Social music, oh my! (Original #2)

Listening to music is quite fun. Take, for example, this awesome live performance by Dizzy Gillespie and his big band filmed in the 1960s:

The rise of the Internet has fundamentally changed how people obtain and distribute music.  As you have likely noticed, the music industry is in an enormous transition phase. CDs are slowly but surely becoming forgotten relics, while Mp3 sales and downloads continue to rise. The corporate stranglehold over the music industry has significantly waned, as digital media provide cheap alternative avenues between artists and listeners. To better understand the direction in which the music business is heading, step back a moment and consider how drastically things have changed in recent times. Only 15 years ago, the very notion of watching free streaming video of Dizzy Gillespie seemed farfetched. But today, a quick and easy search on Youtube uncovers a laundry list of your favorite music.

I'm no economist, but it appears as though some sort of trend is taking shape.

But music's evolving relationship with the Internet goes far beyond Youtube videos. The Internet is now allowing music consumers to share their musical tastes with others and discuss their favorite artists and songs. On 8tracks.com people can contribute personal playlists and connect with other users that share similar tastes. Another website called Mog claims to allow users to "discover people through music and discover music through people."

The digital music revolution coincides with the rise of social media networks that are sprouting up around every corner of the Internet. Music consumers on the web are increasingly idiosyncratic, demanding comprehensive forums through which to consume music. People's tastes vary significantly so websites face the challenge of  developing a strong business model whilst simultaneously appealing to a diverging audience; The once-popular "Imeem" failed at this and eventually went under.   Successful social music sites  allow artists and listeners to interact, but also allow consumers to develop an online musical "identity."  All of these things are easier said than done, and require creative developers and programmers that can identify the needs of music listeners.

As I explore different social music networks, I am finding that there is more than one way to skin an mp3 (forgive me). Each of these sites tailor to different audiences and utilize a broad range of tools and functions. For a general recap of the most popular social music websites, check out THIS ARTICLE, which explains how different sites are tailored for specific uses. Some sites, like the extremely popular Pandora, focus more on music streaming, while others like Buzznet allow users to connect with each other and share their music-related ideas. Other popular sites include TheHypeMachine, Myspace, Purevolume and iLike. Each are considered social media sites, yet they all serve quite a range of different functions. TheHypeMachine, for example, is a blog aggregator, which indexes popular songs/artists circulating the blogosphere. It is essentially a mothership blog, where music seekers can branch out to new blogs and find the latest hip songs.

After perusing through several of these social music sites, thus far my personal favorite is Last.fm. Last.fm is excellent because it truly attempts to synthesize the act of listening to music with the concept of social media. The assortment of features the site offers is too expansive to completely cover. Instead lets focus on just a couple features which I find particularly appealing.

Last.fm members can add their favorite artists to their online 'library' which informs the site of one's music preferences. The website's "scrobbling" application makes this process quite easy by gathering all of the artists and songs recently played on your computer and/or mobile device. After building your music library, the site then offers musical recommendations based on your listening tendencies. Users can easily set up a profile page and connect with other members who can be found under the 'community' tab. Another kewl function the website offers is the 'neighbors' feature, which is a compiled list of musically compatible last.fm members. Users can "friend" people and subsequently "shout" on one another's profile page; the equivalent to writing on someone's Facebook wall.

Fans of particular bands can chat on forum pages that amass lists of the latest news and activity surrounding an artist. Take for example the page for the group Nirvana. Here you can see what members are listening to the group and what they are saying. Furthermore, thanks to the "scrobbling" feature, users can connect in real time with others whom are currently listening to the band. These and many other features are helping bring listeners (and to a lesser extent artists) into a forum in which they can share and discuss music.

The amount of music circling the web can seem overwhelming. However, sites like Last.fm, TheHypeMachine and many others are developing innovative ways of bringing it all together into an interactive and comprehensive forum.  The digital revolution is changing the face of music, in ways both good and bad.  In the years to come I expect that several of these music sites will consolidate, as a newer corpratist business model begins to form.  In any case, the future of music online seems bright, as long as it remains open and ubiquitous.

