3GM: Across The Digital Divide

History favors the adept. That’s why we only hear the good stuff from years past. Believe me, for every brilliant lute player fiddling around the fires of ancient Greece, there were about a thousand half-goat men tripping over their hind legs and fumbling on D-minor chords.

So, assuming the fact that the vast majority of people who set out to create good music do not succeed, the reason why we’ve been all of a sudden bombarded with trite nonsense is clear: the lines of global communication are more open now than they have ever been. But think about all the artists that you have discovered through the Internet. I’d be willing to bet that the web is responsible for alerting you about at least 85% of your favorite new artists in the past 10 years.

I propose that you are looking at technology’s impact on music in an entirely wrong light. You are focusing on distribution. Let’s look at composition. Technology is nothing more than another tool an artist can employ to spill their insides out to the world. Get on board, sonny.

Koz:

The reason we are flooded with too much bullshit is because too many people are making bullshit.  And why are too many people creating it?  Because it’s too damn easy.

Making music should follow the same basic principle as driving a car.  You need to be good at driving to earn a license in order to drive a car.   “I own a computer” does not -and should not – equal “I can make music,” just as “I own a car” does not equal “I can drive.”

Yes, many talented DJ’s and hip hop artists have risen out of the dust thanks to technology, but the best music you ever hear was recorded on a tape deck in Keith Richards’ hotel room.  Computers are real, they are not capable of emotion.  And music is inherently the expression or culmination of emotion.  Think about it, most hip hop beats are samples of Otis Redding, Steely Dan or Earth Wind and Fire. I’m not saying talent isn’t involved, but I am saying technology has replaced the necessity for talent.

I’ll embrace new musical technology for what it’s worth: a good tool for those who deserve it, and work for it.  But I won’t accept it as reasoning or justification for anybody pissing in my ears.  I can do that myself with a funnel and a hose.

Conor:

No ones asking you to accept bad music. If anything, be more critical of everything you hear. We’ve determined that technology has influenced music in two major ways: First, it’s easier and cheaper to get the equipment needed to create it. Second, it’s easier to distribute it. Both of these are extraordinary contributions to the current state of music. In your last response you said “I am saying technology has replaced the necessity for talent.” I’ll let Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour answer that and then I’ll say nothing else.

“You’ve got to remember you’ve got to have it inside your head to be able to get it out anyway and the equipment isn’t actually thinking of what to do any of the time. It couldn’t control itself.”