I’ve yet to listen to her new album.<\/p>\n
But it wasn’t made for me.<\/p>\n
It was made for her fans.<\/p>\n
All the words written about Ms. Heap’s tweeting and YouTubing have focused on her marketing efforts.\u00c2\u00a0 She did it to sell her record.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, you’ve got marketing blogs, seers deeply analyzing the effects, correlating them with SoundScan numbers, as if music were a sport, and you could boil all efforts down to statistics, a ranking of winners and losers.\u00c2\u00a0 But that doesn’t appear to be why Ms. Heap interacted with her fans on social networks, she did it because she was lonely, she needed the connection, she needed focus, she needed to be rooted and inspired.<\/p>\n
The hysteria in the wake of the MTV-era gives the impression that musical artists are akin to the Hollywood royalty of yore, prancing around the world in fabulous clothing, leading a life of luxury.\u00c2\u00a0 You wonder why we’ve got shit music?\u00c2\u00a0 Blame people like Mariah Carey, who are busy being stars as opposed to people.\u00c2\u00a0 Even Michael Jackson…once he needed to outsell "Thriller", as opposed to making a great album, he was history.<\/p>\n
And then there’s Jay-Z.\u00c2\u00a0 However great a rapper he might be, his audience reveres his business accomplishments.\u00c2\u00a0 They too want to grab a toehold in music and turn into a conglomerate.<\/p>\n
But what has this got to do with artistry?<\/p>\n
An artist creates because he has to.\u00c2\u00a0 Is willing to starve if his efforts don’t engender commercial success.\u00c2\u00a0 Historically, recording artists have been in bed with their record company, and radio and concert promoters, those left out of the loop were the audience, the paying customers.<\/p>\n
A label’s interests often diverge from those of the artist.\u00c2\u00a0 The label wants something that sells, they don’t care if it’s goose farts, as long as people buy it.<\/p>\n
Radio will blow smoke up your ass.<\/p>\n
The concert promoter is one guy, who ultimately brings along thousands of faceless people.<\/p>\n
What if you could suddenly have contact with these people?\u00c2\u00a0 Instead of thinking about the marketing opportunities, think about the emotional component.\u00c2\u00a0 Artists may execute in a vacuum, but they do so to be connected, to feel at one with the audience.\u00c2\u00a0 What if social networking fed the soul of the artist more than his bank account?<\/p>\n
You don’t want to toil in oblivion.\u00c2\u00a0 You want reassurance that you’re on the correct path.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not only sales numbers, but the reaction.\u00c2\u00a0 You gauge the excitement, the intensity…\u00c2\u00a0 Sometimes extreme negative reactions fuel the artist’s fire, he knows he’s challenging convention, but if no one reacts, he’s missed his mark.<\/p>\n
In today’s "Wall Street Journal", Imogen Heap says she "needed to know people were there and waiting for it."\u00c2\u00a0 You write and record an album, go on the road to promote it and then…\u00c2\u00a0 Has the audience forgotten you?\u00c2\u00a0 You need inspiration to create new music.\u00c2\u00a0 "Tweeting and YouTubing made me feel like I was taking steps forward."\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, like in that old Dan Fogelberg song, the audience was helping Ms. Heap.\u00c2\u00a0 It was her surrogate boyfriend.<\/p>\n
This is a harbinger of great music to come.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead of tools of the corporation being forced to render what gatekeepers will flog, that will generate instant revenue, true artists are being inspired by their fans, to continue to create, to test limits, to wow and fulfill them.<\/p>\n
Every artist is concerned what the public thinks.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re almost never sure what you’ve done is any good.\u00c2\u00a0 Only by bouncing it off listeners can an artist know whether he’s on the right path.\u00c2\u00a0 Rather than take three years off to record an album no one wants, better to interact with your fans, take their temperature, gauge their reaction.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m not saying to bend your music to their desires, but only by hearing what someone has to say can you clearly define your path.<\/p>\n
Bottom line is Imogen Heap was lonely, she needed companionship, help getting inspired and following through.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s only those who took business courses in college, who are desirous of becoming Internet entrepreneurs, of building a business on the backs of artists, who are focusing on the financial rewards.<\/p>\n
It all comes down to the artist.\u00c2\u00a0 The artist leads the way.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re in a great era for artistry.\u00c2\u00a0 We’ll calculate winners and losers further down the road.\u00c2\u00a0 But right now, people are taking chances, they’re following their muse, knowing it’s possible to directly connect with their audience on the Internet.\u00c2\u00a0 Executives might say the lunatics have taken over the asylum.\u00c2\u00a0 I’d say the artist has rightfully reclaimed his place at the top of the pyramid.<\/p>\n
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