“A series of music conferences aimed specifically at the grass roots of the industry, the goal of Un-Convention is to bring together like minded individuals to discuss the future of Independent music. From DIY labels, and self releasing bands, to promoters and agents, entrepreneurs and innovators, Un-Convention is looking to the future of music, and how it will develop and flourish in the technological age.”
De Un-Convention iPhone App brengt jou alle news, videos, podcasts en muziek van Un-Convention, rechtstreeks in je broekzak!
1. You make radio-driven hit music and your career is dependent upon it. The majors control radio, you can’t have a hit without them. But radio means ever less, and the formats other than Top Forty are also-rans paying ever-decreasing dividends.
If you don’t know the labels steal then you’re not in this business. But the problem is not so much them as it is you. No one is forcing you to sign on the dotted line. But you think if your record comes out on Universal or Warner Brothers, you’ve made it. But there’s no label on a digital download, and just because a product is in the supermarket that doesn’t mean it sells. And today the supermarket is worldwide, stuffed with tons of goodies. The avenue to success is not making a deal with the devil, but being really good. Because if you’re really good the Net can focus attention on you in a heartbeat. But this usually happens years after you’ve started, when you’re finally in the groove, when you’re worthy of the attention, long after the major label would have dropped you and you would have quit in frustration.
I read the book inDutch (“Het zijn net mensen”), but it has been published in English as well. Which is great, because it lets me tell you about it on this blog. And I do believe this book os interesting to anyone in the Western world, and perhaps even in the other parts as well 😉
The news you consume is excessively filtered
Although this might not be as big an eye-opener as it was when the book was published (2007), it still applies. Any international news that you consume through media channels that are operated by editors, are filtered and keyed towards impact. Not information or knowledge, but the amount of ‘thrill’ or news-worthy-ness decides if the story is broadcast to you. And even then, the story is (most of the times) constructed from bits and pieces of content that were prepared by – get this- the subject itself.
It is impossible to ‘do’ regular journalism from within dictatorships
Because regular journalism requires being able to research your sources, check facts, find information. None of that exists in dictatorships. However, the journalist has no means to get that message across to his audience, because it would not constitute ‘news’.
We need to understand that we consume filtered news when we do. We need to realize that, unless we take an interest to the local ways of any place that we hear news from, we cannot really gauge the impact of anything reported. This is a big task for any regular citizen. Luckily, the internet helps us here. There is still hope, if we only make the effort.
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