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We’re at an artistic crossroads, says the documentary Press Pause Play. Technology means it’s never been easier to create, to push out a little piece of oneself and share it with the world. But that ease has created a landscape where the haystack is gigantic and the needles still relatively sparse.
The idea that technology can be both a blessing and a curse is familiar territory, but hearing it from people whose livelihoods both depend on and are threatened by that dichotomy—well-heeled Moby notwithstanding—is a welcome reminder that it’s not just an abstract talking point. It’s the way we live now, artist, enthusiast, or other. [Laughing Squid]
If it is true (and I’m not sure it is) and we are living in a technological golden age of self expression, allowing the marginalised masses of society to break through and tear down the walls of mediocrity regarding music. Why is popular music still manufactured, packaged and delivered in handy bite sized chunks? What has the low budget, bedroom techn savvy teen actually created, that the Brill Creamed generation of the 50′s and 60′s didn’t achieve, with far less resources?
I believe that real or raw talent will always find a way. It’s just seems that Youtube and our faith in technology, hasn’t really made it any easier to find.
This is the whole point of the film, at parts it is stating that the real person getting hurt here is the talented. In the 50′s and 60′s the talented few that were driven had rewards for that, but now the talented few that are driven are swimming in a barrel of shit, they get a day to get a 1,00,000 hits, if not is wasn’t worth it – how do you judge art on hits? Sure they can keep at it, and keep banging their heads on a digital wall day after day before you lose soul, while are technology is rewarding the Rebecca Black’s and Justin Bieber’s. but real talent is still breaking through, and we have always had rubbish teen performers since they invented the teen, but it is a question of what direction we are moving in, and it doesn’t look good on the whole.
Yes. I understand the premise of the documentary. My question is: With all these facilties for freedom of expression: How is it that popular music is still under the thumb of big business, packaged and traded like coffee stocks? The Punk movement of the 70′s almost managed to break the mould and that was based on nothing more than an idea. Todays musical innovators still have access to that idea, and the benefit of cheap technology to boot. What with John Lydon selling butter and Iggy Pop selling car insurance, perhaps Bieber and Black are an inevitable?
Yeah, but punk got sold by big business, sure it was real and from the streets, but the time it gets into your living room it had to be packaged and sold, and that is the problem I still see today. Cowell and other use TV to market a concept, making the audience feel part of it giving them a vested interest to buy, while others just look online to see what has the most hits, then they polish that turd and shit it into are eyes and eyes for profit. Do I do think more quality is getting made today and the standards within that quality is getting better, it is just finding that quality surrounded with all the rubbish, far too much of it so even consider waded into.
The urban myth of Cowell echoes deep and far, depending on your point of view of course. S C is nothing more than an opportunist. He hijacked a reality TV vehicle and threatened to put a bullit in it’ radiator if we didn’t join his gang. Cowell is the Vilos Cohaagen of our times – He controls the big valve that lets the fame juice flow. Don’t anger him, or he’ll shut off. It will unleash a generation zombie fame seekers. The problem is, Arny is way too old to save the day and return Karaoke to the land of the rising sun, thus restoring balance to the entertainment landscape.