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The real downside is that with no gatekeepers there and so many acts (orders of magnitudes more) you can make and release albums that nobody hears at all. Wher

The real downside is that with no gatekeepers there and so many acts (orders of magnitudes more) you can make and release albums that nobody hears at all. Whereas in the past, if you made it to have an album out, you had a small following almost guaranteed. Taste seems to be a commodity that no one wants to provide anymore. Because it isn't a commodity at all. It's a craft. It's something that specifically requires human attention, and until AI progresses some more, attempts to mass produce and make it a commodity will just produce annoying doppelgangers of it. The difference is still like those pink styrofoam grocery store "tomatoes" and garden grown tomatoes. The former is only pleasing to those who don't know what the real thing is actually like!

lsadam0 9y ago
There’s no lack of “tastemakers” in music. The problem is the absolute flood of garbage produced in bedroom studios. Cutting through the noise to find what’s good has become near impossible for everyone. Popular music used to focus on scenes, the internet made sure to stomp that into the dirt. During the rise of Napster we all liked to paint the record labels as evil. What we all failed to realize was how important labels were to seeking out and developing new talent. We’ve seen the last Bowie or Radiohead for a very long time.
- stcredzero 9y ago
  There’s no lack of “tastemakers” in music. But the next thing you talk about creates an environment not conducive to developing really tasteful ones. The problem is the absolute flood of garbage produced in bedroom studios. Cutting through the noise to find what’s good has become near impossible for everyone. Popular music used to focus on scenes, the internet made sure to stomp that into the dirt. Given an environment like that, how is someone going to develop good taste? There are still music scenes, BTW. They are distinctly non-mainstream, however.
  - lsadam0 9y ago
    I don’t think we disagree. There’s plenty of tastemakers, just an overwhelming amount of noise to cut through.
    - stcredzero 9y ago
      That overwhelming amount of noise might well interfere with the ecosystem of tastemakers itself.

lsadam0 9y ago

There’s no lack of “tastemakers” in music. The problem is the absolute flood of garbage produced in bedroom studios. Cutting through the noise to find what’s good has become near impossible for everyone. Popular music used to focus on scenes, the internet made sure to stomp that into the dirt. During the rise of Napster we all liked to paint the record labels as evil. What we all failed to realize was how important labels were to seeking out and developing new talent. We’ve seen the last Bowie or Radiohead for a very long time.

stcredzero 9y ago
There’s no lack of “tastemakers” in music. But the next thing you talk about creates an environment not conducive to developing really tasteful ones. The problem is the absolute flood of garbage produced in bedroom studios. Cutting through the noise to find what’s good has become near impossible for everyone. Popular music used to focus on scenes, the internet made sure to stomp that into the dirt. Given an environment like that, how is someone going to develop good taste? There are still music scenes, BTW. They are distinctly non-mainstream, however.
- lsadam0 9y ago
  I don’t think we disagree. There’s plenty of tastemakers, just an overwhelming amount of noise to cut through.
  - stcredzero 9y ago
    That overwhelming amount of noise might well interfere with the ecosystem of tastemakers itself.