Groundswell: (Reading Reflection #1)

 In little more than a decade the Internet has transformed how people consume, share and distribute information. Inevitably, this expansive and relatively open medium is transforming how people interact on almost every conceivable level. But sometimes it can be difficult to see the forest for the trees. As we submerge ourselves in the vast ocean of Web 2.0, it is easy to forget that our culture is in the midst of a revolution of sorts. The "groundswell" is powerful, and it will only continue to grow and evolve as the Internet and social media further infiltrate every aspect of our lives.

Through the first several chapters, for me the most pressing question that arises deals with the sociological impacts of these rapid technological transformations. In the 1950s, American culture witnessed the sudden proliferation of television. This new technology had enormous impacts throughout society, changing the very way people conceptualized the world. Today, the Internet is having a similar, if not even more profound, impact on peoples' perceptions and ideologies. In this context, the relationship between the human mind and the Internet will become an increasingly pressing issue for our culture.

In his book Born Digital, author John Palfrey  classifies todays younger generation (roughly those 18 and under) as "digital natives" who perceive the online world and the real world as converging spaces. Older generations are more inclined to separate the two spheres, and he calls this group "digital immigrants." Palfrey believes that digital natives fundamentally process information differently than do their predecessors. These psychological changes carry significant implications for how people relate to each other, to information, and to society's institutions.

In a classic skit, Dave Chappell considers what the Internet, if it were an actual place, might be like to visit. His depiction is eerily accurate at points.

On the business side of things, marketers must now appeal to consumers who are increasingly media savvy and cognizant of advertising ploys. Unlike television viewers, Internet users have much greater autonomy and choice. Marketing across the Web requires using social media as tools for harnessing and exploiting information. Consumers on the Internet are far more independent and unique than before; to attract attention and maintain interest, marketers must now tap into and appeal to consumers' online individuality.

It is evident that users of the web are consumers to the core. Of course goods and services can be purchased over the web, however people need not purchase goods to be consumers; the Internet is fundamentally a place to consume information. As the Internet evolves, marketers that are able to collect, interpret, and harness the power of information through the use of social media will "win the future," as Barack Obama so strangely puts it.

The evolution of music and new media (Original #1)

The rapid growth over the last decade of the Internet, and particularly social media,  has forever transformed how people produce and consume music - and for the most part, that is a good thing. Through forums like Youtube and Myspace, upstart bands and artists can make a name for themselves. Other more music-centric sites like Pandora and Grooveshark allow listeners to easily peruse the vast musical schmorgesborg. P2P file sharing programs such as  BitTorrent  present web browsers even more - uhhhhh, kinda illegal - music listening options.

Unhindered avenues of musical exploration present tremendous opportunities for discovery and distribution. An unknown band with an affinity for autotune (see Gregory Brothers) can now become an overnight sensation with a popular Youtube hit. For the modern music consumer, a kewl new song, band or style waits to be heard around every corner. And all of this leads me to wonder how trendy hipsters found obscure European indie rock bands before having the Internet to rely on.

This article by Jackie Peters outlines just a few of the ways that social media are changing the musical sphere.

Music's increasing accessibility has exposed the art form to countless new listeners. Almost anyone you ask (especially younger people) will say that they enjoy listening to music, to some degree or another. A limitless range of styles and genres lend music a universal appeal well suited for a medium like the Internet. Don't like pop country? Perhaps hardcore thrash metal will tickle your fancy… Or how about some bebop jazz to snap your self-aware fingers along to? All of this and anything else you can musically imagine is readily available, and in many cases, completely free of charge.

In the weeks to come, I will dig up some interesting morsels regarding music and its growing alliance with social media. As these become even more inextricably linked, it will be fascinating to uncover current trends and practices. I'll delve into the many ways that the Internet and social media are changing the music business. The restructuring of the music industry has significant implications for artists and consumers alike. It will be intriguing to see how this once heavily corporatized industry continues to evolve in the coming years.

A March 2010 interview with musician Amanda Palmer on NPR's On The Media explores the evolving relationship between music and the Internet. This segment reflects on the latent meanings that this transformation carries and considers the long term effects on the music industry as a whole.

Listen HERE: