Category: Internet

COMPANIONSHIP CONTENT

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been on a bit of a tear lately with the “blogging thing.” Did you notice the new domain name? I’ve had sethw.com on and off since, like, 1999 or so because it went with my weird one-man-band act I did. But lately, as I’m now easing into my later 40s, I wanted something that reflected my new vibes, and sethwxyz really worked. Like, the alphabet goes wxyz, right? Seth W… xyz. Oh my god, I love it.

Anyway, since I’ve been writing or blogging so much, I’ve definitely felt different things pulling themselves together.

Like, I’m not spending multiple hours a day writing, but I do a lot of thinking and walking and taking voice notes on occasion, which I rarely revisit, but just doing them helps my brain put things together.

This brings me to this piece called ‘Companionship Content is King‘ by Anu Atluru.

“Companionship content is long-form content that can be consumed passively — allowing the consumer to be incompletely attentive, and providing a sense of relaxation, comfort, and community.”

After reading that whole piece, it was like, oh my god, no wonder I love those Noah Kalina videos, right? And he even mentioned in today’s video, near the end, how you could just have his video on in the background, you don’t even need to really watch it.

There were a few days where I’d find myself in haze after laying around and just scrolling through Instagram Reel after Instagram Reel. It was like when we were kids, and they used to say we watched 10 hours of TV a week or something, but now it’s like we consume 10 hours of video a day, but in 15 to 30-second increments, and it’s draining, as Anu says here:

“Consuming content requires attention, and everyone has an attention ceiling. This is the basis of my belief that short-form video has an upper limit. It’s not that short-form isn’t as good or as entertaining as long-form, it’s that it’s distracting and ultimately draining.

The mental energy consumed per minute of content consumed must be higher for short-form video than many types of content. I think of this as the “drain ratio” (as in energy drain) for a given piece of content or even a whole genre. (I doubt if anyone’s scientifically measured this, but I’d willingly commission a study on it).”

Maybe that’s why I like watching Craig Reynolds of Stray From The Path when he does his drum streams.

I don’t have to pay full attention, but it’s just fun to be “in the room” when he offers a sarcastic comment or self-deprecating humor.

Maybe I’m just getting old, or maybe it’s the after-effects of living through a pandemic, and things are just off, man. I’m not sure, but I just need the slow chill vibes these days.

HINDZ is another great example. A little softer than watching Craig on drums, but still… I guess it’s all about the person. I know what I’m getting from these folks, and there’s a peacefulness to that.

This is also similar to “body doubling,” or virtual co-working sessions that I’ve seen around. I haven’t really dabbled in those quite so much, but I know some people really like those.

Don’t rely on digital records.

My advice is to download your Instagram feed now! Print it out in a book (there are online services that will do this for you). Write your memoir and self-publish it; print out photos of your art, bind the pages yourself and hand copies to all your best friends and family; share your work! And share it widely and generously.

Jacqueline Calladine at Private View

“If not Pitchfork, with more daily visitors than Vogue or Vanity Fair or the New Yorker – or GQ – then who in music journalism can possibly thrive in this economic environment. And if no one can… then all we’ll have left are streaming platforms, their algorithms, and the atomized consumer behavior they push on us. A self-checkout counter for music, with a scanner going beep – beep – beep –”

Damon Krukowski

PRODUCING AND UPLOADING

“That article reads as a kind of elegy to SoundCloud’s heyday, before multiple pivots through chaotic monetization and promotion. At least Bandcamp still works – for now. It’s a simultaneous reminder that we need to build something new, maybe this time not for the investors, but for the eu-IVs – for each other. For a reason to keep producing and uploading, and a place to do it. And, importantly, for listening.”

Peter Kirn at Create Digital Media

I love this so much: “a simultaneous reminder that we need to build something new, maybe this time not for the investors, but for the eu-IVs – for each other.”

WordPress can have a steep learning curve, but get a few friends together, figure it out, and we’ve got a new “media outlet.”

