Art and creation shouldn't come down to just what a bunch of marketing professionals can gain from it. It shouldn't be a game based on, "How do we make people pay us." It should be about a connection between the artist and the audience, whether you're a singer, a painter, an actor, a writer, or an eight foot tall bride handing out flowers on the street.This is from this blog which is of course, based on Amanda Palmer's speech on TED .
I have dabbled in the corporate world of media, as well as the creative side of it. My heart is in the creative side, so that's where I will be most of the time after April.
Even tonight, I wrote two short stories, which shows me that my passion lies in writing fiction still, after all these years.
Anyway, one of the biggest questions asked in the corporate world is - 'how do we monetise it'? Which means, how do we make money from it? Media is big business and all businesses have to make money, or they die. We don't want that, because their death throes are huge and dramatic and annoying. We should take ownership of media companies and make them do what we want them to.
What Amanda Palmer is preaching is both good and bad news for media companies. Bad news because this means creators - such as myself and millions of other people - will take the bigger share of payment from the public, leaving media companies with a smaller share. This is a reverse from current practices where creators get jack shit and big media companies take everything. The good news is - if media companies are not too greedy, they can ensure their survival by going along with what the world is evolving into.
Media, instead of being a manager of mediums, have become the direct influencers of content. They are salesmen who dictate what can or should be done. If you are wondering why most shows are more of the same, ask your selves as the public and then ask the big companies. Media companies cater to the public, and the more people consume a certain whatever, the more they will make of it.
If you believe what you are seeing on TV stations and cinemas as stupid, insulting or undignified, simply vote with your money and these companies will all follow suit. The artist - a real one - will not give a fuck, but you want them to not give a fuck. You want to support them to not give a fuck, because that is the only way to get honest art, honest creativity which will result in the best creative products.
Artists and creators should be protected while media companies should be dictated by the public. You all have a voice (i.e your money and time and effort), so use it to change your world by changing its content.
In the meantime, Amanda Palmer's vision is wishy-washy, but it is not impossible. Current technology has allowed this to happen and the future, I'm afraid, is here. Whatever it is, it is up to the people to decide.
As a Gen Xer, I can say that the old models are changing. Whatever will come out of it is entirely up to you. We don't need giant celebrities and personalities to tell us what to do. We change our own world, and while the final picture may be more of the same and nothing changes - there is a possibility of a better system still.
The days of big governance is over. The days of big brother has come to pass. Big corporations? I dunno. What follows is a mystery.
Hopefully, we have all made the right choice.
