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>Instead of some cool college student suggesting an old 80’s film, Netflix tells you to watch it’s new 50 million dollar movie. While I love the internet , the

>Instead of some cool college student suggesting an old 80’s film, Netflix tells you to watch it’s new 50 million dollar movie. While I love the internet , the world feels less fun now. So many multi billion dollar companies nudging me in this direction or that direction… This is exactly what I haven't been able to put into words without sounding and feeling like a giant hipster douche. It's not about finding smaller, unknown songs/bands/films. It's about the experience of sharing. I know that the guy at the record store has nothing invested in suggesting this weird little indie band to me outside of being a fan and wanting to spread the word. Whereas I know that Netflix is going to suggest to me what will keep me hooked and what they need to see a return on their investment. The internet has 100% made the world less fun. More accessible, sure, but way less fun now that it's mostly corporate (or at least seems that way).

999900000999 5y ago
Plus that girl I met at the record store was very much real and not a bot. I do what I can to try and reclaim my freedom, even if I can order junk from Amazon. I vastly prefer to support local retailers. This serves a couple of purposes, first, it keeps that kid working retail employed, second I might randomly find something else I need. I might stop by a bar on the way back, I might met my next band mate.
rob74 5y ago
I never was a record store patron - I did buy physical media (mostly CDs - and actually I still do, although nowadays I order them online), but it was in big electronics markets where the staff was less knowledgeable. But I have found another "recommendation engine" for music: when going to concerts of my favourite 90s bands (e.g. Garbage), I also give a listen to the back catalog of the opening act(s). This way, I have found a few hidden gems - of course these are pretty obscure artists (e.g. Du Blonde - https://www.dublonde.co.uk/music https://www.dublonde.co.uk/music), but as long as I like the music, I don't care...
dfxm12 5y ago
The internet has 100% made the world less fun. More accessible, sure, but way less fun now that it's mostly corporate (or at least seems that way). The world, especially the media world, was always "mostly corporate", from the big 3 TV networks, big 4 record labels, big 5 movie studios, etc. The Internet brings independent media to you in a way that was never possible in the past. The record store still exists, and is experiencing a boom compared to aughts. Now, in addition to the guy there, you can get additional opinions/recommendations from across the world on message boards, twitter, blogs, wherever, too. Today, you can stream video content that no TV station would show, buy albums no label would press, etc.
- Loughla 5y ago
  >Now, in addition to the guy there, you can get additional opinions/recommendations from across the world on message boards, twitter, blogs, wherever, too. I 100% agree with your first statements - the access is way better now than it was. But this sentence is where I absolutely see the problem. Again, I could trust that guy to recommend music because he liked the music. Now, every blog, every tweet, every recommendation just feels gamed. It seems to me that astroturfing is just everywhere. It's impossible to escape, and it ruins the experience of finding new music. Everything is for sale and it feels awful.
  - dfxm12 5y ago
    Everything is for sale... including the records the guy at the record store likes. To claim everything else is gamed/astroturfing because of your feeling is pretty disingenuous.
    - fxtentacle 5y ago
      Except that 10 years ago, the guy at the record store was an unaffected college student and he wouldn't give a rats ass about whether his recommendation would increase or decrease sales. In my opinion, the rise of paid bloggers was what ruined the internet for honest people everywhere.
      - dfxm12 5y ago
        Or he was the owner of the store trying to make a sale, or he was friends with the musicians and trying to make a sale. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Paid bloggers sounds awfully similar to the old payola scheme. It's really nothing new in the music industry...
    - wyre 5y ago
      A music blog with affiliate links and ads and SEO is very very different than a conversation with the guy at my local record store. To think they are more similar than different is preposterous.

999900000999 5y ago

Plus that girl I met at the record store was very much real and not a bot. I do what I can to try and reclaim my freedom, even if I can order junk from Amazon. I vastly prefer to support local retailers. This serves a couple of purposes, first, it keeps that kid working retail employed, second I might randomly find something else I need. I might stop by a bar on the way back, I might met my next band mate.

rob74 5y ago

I never was a record store patron - I did buy physical media (mostly CDs - and actually I still do, although nowadays I order them online), but it was in big electronics markets where the staff was less knowledgeable. But I have found another "recommendation engine" for music: when going to concerts of my favourite 90s bands (e.g. Garbage), I also give a listen to the back catalog of the opening act(s). This way, I have found a few hidden gems - of course these are pretty obscure artists (e.g. Du Blonde - https://www.dublonde.co.uk/music https://www.dublonde.co.uk/music), but as long as I like the music, I don't care...

dfxm12 5y ago

The internet has 100% made the world less fun. More accessible, sure, but way less fun now that it's mostly corporate (or at least seems that way). The world, especially the media world, was always "mostly corporate", from the big 3 TV networks, big 4 record labels, big 5 movie studios, etc. The Internet brings independent media to you in a way that was never possible in the past. The record store still exists, and is experiencing a boom compared to aughts. Now, in addition to the guy there, you can get additional opinions/recommendations from across the world on message boards, twitter, blogs, wherever, too. Today, you can stream video content that no TV station would show, buy albums no label would press, etc.

Loughla 5y ago
>Now, in addition to the guy there, you can get additional opinions/recommendations from across the world on message boards, twitter, blogs, wherever, too. I 100% agree with your first statements - the access is way better now than it was. But this sentence is where I absolutely see the problem. Again, I could trust that guy to recommend music because he liked the music. Now, every blog, every tweet, every recommendation just feels gamed. It seems to me that astroturfing is just everywhere. It's impossible to escape, and it ruins the experience of finding new music. Everything is for sale and it feels awful.
- dfxm12 5y ago
  Everything is for sale... including the records the guy at the record store likes. To claim everything else is gamed/astroturfing because of your feeling is pretty disingenuous.
  - fxtentacle 5y ago
    Except that 10 years ago, the guy at the record store was an unaffected college student and he wouldn't give a rats ass about whether his recommendation would increase or decrease sales. In my opinion, the rise of paid bloggers was what ruined the internet for honest people everywhere.
    - dfxm12 5y ago
      Or he was the owner of the store trying to make a sale, or he was friends with the musicians and trying to make a sale. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Paid bloggers sounds awfully similar to the old payola scheme. It's really nothing new in the music industry...
  - wyre 5y ago
    A music blog with affiliate links and ads and SEO is very very different than a conversation with the guy at my local record store. To think they are more similar than different is preposterous.