Here's how I see it.
The Internet has changed nothing. Before it came along, everyone had the means to be a critic, to be a musician, to be an artist (especially if you start including dialogue as criticism or music or art). The Internet hasn't changed any of that - just offered alternative opportunities.
Sure, everyone's a critic now. Weren't they always?
Sure, everyone's an artist now. Weren't they always?
Sure, everyone's a musician now. Weren't they always?
I can sit in front of a table and draw a few lines on a piece of paper. Is that art? Does that make me an artist? Sure, I can sit at a computer keyboard and type a few lines about some record I heard (or whatever). Is that criticism? Does that make me a critic? I can sing lustfully to my baby as I'm tying my laces, or bang a few saucepans. Is that music? Does that make me a musician?
I don't really care what your answer is here, as long as it's consistent.
he internet offered alternative opportunities... that allowed me to find people who were interested in what I do and/or people who do things I am interested in... directly.
ReplyDeleteRemoving the need for a critic, I went from being a passive lover of music who quit teaching to work in a record store to an active maker / curator / lecturer of it.
It also allowed me to find the tools to make the kind of music i wanted to without needing to be a spoilt rich snobby bastard like the ones I encountered gigging in the mid to late 90s.
Yeah maybe i'm not too far removed from the cunt that Amy Blue hates in her comments on "The death of the critic? That's the least of your problems" (http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4137407) but right now i'm in a position where I own enough software and gear legitimately to do whatever I want, how I want and pretty much when I want plus i'm in the lucky position to be able to research, write and teach about it also... for monies! I think I owe the internet a bit more than a six pack of beer!
I think asking whether or not ready access to the internet makes you an artist, musician, critic is a rhetorical puddle.
A deeper pool of inquiry (ugh-ly metaphors) might consider how people have used it to feather their own nests. I've been active online since 1998 and while I will make the provocation that the increasing saturation of user content managed groups and social network sites has made it a fairly noisy horrible place to live, it certainly was an inspiring and encouraging community when I started with it.
play me your saucepan symphony and i will decide if it's music. and somebody else will decide the opposite. and in the space between we will find what makes the world interesting and the generator of much of what people talk about.
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