Real Time or Steal Time.
My grandfather used to read the morning paper. My father would watch the evening news. They would each have a scotch after dinner. Imagine if we increased our consumption of alcohol proportionally to our increase in media. Is it Real Time or Steal Time?
Many of my dearest friends and family members are too busy. They don’t have any free time. They spend so much energy on electronic media, that they have forgotten how to communicate face to face. There is just too much ground-breaking news, too many deals to close, too much information to absorb, and if you missed that split second when it was announced, well…
There have been recent studies that claim you spend more time on social media when you are depressed. I state the opposite is true. I believe social media causes depression, the way overeating causes diabetes.
Sometimes you just need to lift your head. Look around you. Look up, look down. See the piece of gum on the sidewalk before you step on it.
Social Stalking
I have been seeing a lot of Yelp bashing recently by those associated with FourSquare and Gowalla. It seems like spoiled children screaming at their mother. I would like to see them ‘check-in’ to reality. The Geo-Location fad is cool, but one of them better create real value.
One young lady said something to me that I will never forget. She offered that it would be a great opportunity for social stalkers to track her real world location. Apparently, there are some ‘friends’ you don’t want showing up.
Music Business Is Alive (V.1)
I read Jeff Price of TuneCore‘s response to an article in Digital Music News questioning the validity of measurement tools related to the success of new artist’s in the digital world. Some excellent thoughts posted, I encourage you to read them. Here is my response:
It is back to the future. Great songs matter, not albums. Building a fan base matters, not marketing muscle. Making a living matters, not being a rockstar. The real question is how does one now measure success? Yes we are all competitive, so we need a chart. Or do we?
Is success measured by gross income across a weighted multitude of income streams? Would that be based on a calendar or fiscal year? Interesting concept the IRS would love.
Should all the indie distributors and artists report in to Nielson? Why, so numbers with a hint of authenticity can continue to create false impressions? What about streams, blog posts, search requests, touring schedule, and so on.
The point of your post is well taken. The old measurement tools are imperfect. The old guard is sadly blind in the woods. However, music creation is thriving. Success is measured individually. The music business is alive.
Time For The Twitter Cops
There seems to be an acceptance of the growth of some unethical practices on Twitter. It is time to reinforce some decorum.
Has anyone else noticed that there are no rules associated with many Twitter promotions? Just recently, I witnessed a Twelve-days of Xmas promotion that ended after eight days because someone went on vacation. I have seen a promise of prizes involving cars and other gadgets if you retweeted or followed someone, yet the rules changed daily and the giveaways happened randomly.
Now I am hearing about blackmail and libel threats related to tweets – what you said is a lie and I will tell so and so that you said blah blah. Anyone can say anything without consequences? Yes the community can shout back, but the reality is, it is easy to hide. Plus, our attention spans are so short, no one really cares.
Twitter is still privately owned. I understand ‘open’ platform concepts. Yet, as with my old retail store, customers are guests who are invited in. If I think you are abusing this privilege I will ask you to leave, or have you removed.
It is easy to predict that there will be Twitter scams and negative news to balance the blind joy that Twitter has experienced. It is time for Twitter Inc. to lay down some law, or it will be time for the Twitter Cops from Washington. A thought leader is simply someone who states the obvious, and than takes credit for it. So there, I said it first.
Off The Grid
I have been asked what it was like to be off the grid for a few years. The question is simple to answer. I cleansed my mind the way quitting smoking cleanses one’s body.
I had a phone, but limited my email, text and internet. I refused to watch TV, listen to the radio or read a newspaper (well as minimal as modern times will allow). Basically, family and close friends only. A campout with sketchy wifi service.
At first I thought I was missing everything. As it turned out, I missed nothing. I did, however lose something. My negativity.
It is really tough to get me angry these days. Shocking I know. Not that I have lost any passion. Actually it’s the reverse. I am even more alive.
It made me understand the bliss of the old world, the face-to-face conversations, to drink homemade lemonade, cook all day, play analog games, be a neighbor, learn a culture, grow a garden, paint a picture, write a song, crank a guitar, tell a story, train a dog, raise children.
