Blog Week 7

Hey guys! How are you? NICE!

how has digital media changed music culture? That is a very interesting question. Personally, I feel that a lot of bands today are more dependent on their digital media skills and connections than their actual music. I blame www.myspace.com. Bands are able to represent themselves however they see fit, but most of the time the attention is focused on the layout of their page and what colours, images, patterns they've used...and not their music! This is not to say that digital media has harmed the music industry in any way. It has helped listeners connect to music like never before. However, when bands becomes more about computer generated images I'm not feeling it. I really wanted to put a link of band that is truly awful but had a very cool layout. Unfortunately their layout has changed, but their music is still bad (the band is called brokencyde by the way. their lyrics are vulgar so I didn't post the link). But this is just one example of how digital media has harmed music culture. Digital media in music is a good thing! There is a sense of connectivity developed between listener and artist when a fan can see their favourite band's new video, or download their album covers to their ipod's. Although millions upon millions of fans are probably doing the same thing, that one fan feels they know the band/artist better than before.

Digital media allows artists to showcase what they represent. A simple change in typography can represent an artist as a pop sensation or a death metal celebration! Digital media is also a very useful tool that artists can use to change how their listeners perceive them.

I've been enjoying music all my life, but it has definitely been changing over the past 5 years, how I enjoy it I mean. Let's see, I'd be in gr. 8 then. So I don't think I had a myspace account, or an ipod, or enough money to buy CD's. But I did have a TV! I would watch MuchMusic to look for new bands all the time. When I found one I liked, I would quickly scurry to my computer and try and find them on the internet. I could watch their videos, interviews, and where they would be playing next! Everything was there, it was just very slow.

Today, if I want to find a new band, I'll just go on myspace and browse through the top artists category. I can pick a band whose profile picture looks cool and then listen to them. It is much faster than my gr. 8 years.

Design is definitely more important to me now.I appreciate if a band takes time to create nice album artwork or create a really eye catching video. If a band takes the time to do something for their fans, I will do something for them and listen to their album and boost their playcount on myspace.

It's a good thing.