How does the digital divide effect a musician?

 

Music has clearly transformed significantly as time goes on. From the days when the only music playing in clubs and pubs would be  the musician jumping around on stage, to today where often the only accepted music in a club would be completely computer generated electronic and techno music. But how does this relate to the digital divide?

Changing music?

Whether this transformation of the music itself is a good thing or not is a completely subjective question, and one which I would not be prepared to delve into as music is an art, and art revolves around different opinions and viewpoints, there is no ‘good’ and ‘bad’ art. However, with this transformation of styles of music, it becomes obvious that the ability to create music is also changing.

 

Today, multimillion dollar ‘dj’s’ who label themselves ‘professional musicians’ may in fact have no traditional musical abilities, or put more simply, they cannot sing or belt out a simple tune on an instrument. The laptops which can be seen on stage as the dominant instrument are now an expression of the technological as well as cultural change in music (Grossmann, R., 2008). This technological change however leaves many, who have no access to this technology, behind.

 

Until recently music was something that possessed an equal playing field for the entire world. If you could sing, or play an instrument, you would be noticed through the one available path; signing to a label (Price, J., 2006). Sure, it was not easy and it was quite rare, but, it was basically something that everyone had an equal shot at. If you were really good enough, you would be noticed.

 

However as the ‘standard’ form of music is now transforming further and further into the ‘techno’ era, it cuts off many who simply cannot afford to buy the technology required to compose it, or who have no education or skills to compose it in the first place. It is now accepted in music schools to give the students a comprehensive understanding of how to digitally produce music (Kelly’s Music and Computers, 2014). Why? Because this is where music is heading, and knowledge of it is crucial. Whether this digital production involves making entire albums from computer generated sounds, or just the fine editing and tuning to achieve the perfect sound you now require, it is something, which is now very important for a musician.

 

Not only is the music changing, but the amount of editing and fine tuning that goes into it has changed significantly. For an artist to now be noticed, their recording is expected to be of a high standard. How is the average busker with next to no money expected to compete against the wealthy individual with all the equipment and software required to produce first class sound which could be played directly on the radio?

 

How to get noticed:

This gap in technology also impacts the way in which music can be expressed to the world. Contrast to the ‘one path’ that used to be the standard of an artist getting recognized, being signing up to a record label and signing away your rights, there is now many forms of media allowing self-promotion.

 

In this digital music era, the gatekeepers are now gone (Price, J., 2006). Artists use YouTube, Soundcloud and networks such as Triple J Unearthed to be able to express their art to the world. Although it may be assumed that this would further advance the digital divide, as those without the ability to use this technology would now have no access to promotion, it may work in their also favor.

 

Youtube is home to thousands of clips of individuals playing music who may not have otherwise been noticed. This in a way contrasts the presumption that the digital divide separates the world from progressing forward together. Although, in order for these people to be noticed in the first place, it does require one person to have the technology and skill to record, and upload it for the otherworld to see. Surprisingly, many people due to their circumstances are never given this opportunity which many others take for granted. It is for this reason that clips such as the one below is enough to give any viewer goose bumps on the break out of the first chorus.

 

 

Therefore, with music progressing and the opportunities of having it expressed to the world expanding, it is important to keep in mind that not everyone has these opportunities. There are thousands of others just like Brushy (seen below) around the world that are going unnoticed, and as they slowly gain access and catch up to the wonders of the internet, they will be able to also promote themselves to the world like the rest of us can today.

 

We can only wait with excitement to see what talents the digital divide has left hidden for the beginning of this digital revolution.

 

 

 

 

References:

 

Flew, T. (2014) New Media. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

 

Grossmann, R. (2008). The tip of the iceberg: Laptop music and the information-technological transformation of music. Organised Sound, 13(1), 5-11. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1355771808000022

 

Kellys Music and Computers. Retrieved 5 April 2014 from

http://kellysmusic.ca/articles/templates/template.asp?articleid=353&zoneid=2

 

 

Lewsey, F. (2013). The musical ages of modern man: how our taste in music changes over a lifetime. Retrieved from http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/the-musical-ages-of-modern-man-how-our-taste-in-music-changes-over-a-lifetime#sthash.tK43E4TL.dpuf

 

Price, J. (2006). Hypebot- The End of the New Music Industry Transformation. Retrieved 5 April 2014 from http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2012/09/the-end-of-the-new-music-industry-transformation-how-technology-destroyed-the-traditional-music-indu.html

Live Music in the Virtual Reality

As technology advances at an unstoppable rate, it may sometimes seem as though there are endless boundaries as to where the live music and music festival industry may end up. Not only is music able to be spread to billions of people across the world within seconds, but it is also able to be conveyed to the public in a way which would have once seemed completely ridiculous; through a virtual reality. This virtual reality, typically representing ‘the opposite of real’ is able to present music to the pubic through a new and completely disconnected world (Flew, New Media, p 19).

