Maybe the grass is always greener, but lately that other side of the entertainment industry has been looking all sparkly and bright to me.
Okay, pushing the boulder up the hill is such an exhausting task, your mind can’t help but wander and consider maybe there are some upsides to letting it all crash and burn and then starting over. What happened when the music business flamed out? They didn’t die. Have they risen from the ashes, stronger and wiser, with new tools in their belt, a commitment to get it right this time?
Word is more people are getting their songs sung and bells rung then ever before. Maybe the big guns are getting their massive steaks any more, but if more people are doing what they love, ain’t that pretty damn swell?
Could I be jealous? Motivated? Competitive? Inspired?
And so when I came across Steve Albini’s wonderful rant in The Guardian are how the internet saved (that’s right, not “ruined”) music, I thought “how awesome for them”. “released, like a fart or a bird”, “a fetish room where you can…” — well, to each their own when it comes to description, but Albini’s right. Now you can do it and some of the corruption has been crushed. Do what you love. Jam econo. What a world it would be if we had confidence we could support ourselves creating the stuff we ourselves like most. No one needs to get rich. Could the film world learn a lesson or two?
It was only because it was so hard to get what I wanted from those who had the power to produce or finance what I dreamed of that I grew to not trust the man. I wasn’t born to suspect corporations — but I sure learned to. I did not grow up to hate the sell out — but it became my way. I still believed there could be alliances among those with different agendas. Granted I too wondered why we stopped teasing those that did take the bait and surrendered their persona to a brand. Still though, reading about Red Bull’s promotion of the indie music scene, I wanted me some of that. I see the authentic voices in cinema, the folks pushing boundaries, and man, if they only had some support. Could there be a benevolent brand that saw a common goal? Does it all need to be lowest common denominator, or is their a link to be built between those that reach high and take us to lands beyond the commonplace and those that need to put their logo on such dreams made real?
And then I look and I see a full on cultural debate about the good and the bad of different approaches — but not in my field — in that of the sound and the fury. Place your music on all devices like U2 did? Pull your music off Spotify? Stand up for a fair digital bill of rights? Is the internet evil? Who knows, but at least they are taking a stand, one way or the other. Where’s the leaders amongst the creators in the film side? Is it just the debate of losing 35mm that matters? Isn’t there so much more?
Music is rarely quiet. It travels easier from place to place. Historically, creation has been more of an immediate act in song than on screen, but that is changing. And frankly, looking over across the way at what they do, has always been a source of inspiration for me. They get there first. They make some wrong moves but forge many new paths too. They are a beacon and a canary and really it’s not envy. It’s thanks. They are inspiring.
