Hi Ernie, thanks for the thoughtful responses -- it's a complicated issue but I'll try to be as clear as I can.
Talking to some industry vets, there was a period in time where Hollywood really "invested" in their talent, so if an artist showed promise, they would have have given them positions or residencies that's akin to a salaried position in a company. Here a distinction needs to be made between the mega-stars and the "average" artist, the latter of whom would contribute their skills toward a bigger project (movies, music, performances) under a larger umbrella, but still can carve out a decent living for themselves if they were good and worked hard. Most of the products we'd label as being "landmarks" (I dunno, Star Wars) comes from a collective effort of many people working together, as with many things, including software and video games. The internet, however, promises every young artist that they too, can be a super-star. Not everyone can, of course, but the opportunity in itself is often enough to get people to put up their work, often without looking for anything in return. But in reality, these companies have no real track record of building real careers for artists, so its an economy that largely runs on people's sense of vanity. What ends up happening is that occasionally someone will generate enough hits on YouTube or somewhere else -- only to be picked up by one of the Hollywood studios when they decide to get more "serious". And the knowledge and training you receive behind the spotlight is akin to what "artist development" is -- contrary to its image, it's actually a very tightly controlled process only made to look chaotic or rebellious. Like everyone during the internet boom, I was enamored by the possibilities of the new media landscape, but after attempting to do things the DIY way I began to run into a lot of walls that forced me to change my position on the issue. Off the top of my head, this is what a musician needs, if they're serious about making a living in this manner: 1) Make good music, of course. 2) Publicity/Marketing 3) Booking (Gigs) 4) Distribution 5) Equipment, Audio Engineering 6) Legal 7) Financial 8) Merchandise 9) Management (If it's an ensemble) Now even if you're a 1-man band, you'll still need all of this just to be even barely noticeable. It's impossible for any one person to do this, so eventually there's a need to find help in these areas...and ironically, things end up going full circle because the people who have experiences in these areas are still working in Hollywood, not in the Valley. Chances are also good that you'll end up making less than before after everyone takes a share of their cut, since they're not unified under a single company which might have lowered some of the overhead. The Valley imitating Hollywood won't be enough -- they'll have to build the infrastructure from the ground up, maybe stealing some talent from the other side, build their plan for how they want to be percieved by the public for the long-term. It's possible, but I think a lot of techies tend to underestimate how difficult this can be, since they tend to underestimate the value of culture in general. Google I know had a few Hollywood executives consult them on how to manage the content on YouTube -- if Steve Jobs was alive he probably could've taken his Pixar projects to the next level...but it's hard to tell if there's a successor in existence who's as invested in the idea than he was. Still, giving content producers a small slice of the pie was, I believe, a step in the right direction. If they made the returns a little more substantial, I could see professionals putting in a little more effort and time into their online projects. In regards to meritocracy, the main problem right now is that there is combination of the economic devaluation of art (do it for free) combined with a pervasive cultural relativism that makes it impossible for anyone to gauge what "quality" is. Shows like American Idol is sort of silly but it's kind of a peek into what an artist has to go through in order to hone in on their craft -- the honest and sometimes harsh judgments made by people knowledgeable in their fields. The fact that these shows have become immensely popular is not a coincidence to me...it's what the people want, and where the opportunities in the future lies. On Fri, Mar 22, 2013 at 1:44 PM, Dr. Ernest Prabhakar < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi Ryan, > > On Mar 18, 2013, at 6:22 PM, Ryan Tanaka <[email protected]> wrote: > > The landscape as it stands now is very freelancer oriented -- one-time > gigs here and there, short-term contracts -- works that are made very > quickly, with speedy efficiency, and lowered cost. The things you see on > Youtube these days tend to reflect that kind of intensity, and it's become > acceptable for works to be a little rough around the edges, without any > deeper meaning. But the practice of recruiting talent with the long term > goal of *developing* their art towards a broader vision tends to be missing > at the