A New Revolution

Kids are the new stars.

No, I’m not talking about those twits on "American Idol". I’m just talking about everybody who’s not being purveyed by the major labels, movie studios and "National Enquirer"/"Us".

Used to be people felt powerless. That they didn’t have a voice. Now everything’s completely topsy-turvy. Kids think THEY have the voice. They decide what’s cool. They comprise a jury of tens of millions and THEY get to decide thumbs-up or thumbs-down. But, they’ve stopped looking at what the usual suspects are purveying and are starting to judge THEIR OWN works.

Takes talent to be a musician.

Oh, that’s why kids don’t respect Ashlee or Jessica. Or Lindsey. All those auto-tuned buffed up and polished icons dirty old men are foisting upon them. Kids have seen the man behind the curtain. And they laugh. Because they can pull the levers better than he can. Because when it comes to technology, THEY rule.

It’s all about tools.

It USED to be about marketing.

But now kids control that too. There’s a marketing bonanza taking place every day at 2:30. When kids come home from school. They plop their asses down in front of their computers and COMMUNICATE! Forge bonds and arbitrate what’s cool. They trust each other with a passion that no multinational corporation can generate. And, they know TONS of their brethren. Kids today know EVERYBODY in their hometown, never mind elsewhere. That’s what IM and blogging has done. It’s just like putting Duran Duran on MTV twenty-odd years ago.

Kids still like music. And they like movies and TV too. But they only respect quality and talent. And you should know this and sell your wares with this in mind. But the new story, the EMERGING story, is how kids are now creating their own art form. Via VIDEO!

You don’t want to hear the musical works of the kid next door. But, you never know, he could put together an hilarious video. Or certainly turn you ON to a funny or interesting video.

The sale of video productions on the Web… That’s not the big story. The exchange of information about and the watching of homegrown videos on the Web, now THAT’S the story.

Every kid has access to a digital camera. If you don’t doubt me, you’ve never heard of Flickr, or Photobucket.

But now, many kids have access to digicams. Digital video cameras. And, having watched a billion hours of television, and video requiring A LOT less talent to create than music, they’re rolling their own.

Go to http://www.youtube.com. Or http://video.google.com. You’ll start to get the idea.

Youtube doesn’t seem to have enough server power. It’s a lot more glitch-prone than Google. But it’s got a renegade feel. Like the service is owned by its constituents, kids, not the thirtysomething techies of Google. Google ain’t perfect, but with a broadband connection (necessary for both, and an illustration how technological advancements beget creative opportunities), you can watch, as the kids say, pretty good.

What should you watch?

On Youtube, start with the featured videos, on the homepage.

On Google, skip past the pay fare, with the ridiculous proprietary DRM, and go directly to "Popular". Or search on "Mastercard". And watch the banned commercials. Most specifically, the one at: Mastercard This is a Web legend. E-mailed around EONS ago. But now it’s being hosted somewhere. Where EVERYBODY can have access. Almost instantly.

And you wonder why MTV features its audience on TV. That’s what kids want to SEE! THEMSELVES!

This is the new MTV. And, like the original MTV, its heyday ain’t gonna last forever. It’s a fad. But with legs of at least a year, if not THREE years.

Want to blow up a band?

Release all the footage from a video shoot on its Website. Along with a free copy of the song. Shit, SHOOT some video, put up some promotional videos, just for kids to employ. IN CREATING THEIR OWN VIDEOS! Trent Reznor did this with his last album. Allowed those with GarageBand to remix tracks. But, you needed GarageBand, and the idea had limited appeal. Shoot your own video, maybe containing you lip-synching along with a star? THAT people would grab on to. (This is one of the most viewed videos on Youtube: what i’ve been looking for Search on "lip-synch" for tons more.)

The major labels have it all wrong. Music blows up when you release it. When you allow people to play with it. To get INVOLVED with the act. The sale of an inert disc is so last century.

You can’t stop it, you can only throw in with it.

By: bob | 2006/01/26 | Music Business - Online | Trackback | Comments [RSS 2.0]

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John Van Nest

Comment by John Van Nest | 2006/02/11 at 11:55:42

I own what I feel is one of the finest recording/mixing facilities on the west coast. Green Day’s "Boulevard" (well, the whole album, actually) was mixed at my place, among records spanning the last 25 years.

