John Archambault:
Digitalist
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| April 24, 2008 |
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| On MicroCelebrity | |||
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The New York Times Magazine had an interesting
article
about music producer Rick Rubin that I keep thinking about. Rubin - whose fame and unorthodox managerial style
have brought attention to his tenure as co-head of Columbia Records - is attempting to guide Columbia
through the turbulence that is changing how the music industry operates. Ultimately, most of the challenges
that Rubin faces are about the decentralized and asynchronous ways in which we now consume
information (including art) on the Internet - ways that are creating the phenomena of microCelebrity.
CBS and other organizations like it lost their hold on culture when the public's need to use television, radio and newspapers disappeared. As a result, not only are these organizations making less money, but the "star" system that has been so central to their business model has become outdated. Honestly, could Beatlemania ever happen again? How about Walter Cronkite as America's newsman? These cultural events only became as "big" as they were because of the lack of asynchronous communication. Even with YouTube allowing for art and culture to be asynchronously consumed by the whole world, it could never duplicate the emotional significance associated with watching the Beatles live on the Ed Sullivan show at the same time as tens of millions of other people. So where do things go from here? Right now we're in a time of do-it-yourself microCelebrity: people are using basic tools to become famous on the Internet amongst a very small following of people, all the while being completely unknown to the rest of the world. Occasionally someone has mass appeal (see RocketBoom), but such appeal is difficult to maintain as cultural change now happens at an even faster pace than before. Rubin seems to be exploring the idea of CBS as corporate benefactor to the digital/entrepreneurial artist, and he's right to do so. If Columbia simply provides seed money, a network of connected individuals, and resources - all on a modest scale - most new artists will be enterprising enough to take care of the rest. It is no different than the days when artists were sponsored by wealthy benefactors. Just as William Butler Yeats had Lady Gregory, so musicians can have Columbia Records, only the artist won't be quite so famous. My belief is that eventually - probably within five years - an enterprising artist will find a way to make first class art that is consumed via the Internet and is also profitable. With a new business model, Columbia Records can be right there to cash in on the artist's microCelebrity. |
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