I agree it's mostly rubbish now. I wrote that article in 2001, when “The Wisdom of Crowds” was not really in effect online yet.
Still, in many places in the music industry, an artist is taken much more seriously when they are represented by a company (whether label, agency, manager, etc) - that communicates that the artist is not just one of the 2 million amateurs on MySpace.
That subtle difference in perception and image actually changes how people listen.
In a way, Youtube is a bigger filter now than any of the suggestions in the article. There are so many videos on Youtube, so many upcoming artists performing there, that most of them hardly get any attention at all. If you're popular on Youtube, you're already ahead of a lot of competition.
This works until the filter is one who wants to maximize profits by minimizing risk. You see this in every field where there are filters:
1> Music
2> Movies
3> Publishing industry
4> Venture Capital
5> Newspapers
...
But I think there is a glimmer of hope on the internet. There are millions of blogs but the best still surface and build a large audience. There are infinite number of videos on youtube but still the best still gets 100 million views. The common element here is social media. As twitter and facebook gain popularity, general public will decide winners and not a media executive.
[+] [-] Quarrelsome|16 years ago|reply
As soon as you go to them they will be changing your idea, suggesting you wear a cowboy hat and you wont have a strong bargaining position to resist.
[+] [-] sivers|16 years ago|reply
Still, in many places in the music industry, an artist is taken much more seriously when they are represented by a company (whether label, agency, manager, etc) - that communicates that the artist is not just one of the 2 million amateurs on MySpace.
That subtle difference in perception and image actually changes how people listen.
Read this great Brian Eno quote about that: http://musicthoughts.com/t/112
[+] [-] fh|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] akshat|16 years ago|reply
1> Music 2> Movies 3> Publishing industry 4> Venture Capital 5> Newspapers ...
But I think there is a glimmer of hope on the internet. There are millions of blogs but the best still surface and build a large audience. There are infinite number of videos on youtube but still the best still gets 100 million views. The common element here is social media. As twitter and facebook gain popularity, general public will decide winners and not a media executive.
[+] [-] unknown|16 years ago|reply
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