Brand messages could not reach me. Can I tell you a secret? I have not seen a commercial on TV, or an ad on the net, for anything I want or need yet. Not too many shows worth the time either.
I do feel like a pop moron though. Friends talk about these communal events that occurred, and I don’t know much about them. I could bump into a Cowell, or the Goslin’s, or a @biz, and not recognize them. It has become quite a novelty.
I discovered the news I needed to through word of mouth. Generally in a timely manner. Ok, maybe a day late, or in some cases weeks, but nothing that really affected me. Nothing I could have changed.
Yes, there were some financial consequences. Time to reinvent myself once more. Have been doing it all my life. I truly feel privileged.
My father told me about the circles of life. One circle within the other. The inner circle symbolizes the things in life you can control, the outer circle the things you can not. The objective in life is to make your inner circle as large as possible.
Honk The Horn
From Brooklyn, I was driving up to Westchester to pick up my daughter. Along the way I suddenly realized I had forgotten my phone. I felt lost. It was 5 degrees out. I couldn’t help but think, this will be the day my car breaks down on the Deegan.
When I arrived at the house I honked the horn to let her know I was out front. You should have seen the quizzical look on her beautiful 16-year-old face when she walked out the door. It was a means of communication she had not witnessed before. Maybe I will beat a drum or send out smoke signals next time.
Learn To Write Again
Having spent the past few years ‘off the grid’ I decided recently to start exploring social media in earnest. I am now punching out tweets and fb status’, and have even launched this blog. Yes, there is something very compelling about completing a concise thought in less than 140 characters. However, my thoughts are longer, and my memory shorter.
I want to learn how to write again. I think I forgot how.
I just witnessed two of my friends publish books. Their commitment to sitting and writing everyday was impressive. Their timeless discussion over the choice of words was inspirational. It encouraged me to read through old material I had written over the years that had been stored in a wooden file cabinet – business ideas, project plans, poems, lyrics, short stories. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading it. I was reminded of how poor a writer I have become.
But now, ouch, look at my syntax, look at my dangling participles, look at how I started this sentence with ‘but’. Wow, I have to correct spelling errors again, capitalize ‘I’, and think in complete sentences. I have forgotten the rules of ‘to be’, the uses of ‘is/are’, and the meaning of ‘wit’. Damn, wtf is an adverb again?
Twenty-years ago I only had to answer a phone or knock on a door. Fifteen-years ago I had to answer a phone and check my email. Ten-years ago we added a bit of texting. Now I have to fb, tweet, linkedin, email, txt, blog, etc.
I think I’ll send a hand written note to a friend. How much are stamps now anyway?
twitter: @rich2001
Print Out A Hard Copy
My memories are disappearing. No, it is not yet Alzheimers, or as some might argue, the youthful indiscretions. It is digital media.
The kids and I are out visiting Grandma. We are having a good laugh looking through old photographs, admiring handmade birthday cards, and reading handwritten love letters. Than all of a sudden, our lives ended, around 2000. No printed photos. We had to go to the desktop, peruse the laptops and backup hard drives, than prowl fb. The funny emails we sent to each other were archived with file extentions you couldn’t make up, ‘.pst’. Yes, I was.
There is a new rule in the house. Make a hard copy. Print it out. Otherwise my kids will only be able to laugh about, and remember, their parent’s and grandparent’s lives with their children. And yes, I am printing this post.
twitter: @rich2001
Deaf, Numb and Blind
I just lifted my head up from reading messages on my phone, while cranking music thru my headphones, and realized that mobile media is going to make us all Deaf, Numb and Blind.
First I had to refocus my eyes to see clearly into the distance, that small screen is going to make us all (blind).
Than I took my headphones off and had to shake the cobwebs out of my ears to hear again (deaf).
That is when I noticed three very attractive young woman all sitting alone at tables socializing with their phones (numb).
I am heading out to play some pinball.
twitter: @rich2001
Richard Bauer
twitter: @rich2001
