscott and Williams believe that obscurity (and not piracy) is the real problem for artists, then my story affirms this. Sharing your work, being open and connecting to one another online can lead to opportunities you’d never come across when refusing to engage at all. We may not have found the financial gold mine talked about in “Wikinomics”, but that’s alright. Since when does adventure and friendship have to be an economic endeavor?
Tags: 300, birth!, experience, fun, industrial, music, myspace.com, network, networking, peering, SOCS, SOCS300, SOSC300, tour, vancouver, web2.0, Wikinomics
September 20, 2008 at 2:41 am |
I remember waiting till midnight every night to tune in to Brave New Waves on CBC Radio 2, many people would set their tape recorders (or even VCRs) to record the show as it stretched into the wee hours of the morning. Its funny to think of what we had to go through to hear interesting new music. That wasn’t even that long ago, now everything we could possibly imagine is at our fingertips. MySpace really is an interesting phenomena, especially the way musicians are using it. There’s something more organic about randomly discovering new bands on the Internet rather than having to glean through countless album reviews in music magazines, sometimes I felt like I spent more time reading about music than listening to it… can’t say I miss that.
September 20, 2008 at 6:35 am |
Ahah, its true, and kinda funny how frustrating the radio could be at times too. Did you ever have to call up a station, because you missed the part where they tell you the musicians name? I don’t know how many times i’ve awkwardly sang into the phone, trying to help the person on the other end answer my question of “What did i just hear!?”
September 21, 2008 at 10:27 pm |
I think your experience brings hope to those who believe that the internet is going to turn us all into unsocialized beings. It sounds like it was a lot of fun! If I was a bit younger…
September 23, 2008 at 9:57 pm |
Yes, it is nice to hear a meeting people online story that doesn’t end in pedophilia or something similar… But then, it seems like those stories are getting fewer and farther between, and happily being replaced by good ones.
September 24, 2008 at 3:11 am |
Yeah, i think to a certain extent the internet is facilitating communication between communities too, making the world seem smaller like. I mean, i don’t know if it’s “cheating” as far as “meeting strangers online” stories go, but the guy had done shows with friends of mine in the past, so i guess the safety of meeting up seemed a lot more assured. Hooray to internet for interconnecting people and also being a means of keeping your friends posted on whats going on. God forbid, should we consider facebook a means to deter people from behaving poorly? All it takes is an update to ruin a reputation…