When I was a kid learning to play the drums, I used to think that the world's greatest guitarist probably wasn't Eric Clapton or Jimmy Page. More likely, it was somebody I'd never heard of playing in their basement. I used to ponder of all those "hidden" musical voices that the world may never know.
Certainly the web is changing that, and it's bringing about two new dynamics that I am anxious to see play out in the entertainment industry.
The first dynamic is the "outing" of all of the closet geniuses in the world. For example, in the old days we had Dan Rather and a handful of professional talking heads who gave us news and insight. We were dependent on the networks to hire insightful reporters to teach us about the world around us.
But tonight I watched this video of Steve Rubel on Beet.TV. I agree with Beet.TV's assessment that Mr. Rubel is "the authority on all things public relations" and that his blog Micropersuasion is "astonishingly influential and valuable."
As you watch the video, notice how 1.) uncensored his views are, and 2.) how utterly smart he is. I had to watch the video three times just to fully consider everything he was saying. My point is that all of these "outed geniuses" are going to force the rest of us to take our games to the next level. Better stock up on those brain enhancing fish oil pills from GNC.
The second dynamic (which has mostly to do with music) is that it's astonishing to watch YouTube and see all of the best bands from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s in the fighting prime of their youth right along side the young bands of today. Assuming that I never got out to see live bands -- or that I lived in a small market where great live bands don't tour -- what's the difference between seeing a 30-year old Sting on video versus a 30-year old guy from Blink 182? Theoretically, both bands would be equally hip. See for yourself ...
Currently, I'm reading Chris Anderson's Long Tail in which the fall of the blockbuster has been well documented. But it's interesting to visit YouTube and enter the names of all of the really obscure bands you might have seen in college -- and BAM -- there they are on YouTube for free.
Couple that with the fact that you can cherry-pick almost any artist's catalog to death on iTunes for a buck a song, and it's hard to imagine what the future of the entertainment industry (and therefore modern society) will look like. Know what I mean?
