GIGATON
The chasm between the things I assume that people know and the things they actually know is growing. What I mean is there are things that I assume everyone is aware of that different generations have never even heard of and the amount of those things seems to be growing exponentially.
It starts with music for sure. While I understand how band like REM can kind of be forgotten, U2 was a monolith since the 80's and were the biggest band in the world for multiple decades. This is mostly forgotten. Explaining KISS and the late 70's early 80's rock scene would be like explaining quantum physics. Open drooling mouths gazing back. "Huhhh?"
This must be how my parents felt, but since there was so much less to consume then, there was more generational proximity. "Back in my day" holds more weight now than ever, as more content and culture are produced and thrown away daily than was likely produced in say June of 1987 altogether.
This gives me a feeling of desperation.
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This feeling of desperation is different. It's not for me. It's for all of us who create anything. I don't know the ratio but the amount of time spent creating things compared to the life span of the the thing has to be massively out of proportion. A song can take a hundred hours to get just right. It is presented to the world and may be played once and passed over for the next thing. Sure it lives forever in the internet. But will anyone go back and look for it?
Similarly a blog post or podcast episode may be released and never be seen. How to attract the attention of the hive mind is an algorithm and strategy I know nothing about. It makes me want to not produce. Which isn't an option.
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Which begs the question. Am I producing for the sake of consumption or for some sort of cathartic release? I'm not the type of "artist" who creates just for himself. That's one piece. My satisfaction comes in part from you. The performance and interaction matter to me. I think they matter to the majority of creative people in some way, shape or form. What I am seeing is the "you" I create for seems to want less and less of it or maybe more accurately, smaller and smaller bites. One song versus an album, 400 words versus 1300.
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I In the music space an artist will create multiples of posts promoting one song. Videos, short videos, teaser reels and on and on. Just to get your eyes on one song. It's almost like the song doesn't matter. The hype does.
My daughter sends me music a lot and I am constantly amazed when I go to the artists page she has sent and there's the current single and maybe 4-5 more. How can a musician even play a show with the minimal amount of material. It's baffling.
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A gigaton of small items everyday. Consumed and thrown away until tomorrow, when another gigaton is produced.
And nobody knows who REM is.
#hugsandhi5s