moment. "Artist Development", as its called, has been gutted out of > the picture in the aftermath of the tech industry's quest to "remove the > middleman", so to speak. > > > Fascinating. I didn't realize that Artist Development was a well-honed > process in the artistic world. The "Valley" mindset is that you: > > - get your basic degree > - hustle to get your first gig > - work to pay the bills during the day while polishing your art at > night > - make or find your big break > > > My vague understanding of Hollywood was that it worked the same way, and > that "the industry" wasn't really of any help. Is that wrong? > > My interpretation of the "Valley" approach to talent is that we're simply > shifting the balance of point 4 away from "find" (you win the lottery > because someone takes a chance on you when you are unproven) to "make" (you > can build your own brand cheaply enough you don't need someone else to pick > you). > > Would you disagree with that model? What are we missing? > > The tech sector right now seems to be obsessed with the quick-returns of > social media -- though that model will probably collapse some time soon > because it's become over-saturated and people are now starting to realize > the vapidness of a lot of these so-called "innovations". > > > Yeah, social media is already "way over" as an investment opportunity. > Mobile apps are the current bubble. :-) > > The good news is that the leadership seems to be aware of this (I read a > lot of articles by tech leaders full of lament as of the late) and that > real innovative concepts are projects that might take 10-year spans or > more. > > > My personal opinion: most of the tech leaders lamenting the lack of > innovation are full of BS. :-P > > Yeah, there's a ton of activity focused on froth and getting-rich-quick. > That has ALWAYS been the case. And there's still people working quietly > behind the scenes doing amazing stuff that will fundamentally transform the > world down the road. In fact, a lot of them are hiding in plain sight, > but because it doesn't LOOK like world-breaking innovation nobody's paying > attention to them. Duh. > > What a lot of people don't realize is that art works the same way too -- > that artists need the same piece of mind as other people in order to give > them focus that they need in order to hone in on their craft. > > > You've completely lost me. The most cutting-edge artist I know > personally is a homeless marine vet who invented his art in prison as a > (partly-successful) attempt to maintain his sanity. > > Sure, large corporations like ten-year business plans, but from everything > I've seen that sort of thinking tends to *reinforce* mediocrity. > > Up here in the Valley, the people we expect to change the world are those > insane enough to live on the brink of chaos and survival as part of a > startup. "Peace of mind" isn't exactly something I associate with > entrepreneurship. > > I've always felt that all the Valley has to do is extend their culture of > meritocracy onto content producers, and the rest would probably take care > of itself. Will it happen? Maybe. They have an opportunity to replace > Hollywood as a whole (in its weakened state), or at least give them a run > for their money in terms of producing quality content. The tech and > startup people I keep in contact with right now are mostly among those > looking to do that. > > > Ah. Perhaps you're talkin about "having a stable platform to target" > rather than "a personal guarantee of stability." Is that what you mean? > > My man Horace Dediu calls this the app-ification of storytelling. > > http://www.asymco.com/2011/12/12/hiding-in-plain-sight/ > > What these signals point to is Apple defining the TV as an iOS portfolio > product. This means integration with iTunes, including an app store. This, > in turn, means unleashing developer/creative talent through new > monetization opportunities. This means new user experiences in discovery. > This means FaceTime-like communication through the TV. This means many > other things but mostly it means that the TV will be a platform product. > > > The idea it that individuals with a passion and a story to tell ought to > have a lightweight way to: > > - create their art > - market it to a size-able audience > - make enough money to sustain their efforts > > > Is that what you mean by "extend their culture of meritocracy onto content > producers"? > > If so, then from my perspective that is exactly what the Valley is trying > to do (eventually). But the only way we know to do that it is to, as you > put it, "remove the middleman" -- that is, replace a costly gatekeeper with > a cheap platform. > > Is that not what you want? > > -- Ernie P. > > -- > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community < > [email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- Ryan Tanaka Ph.D, Historical Musicology at USC http://ryangtanaka.com - Scholarship, music, entrepreneurship. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. 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