By basically having people live and interact with others through ‘virtual realities’ which usually are created through computer games, the opportunity to have live music and live concerts played in this separate world has also arisen. This shared virtual reality environment presents a completely new and creative way for live music to be performed, and also for music to be shared and exchanged all around the world.

Live concerts can be played to viewers all around the world in three main categories, being music streaming with avatar animation, video streaming, and through multi media (Rogers, L., September, 2012).

This form of live performance occurs by having the artist performing it from their home or studio using basic recording programs, and uploading it live through an online service, such as one of the most popular virtual reality services, ‘ second life’.  One challenge that is presented for artists wishing to take this conventional approach to live music is their conveyed image. Many artists will in fact employ assistants to help with either their avatar appearance or the way in which the music is broadcasted (Rogers, L., September, 2012).  Much care is taken in all aspects of live performances in second life, and the stage and set up is set up as though it is a real concert. One main advantage being the desired atmosphere of the concert can basically be created through choosing the weather, the time of day and the exact setting of the venue. For example, in Jaynine Scarborough’s online performance through second life, the setting was created as to supplement exactly how she would have liked it to occur in real life.

Although it may seem pointless for an artist to take the extra time and set up a live performance online through second life rather than in reality, the second life performances have proved to provide multiple advantages. The Royal Liverpool Philharmon streamed a video of a concert into virtual reality, and in doing so created headlines in the New York Times and also the Liverpool Telegraph as well as many other media outlets. These performances have the ability to be shared extremely quickly through social media. Additionally, many artists will also allow for responsive chat with the avatar viewers before and after the show; something that is no longer common at live music venues (Dammann, G., 2007).

However, it is true that there is still a long way to come for virtual reality live music performances. Avatars may lag, and rules can be easily broken and bent through virtual reality. For example, one viewer of the opening concert of the royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s 2007/8 season through second life commented how many avatars could be seen running into walls, discarding random items of clothes or looking completely lost (Dammann, G., 2007). This in turn may be interpreted to diminish the respect for the live music which is being presented in front of these people; whether they are present in reality or not.

Live music can also be presented in the virtual world through another medium; holograms. Put simply a hologram is a three-dimensional image made by recording interference patterns from coherent laser light waves (Kowalski, K. M., 1999). The most well known occasion of a hologram being utilized is when the late rapper Tupac appeared on stage with Snoop dog at Coachella festival. By having the deceased rapper chat back and fourth with the crowd and Snoop, it was described as  “effective enough to both stun and freak out thousands of festival-goers of varied states of sobriety” (The Week Staff, 2012). This performance from a deceased artist was not the first and definitely is not the last. It is even suggested that this technology may be used to conduct ‘resurrection tours’ for deceased bands and artists; ie, the Michael Jackson resurrection tour (The Week Staff, 2012).

But does this implementation of the virtual world into live music cross the boundaries of what is morally right and wrong? Who knows, but for now, it is happening.

REFERENCES:

Dammann, G. (September, 2007). Concerts in Second Life aren’t quite the Real Deal. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2007/sep/17/secondlife

Kowalski, K. M. (1999). Hologram magic. Odyssey, 8(5), 12. Retrieved from http://zl9eq5lq7v.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Hologram+magic&rft.jtitle=Odyssey&rft.au=Kathiann+M+Kowalski&rft.date=1999-05-01&rft.pub=Carus+Publishing+Company%2C+d%2Fb%2Fa+ePals+Media&rft.issn=0163-0946&rft.volume=8&rft.issue=5&rft.spage=13&rft.externalDocID=41084391&paramdict=en-US

Rogers, L. (September, 2012). Future of Work: Musical Performances in Virtual Reality. H Plus Magazine. Retrieved from http://hplusmagazine.com/2012/09/19/invited-essay-future-of-work-musical-performance-in-virtual-reality-music-island-five-years-of-virtual-concerts-in-the-park/

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. (2014). Retrieved 24 March, 2014, from http://www.liverpoolphil.com/1367/second-life/liverpool-philharmonic-in-second-life.html

The Week Staff. (April, 2012). Coachella’s ‘astonishing’ Tupac Shakur hologram: How they did it. The Week. Retrieved from http://theweek.com/article/index/226859/coachellas-astonishing-tupac-shakur-hologram-how-they-did-it

Collective Intelligence Helping Music Keep Moving Forwards

The expansion of the internet within the music and entertainment industry is by no means slowing down. The internet has become increasingly important for musicians and producers, not only to sell their music and promote their image, but also to produce the music and maintain creativity and constant innovativeness.

