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Author: Fredo on August 25 2008 Viewed 2023 times. 40 people liked this blog. You can rate it below if you haven't already.
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I was checking my email the other day and noticed a new mail from iTunes. The email had html formating, and showed images of the featured artists staring out at me looking cool, confident, focused. I can't remember who those featured artists were, and really it doesn't even matter. It could have been anybody... But suddenly I felt almost a bit like laughing, and simultaneously a little like throwing up...
It just struck me: Isn't the entertainment business ridiculous? What is the point of these poses? Really... what's the point of making a big deal about Radiohead or the Ting Tings or Chris Cunningham or There Will Be Blood or the Dark Knight or any of it!...
I'm a bit at odds, because obviously music and art are very important to me. A lot of music has fed me quite nicely! Yes, Radiohead, Chris Cunningham... I like a lot of what I see and hear, but damn it, isn't the intensity of hype killing everything! (That's of course a gross exaggeration. Sorry.)
It's a bit hard to describe, but with the death of cds, and the emergence of the digital market something has shifted. I think it might be how intricately hype is now associated with my day to day life. I mean, I work out of my computer, and as soon as I open my email I'm bombarded with hype. Surfing the net becomes more and more difficult to avoid advertisements. Hell, even a trip to the movie theatre brings 10 minutes of cinemascope commercials in surround sound.
This crisis is a bit of a problem for me, as I am in a position to have to hype myself, and feel like a total hypocrite.
I think maybe I'm just severely burnt out. My label has sat on my release now for almost two years and just told me about another three month delay. It's got me down, but I guess I'm glad I have had this time to go through so much soul-searching. I have come to the conclusion that I don't want any of the things that hype brings. I just want to express myself and will be grateful for the folks that are interested in listening or watching.
But what is the music world now? Me is confused. Anyone feel the same?
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08/25/08
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Roshi
Yes, it seems like hype is an everyday thing and the latest flavor is only daily.
The best things transcend the hype, though
Sorry to hear about the delay...
08/25/08
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deltasleep
The feeling I hate is that I missed the bus, and it's even more impossible than it ever was to make a living in the music business. But actually, realizing that I'd have to find real work was liberating, because I don't owe the hype machine anything.
08/25/08
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Fredo
So true, d. The bus that most of the entertainment business offers takes you basically to the mall. Who the hell wants to go there? I'd rather stay in my backyard and play for the neighbors. 
08/25/08
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Fredo
maybe that's a gross simplification as well. Sorry again. ;)
08/25/08
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dkarma
What is the music world now? Well the mainstream music world isn't music it's fashion. Case in point Mtv that is MUSIC TELEVISION -- get ready: DOESN"T PLAY MUSIC!!!!
They should just call it fashion tv or poser television or wannabe 15 year old girl station. I almost feel bad for people like you (no disrespect) but I make music to make music not to make money. Music means something to me having a contract doesn't. That's great that you have a deal and sucks that you're being jerked around, but remember that is the name of the game. The studios (regardlesss of how indy they are) jsut want you on paper so you can bring in more paper...they really don't care about your music. Thats why it makes me smile to know that groups like the crystal method can just make a name for themselves in the underground scene banging out bad ass beats.
I guess I'd rather work in my basement for myself than in a professional studio for someone else.
my .02$
08/25/08
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Fredo
Wannabe 15 year old girl station! HAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!
08/25/08
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bla
most promotional pictures make people look like pricks
if i know nothing about an artist but have seen a picture of them with a stupid face on and some fashion stance then i immediately take a dislike to them
08/25/08
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p
I watched alphaville with my girlfriend this weekend and lamented about the death of the artist. Movies today are changed after focus groups tell them what the audience wants to see. Music is wrapped into the marketing campaign that still seems to be largely based on the visual (the best exposure still seems to come from visual or written media. the music is already marginalized in the execution of selling the music).
Add to that the fact that the preferred device for playing music these days does not stress sound quality but it's rated by how many songs you can have on it. (a good position for the manufacturer considering they also sell the music).
You're one of a dying breed. A singular artist in the time of committee or corporate revenue packaged as personal expression. I believe honesty will outlast the flavor of the month. Don't let it get you down. Be you. I think they will come around.
08/25/08
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ignatius
existential crisis? maybe you are a little burned out or 'saturated' with some of the unfun parts of all this. i hate even having to write a onesheet or promo blurb. just doing that makes me feel all icky.
somehow related... last issue of Wired Magazine.. on the cover was some woman i'd never heard of and the title was "get internet famous (even if you're nobody)". it's all about the secrets of "self promotion" but it's more about how to be an annoying prick, make a spectacle of yourself, be seen and photographed w/someone who is more famous than you and show up un-invited to various, parties, conventions etc. so, some people just go around creating hype for its own sake and some people actually have something to sell or bring attention to other than their own crass personality.
on the plus side, vinyl sales are up:
link
link
link
08/25/08
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astroid
you can't even get noticed anymore for chopping your dick off. that is the power of the internet.
08/25/08
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oxymoron
Fredo, I don't know how else to say it, but welcome to "early middle age".
08/25/08
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tmns
I wish instead of hype they'd just state the facts, like, 'this movie is out now, it's about a guy who does this and that, you might like it, here's a short clip' , or 'so and so have a new album out, it has ten songs on it, you can listen to it here, maybe you'll like it'.
08/25/08
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bbwax
i like to imagine how many more happy productive musicians, and therefore lots more fantastic original music, that we'd have if we had national health insurance and decent living wages. then i wake up and eat some oatmeal.
08/25/08
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djugel
Drug use is at an all time low for teens.
THAT'S THE PROBLEM. Just a bucnh of fucking boring violent drunks. Kiss indifferent atheism goodbye. Hello frat boy mainstream forever.
08/25/08
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madeofoak
i'm with djugel. smoke pot, kids. eat mushrooms and play piano. get interesting, for fuck's sake.
there's a lot of cons to the internet/myspace generation flooding the music market with their crap, and to me the largest among them is the resulting "anything must be hyped up to get noticed" attitude. i still say that in the long run, that which doesn't receive any hype will prevail. the ting tings for example (this instant's hot hot band) are absolutely awful, and regardless of england's momentary infatuation with their single, will be entirely forgotten by november. artists who simply focus on working hard and putting out good music are still the only ones who have actual "career" potential.
i still say that the pros outweigh the cons, though. i like the idea that anyone can make a record now. the minute you finish a song people all over the world can hear it, either on myspace or here on em411. i'll sift through the crap gladly if it means that i get to hear an amazing artist who 10 years ago wouldn't have been able to fund an album or put it out. know what i mean?
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