Yes, the *tools* for recording have gotten much cheaper, much like handheld HD video camcorders. But, just like with guitars, hair clipping scissors, Viking ranges, etc…IT AIN’T ABOUT THE TOOLS THEMSELVES…IT’S ABOUT THE PEOPLE OPERATING SAID TOOLS! Whereas the film industry still understands that just because you might own a $2000 HD Videocam doesn’t mean that you’re ready to take on Spielberg, Crowe, Lee, etc., the music industry seems to have fallen for the concept that any artist working at home on his computer recording software can now make How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb or Born to Run on his/her own. Why involve (and pay for) a team of season professionals in a professional studio environment when we can make the music on this computer at home? Hey, I’ve got scissors…do we really need Jonathan Anton to cut hair? I have a Viking Range…Bobby Flay, you’re over.

The reason that studios are dropping like flies is because THE LABELS, IN THEIR RUSH TO SAVE A DOLLAR, SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT JUST HAVING ACCESS TO THE TOOLS WON’T TRANSLATE INTO KNOWING HOW TO USE THOSE TOOLS TO MAKE RECORDS OF INCREASINGLY GREATER EMOTIONAL (and audio) QUALITY. (You have no idea how discouraging it can be to be beaten up over studio rates only to hear that the label then dropped MORE MONEY making the music video than recording the ENTIRE ALBUM). Interestingly, the studios have been unable to raise rates for the most part for the last 30 years (true!), and you’re right, now they’re dropping like flies. But this has everything to do with the label thinking that the artist can just set up a computer at home and make a record like Tumbleweed Connection (Bob, do you really think that your typical kid with a computer can replace Herbie Flowers on bass?), the White Album, Dark Side…, etc. and actually very little to do with studios be a disposable part of the equation.

I view this as a short-sighted move on the part of the labels…a move that they will come to regret when, after realizing that studios can offer a tremendous element to the process of making GREAT records and going to search for such studios, they find that most of them have gone out of business due to lack of support from the labels. Believe me, no studio owner is getting rich in the business, we almost all do what we do because of our deep love for the music itself.

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John Van Nest

Comment by John Van Nest | 2006/02/11 at 11:55:42

I own what I feel is one of the finest recording/mixing facilities on the west coast. Green Day’s "Boulevard" (well, the whole album, actually) was mixed at my place, among records spanning the last 25 years.

Yes, the *tools* for recording have gotten much cheaper, much like handheld HD video camcorders. But, just like with guitars, hair clipping scissors, Viking ranges, etc…IT AIN’T ABOUT THE TOOLS THEMSELVES…IT’S ABOUT THE PEOPLE OPERATING SAID TOOLS! Whereas the film industry still understands that just because you might own a $2000 HD Videocam doesn’t mean that you’re ready to take on Spielberg, Crowe, Lee, etc., the music industry seems to have fallen for the concept that any artist working at home on his computer recording software can now make How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb or Born to Run on his/her own. Why involve (and pay for) a team of season professionals in a professional studio environment when we can make the music on this computer at home? Hey, I’ve got scissors…do we really need Jonathan Anton to cut hair? I have a Viking Range…Bobby Flay, you’re over.

The reason that studios are dropping like flies is because THE LABELS, IN THEIR RUSH TO SAVE A DOLLAR, SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT JUST HAVING ACCESS TO THE TOOLS WON’T TRANSLATE INTO KNOWING HOW TO USE THOSE TOOLS TO MAKE RECORDS OF INCREASINGLY GREATER EMOTIONAL (and audio) QUALITY. (You have no idea how discouraging it can be to be beaten up over studio rates only to hear that the label then dropped MORE MONEY making the music video than recording the ENTIRE ALBUM). Interestingly, the studios have been unable to raise rates for the most part for the last 30 years (true!), and you’re right, now they’re dropping like flies. But this has everything to do with the label thinking that the artist can just set up a computer at home and make a record like Tumbleweed Connection (Bob, do you really think that your typical kid with a computer can replace Herbie Flowers on bass?), the White Album, Dark Side…, etc. and actually very little to do with studios be a disposable part of the equation.

I view this as a short-sighted move on the part of the labels…a move that they will come to regret when, after realizing that studios can offer a tremendous element to the process of making GREAT records and going to search for such studios, they find that most of them have gone out of business due to lack of support from the labels. Believe me, no studio owner is getting rich in the business, we almost all do what we do because of our deep love for the music itself.

A New Revolution

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