In the entertainment, and specifically music industry, collective intelligence has become huge. Not only has it allowed bands to have their exposure increased significantly, but brings together artists who would otherwise have never collaborated their musical talents. Now, for many artists, participating in this growing online network is vital in order to keep innovation occurring within their music.

Musicians do not need to look far to find an online space to build their musical abilities with others.  Sites available such as ‘Musicianscollaboration.com’ allow any musician to join forces with others from all over the world. As it states, ‘everyone is welcome’ (Music Collaboration Studio, 2014). This kind of crowd sourcing and collaborated efforts has been described as ‘an act of composition’ (Casal, D, 2011).

With basically all bands and artists running their own social media account, fast and effective communication between bands has become something that could basically be considered second nature. Sure, in the old days musicians may have collaborated occasionally, but usually would have been allowed the opportunity to do so through previous personal connections or face-to-face interactions. Now, it is as simple as a tweet and a hashtag.

Twitter has been a form of communication that has proved extremely useful in collaborating artists to work together, join their knowledge, and as a result produce music that would never have been reached otherwise. With the ease of hash tagging, and the freedom to add basically who ever you would like on twitter, this can be a very simple process.

For example, Flume, the very well known producer, simply tweeted and tagged upcoming artist Lorde about a possible collaboration. Not only did this induce what they are now producing together, but it used the social network to create excitement from thousands of fans anticipating the final product. This is now considered as the way ‘all the stars’ will go about forming such partnerships (Mann, T, 2013).

The ease of Twitter brings huge artists together

This form of teamwork and collaboration has been thoroughly examined by professionals, and has been confirmed as a way for artists to increase their success in new and innovative ways. This is highlighted in Flume and Lorde’s collaboration. Although they are completely different artists, research on creative teamwork refers to this process as “induction,” where “group members interact to figure out and agree on their common ground and approach from the bottom up” (Blatt, R, 2014). It is through these interactions that the individual tastes and personalities of the artist produce the end result being the joint identity.

A great example of this unexpected collective intelligence being applied is where rock legend Bruce Springsteen, with aid of social networking and the internet, had guitarist of the popular heavy rock band Rage Against the Machine, Tom Morello, join him on stage. Despite these two artists coming from completely different backgrounds, and presumably with completely different views on music, technology and social media allowed them to connect and have their talents showcased in a way that took the fans and the music world by surprise. The two play together as if it was meant to be.  Distance was not a barrier in this process, as when they were apart, they simply sent each other tracks, recording on top of each others work (Blatt, R, 2014).

This once again emphasizes the ability of the internet to help us identify when our efforts present opportunities for collaborations that could improve our personal success.  (Petrie, C., 2008).

Unfortunately, it is true that the internet also does present a way for collective intelligence to be applied poorly. Despite copy right laws existing, the simplicity of uploading original music for free does present the threat of copycats. Triple J unearthed, a branch off from Triple J radio station has allowed bands such as Boy and Bear and Art vs Science to be discovered, however it does also tend to allow not so experienced musicians to add music claimed to be their own which clearly violates copy right restrictions. (http://www.triplejunearthed.com.au/about/history.aspx )

Despite this, triple J unearthed has created more good than bad, by joining music collaborations from all around the world.

References

 Blatt, R. (2014). Bruce Springsteen And Tom Morello’s Creative Collaboration: Why It Worked. Forbes. Retrieved February, 28, 2014 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ruthblatt/2014/01/14/bruce-springsteen-and-tom-morellos-creative-collaboration-why-it-worked/

Casal, D. (2011). Crowdsourcing the Corpus: Using Collective Intelligence as a Method for Composition. Leonardo Music Journal, 21(1), 25-28.

Mann,             T. (2013). Lord and Flume to Collaborate on New Bangerzzz. Retrieved February, 28, 2014 from http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/news/36653/Lorde-and-Flume-to-collaborate-on-new-bangerzzz

Music Collaboration Studio. Retrieved February 2014, from http://www.musicianscollaboration.com/forum/index.php)

Petrie, C. (2008). Collective work. IEEE Internet Computing, 12(2), 96-95. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MIC.2008.32

Triple J Unearthed-History. (2014). Retrieved March, 2, 2014 from (http://www.triplejunearthed.com.au/about/history.aspx)

Technology and its Adoption into Music Festivals

Although many believe technology advances are not relevant to the festival industry, it is evident that the advances in technology are increasingly important to increase ticket sales and consumer satisfaction.

In order to continue successfully, music festival directors are now forced to adapt to many new technologies available. These technologies will not only increase ticket sales, but can also increase the festival experience for the ticket holders.  Any resistance or delay to become an early adopter may be detrimental to festival organizers.