I’ve seen some music newsletters on Substack, but I fear shit like that can implode at any point, too. Sure, I’m sure as heck using it, but making sure this blog is updated, secure, and the domain name ain’t gonna lapse.

Like… we need need to stop waiting for the next MUSIC PUBLICATION to figure their shit out, and just make it ourselves, like we used to back in the day.

Our bands couldn’t play the big venues, so we rented VFWs and firehalls and made it happen.

Like, Spotify and Apple Music will not magically start paying artists more.

The big outlets aren’t going to feature you, and even if they do, it probably won’t amount to much because the big outlets have devolved into showcasing death and drama, turning their readership into gossip-hungry zombies.

I’m jaded as fuck at this ‘cuz I’ve seen it devolve for the past 20 years. The fix ain’t waiting for tech-bros to develop new platforms – the power is with the people on the streets and the bedrooms to make it happen.

“Large parasocial platforms transformed the internet into a hostile and impersonal place. They feed our FOMO to keep us clicking. They exaggerate our differences for “engagement”. They create engines for stardom to keep us creeping. They bait us into nutritionless and sensationalist content. Humanity cannot subsist on hype alone.”

Taylor from Potato.cheap

MISSING OUT?

What will we do if we don’t follow all our friends on every social media platform?

Read more books.
Make more music.
Listen to more records.
Go on long drives.
Meet friends for breakfast.
Stare out the window.
Visit a local shop.
Write in our journals.
Paint a picture.
Take a photograph.
Watch the sun come up.

It was social media platforms that incentivized us to connect, and to bring everyone into their walled garden.

Yes, it felt great for a minute, but nothing run by capitalistic techbros was meant to last.

The good ole days are gone, and there’s no one to come and tell you what to do next.

Fucking figure it out.

YOUR NEXT BIG BREAKTHROUGH WILL HAPPEN WITH OTHER CREATIVE PEOPLE

Vulfpeck’s Jack Stratton spoke recently about the streaming landscape and how Apple Music could be fixed.

Lots of people are writing about the death of Pitchfork.

Bandcamp saw 50% of its staff laid off last year.

In 2017, Spotify’s RapCaviar was the “most influential playlist in music.” Now, folks at major labels have “seen streams coming from RapCaviar drop anywhere from 30% to 50%” because “editorial playlists are losing influence amid AI expansion.”

There’s a Taco Bell commercial featuring Portugal. The Man – not for their actual music, but as a “feature” to highlight how broke the band was, but at least they could eat at Taco Bell.

It’s almost as if Seth Godin knew what I was going to write about today:

“When things don’t go the way we hope, one alternative is to look hard at the system that caused the problem. And another productive strategy is to figure out what to do with what we get, instead of seeking to find the villain that’s causing our problem.”

Right now, phones can shoot music videos, laptops can become studios, taking pictures with a disposable camera is chic, and we can post everything to the internet in seconds.

But the days of posting something on social media and getting 10,000 people to see it are over. That ain’t coming back.

If you’ve been a subscriber, you know I always say this – it will never get easier to reach your fans on social media.

Don’t blame Spotify, or Apple, or Meta – these are all companies that were built to make money for shareholders. They’re doing their job; are we doing ours?

Are we making the best art that we can?

Are we writing 1000 words a day?

Am I practicing my bass for 15 minutes a day? (No, I’m not)

If you were the lone creative weirdo in high school back in the day, well…, you’d better read some books and find some magazines because you’re on your own.

Now we have websites, Zoom, internet radio, email, and a thousand messaging apps – there’s no reason to do any of this alone.

We know the villains in the current landscape. We know what we’re up against.

Time to stop playing games we don’t want to play (and can’t win), and figure out what’s next.

My three quick ideas on that:

  1. Write a good newsletter to your fans that they’ll want to read
  2. Set up a website and fill it up with all the cool stuff you do
  3. Delete the social media apps from your phone this week

Will that raise streaming rates and bring back organic reach on Facebook? NOPE. But it’s action, something we can do right now, and it’s a step toward new possibilities.