Passed

You've probably noticed I'm not writing much about music anymore. Well, hopefully, you've noticed.

Music is over. Video is King.

Musicians? We work for YouTube producers, now. Vimeo is our new employment agency.

That's if you want longevity.

Oh, you're still more than welcome to pack your dreams into a Ford Econoline and hustle across America. It'll cost you more than ever before, but you're blind to that. Maybe you've got a big enough network to muster some money to help (Kickstarter). Otherwise, you're gambling with a lifetime of poverty.

The risks are so different now, and the payoff so incredibly unlikely. Only the least sane are attempting these celebrity arcs.

What other options do we have, though? This country doesn't really build anything, so there's no labor base. We only value blue collar labor as long as it someone else who's blue collar. We, on the other hand, are temporarily embarrassed millionaires, right?

I can't even turn on the television anymore without being completely ashamed for my country. "Reality TV" shows making 'stars' out of the most milquetoast people, scoring their sad lives with jump cuts and music formerly reserved for the soundtracks of action films. What are these people good at, again? Why are they on TV?

American Idol, The Voice, and its ilk are adept only at finding an audience to serve advertisers, only once in a while finding someone who's also really good at being on TV. The real skill, IMHO.

So many things in play - a culture that has been adapted to the idea of controlling their own environment and a new sense of community. Bands and musicians, conversely, are taught to impose ourselves on the environment, and that doing so repeatedly will lead to acceptance and success.

It ain't gonna happen - not in the cards. Someone telling you different is lying, selling, or both.

Those days have passed, if they ever existed at all.