There is no doubt that technology is becoming increasingly present at live music performances

A recent study was able to reveal that of those that attended music festivals over the past few years, 73% became aware of the festival through email alerts (Elizer, C., 2013). This clearly emphasizes the current importance technology has in festival promotions.

Sure, word of mouth is still extremely important in regards to gigs, but with significant digital promotion and interaction, the spectrum of people notified will accelerate significantly. MoshtIx owner and director rightly points out that “we must make sure their mobile experiences are in keeping with the interaction they want from out industry,” (Elizer, C., 2013).

So what’s next for the festival industry to consider keeping up with when new technologies arise? A study was conducted at a large rock festival in Denmark where bluetooth sensors were set up at multiple locations around the festival, which automatically connected and interacted with the festival goers smart phones. This data proved extremely helpful. (Larsen, J., Sapiezynski, P., Arkadiusz, M., Moerup, M.,Theodorsen, R. 2013)  It can help the organisers asses the festival goers movements indicate whether the stages and their respected artists were properly positioned, and can aid the locations and set up of stages for the following year.

This technology can also help create a framework for creating a smart phone application, whereby festival goers can interact and seek notifications from the festival as it happens. This is becoming increasingly popular at modern music festivals, and is something festival promoters must adapt to in order to keep tech savvy festival goers content.

In his lecture, Dr Ian Yeoman discusses increases in technology at festivals, and is adamant that it will be able to amplify the festival experience (Yeoman, I. 2013). Yeoman explains how new technologies will allow ticket holders more interaction with the festival.

Examples of how the future of music festivals could be enhanced include advanced technologies where festival goers “could see, hear, smell and feel the experience through artificial neurons, to the future of clothing made up of microprocessors and LED’s to create smart textiles which enhance the feel of the festival.” (Yeoman, I. 2013).

These technologies serve as persuading evidence of why festival directors should not resist adapting to new technology, and how they must ‘keep up’ with the needs and wants of the attendant’s.

Alternatively, Jason MacVaugh’s study (2010) of the limits to the diffusion of innovations model may also serve as a valid suggestion that there really are more factors to be considered when one is adapting to new technology than the diffusion of innovations model suggests.  MacVaugh points out that individuals must not only consider the technological, social and learning conditions encouraging a new technologies adoption, but must also consider more broad variables.

This may be applied in the festival industry by considering more low-key festivals. While it is true that for large festivals it is vital for the organisers to be early adapters to all technologies sought by the ticket holders, smaller more relaxed festivals do not have the same demand. In fact, there may be demand in many small festivals to resist the increase in technology, and to stay ‘true to their roots.’  Festival goers can be occasionally reluctant to adapt to any technologies in music festivals as it can be felt as though technology can ruin the original festival experience.  Therefore, the type of festival and the feel intended must be taken into account as a variable when the directors are considering whether to adapt to technology or not and whether the selected market wants it.

A classic low key ‘bush doof’ music festival- no technology in sight

The research paper  ‘Engaging with consumers using social media: a case study of music festivals, 2010’ by Hudson and Hudson proves that social media is extremely important to keep festival promotion and brand recognition active. There are however also festivals, sometimes referred to as a ‘bush doof’ where it is widely accepted the only promotion of the festival will be through word of mouth and there will be minimal technology there. Many festival enthusiasts prefer it this way, and believe this makes the festival experience more ‘real.’ So really, whether you want to be at a technology thriving festival or a remote ‘bush doof’ comes down to complete personal choice.

Despite this, technology is evidently increasingly important in the industry, and for any festival promoter or director looking to make a successful profit, being an early adaptor to technologies and keeping up to date with the technology demands of the festival goers is crucial.

References:

 Elizer, C. (2013) Behind Moshtix State of the Industry Report. Retrieved from http://www.themusicnetwork.com/inside-moshtixs-state-industry-report/

Hudson, S., & Hudson R. (2010).  Engaging with consumers using social media: a case study of music festivals. International Journal of Event and Festival Management- 4,3, p206 -223. Doi: 10.1108/IJEFM-06-2013-0012 #sthash.7l2arR2a.dpuf

Larsen, J., Sapiezynski, P., Arkadiusz, M., Moerup, M.,Theodorsen, R. (2013). Crowds, Bluetooth and Rock’n’Roll: Understanding Music Festival Participant Behavior. Technical University of Denmark. Retrieved from http://arxiv.org/pdf/1306.3133v2.pdf

MacVaugh, J., & Schiavone, F. (2010) Limits to the diffusion of innovation: A literature review and integrative model. European Journal of Innovation Management- 13, 2, , p.197 – 221. Doi: 10.1108/14601061011040258

Yeoman, I. (2013) The future of music festivals. Future Times– 1,2, p 5. Retrieved from  http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy.bond.edu.au/fullText;dn=370556455426699;res=IELHSS