Ann Althouse unearths buried treasure—Queen Elizabeth’s first television address to her nation, in 1957:
That it is possible for some of you to see me today is just another example of the speed at which things are changing all around us. Because of these changes I am not surprised that many people feel lost and unable to decide what to hold on to and what to discard. How to take advantage of the new life without losing the best of the old.
But it is not the new inventions which are the difficulty. The trouble is caused by unthinking people who carelessly throw away ageless ideals as if they were old and outworn machinery.
Sounds kinda familiar, and it’s tempting to fall into a little pity party about it. I know because…well, no matter how much you love modern life and modern conveniences and gadgets and social networking and the low bar to entry into the global conversation and all that other cool stuff , who doesn’t hate something about our speeded-up world in which nothing beyond the present seems to matter anymore (in public life as reflected in the media, at any rate) and in which old-fashioned virtues are seen simply as old-fashioned and no longer virtues)?
I’m beginning to sound like my grandmother—or like someone Queen Elizabeth’s age. Ugh.
So it was really heartening to read this great piece by head Talking Head David Byrne, as committed an artist as anyone in his generation, who, instead of mourning the part of the past that affects him most, has grabbed the future (and the constantly transitioning present) by the horns.
In clear languague, he explains what the “music business” means today, now that musicians have the, ahem, means of production (my choice of words, not Byrne’s) available to them. It’s a new paradigm out there. Byrne offers practical advice about how to get with the program:
David Byrne’s Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists - and Megastars
I have seen this business from both sides. I’ve made money, and I’ve been ripped off. I’ve had creative freedom, and I’ve been pressured to make hits. I have dealt with diva behavior from crazy musicians, and I have seen genius records by wonderful artists get completely ignored. I love music. I always will. It saved my life, and I bet I’m not the only one who can say that.
What is called the music business today, however, is not the business of producing music. At some point it became the business of selling CDs in plastic cases, and that business will soon be over. But that’s not bad news for music, and it’s certainly not bad news for musicians. Indeed, with all the ways to reach an audience, there have never been more opportunities for artists.
Byrne goes on to explain six different types of choices musicians have for modeling their careers:
Where there was one, now there are six: Six possible music distribution models, ranging from one in which the artist is pretty much hands-off to one where the artist does nearly everything. Not surprisingly, the more involved the artist is, the more he or she can often make per unit sold. The totally DIY model is certainly not for everyone - but that’s the point. Now there’s choice.
It’s all about choice these days—for everyone, from the consumer to the producer.
Every creative artist (and perhaps even every enterprising blogger and new media small businessman or -woman) should read this. There’s much to learn and extrapolate from it. And it sure takes your mind off how rude and crude and chaotic and DIY everything is in today’s world.
Yes, there’s lots of choice—and that’s a good thing: trust me, you wouldn’t want to live in a world with few choices—but there are tons of headaches around all those choices, too.
So it goes.
