"That human-to-human exchange is the whole point. It’s why people make art, why communities pop up to support it, and why all of that will endure no matter what happens in the world. "
I think this is the answer to Derakhshan's question about what we're giving up in the name of efficiency. IMO, that's also why indie newsletters, blogs, etc. are thriving. Older people are realizing that Web 1.0 was pretty rad- certainly compared to what we have today, and younger people are seeing that there's an alternative to machine learning.
Thank you for writing this. I came of age pretty much right after the internet you describe. I remember finding spotify my freshman year of high school, it was brand new! The Feed and it's attendant consequences have had a deleterious effect on my life and the lives of friends. After a scary mental health episode earlier this year a very intentional friend of mine from high school began to reach out. We would go to a show once, twice, maybe three times a week. It saved my life and it deepened my connection to music. I made a good faith effort for this year to be my year of Chicago music, that's how I found your writing. This process of discovery has been far more rewarding then letting the stream choose for me. I wouldn't be writing this if you hadn't mentioned school nights. I work in CPS in a neighborhood where the nearest venue is maybe 40 minutes away (i love this neighborhood and the open mic are incredible but the venues are FAR). The grind of the school year is getting to me, but giving myself grace and perhaps thinking of the Chicago winter as a sort of off season might help. A time to review the gains made this year and plan for the next. And time to get my damn turntable fixed. Thanks for writing Josh!
really great read, glad i’m not alone here. i’ve also been re-evaluating my digital consumption lately, starting with ditching spotify to move to a locally hosted music library (incredibly rewarding), and, post-election, deleting social media apps from my phone (incredibly difficult, i still impulsively pick up my phone every hour). as much as ditching social media has been good, i also feel way less in tune with my local music scene and generally out of the loop about shows, so i’ll probably be back on instagram eventually and just hope i can keep a handle on reflexively doomscrolling.
it feels like a move toward a more diy internet using peer2peer tech is the only way we can escape corpo algorithms rotting our brains. p2p music sharing is still around and rocks—some might call it ethically dubious, but honestly, no worse than streaming imo. i joined a private torrent tracker recently and kind of feel like i’m in high school again when i get on the computer to find new music to download. it makes me wonder if there could be a way to use similar tech for social media. the big problem is usability—p2p stuff usually takes a decent amount of technical literacy, and we’ve all gotten insanely complacent expecting tech to just work without effort.
anyway, ramble over—glad more people are talking about this, great stuff josh.
Just want to join the chorus and say thank you for writing this. I call twitter “the vibes machine” and man it has mad my vibes bad lately.
One of the best things I’ve done recently is taking a songwriting class at a local music school. Lot of people of different ages and skill and motivation sharing music, taking risks, and being in community. It’s brought me a lot of joy. And my phone is always on airplane mode when I’m in there.
"That human-to-human exchange is the whole point. It’s why people make art, why communities pop up to support it, and why all of that will endure no matter what happens in the world. "
I think this is the answer to Derakhshan's question about what we're giving up in the name of efficiency. IMO, that's also why indie newsletters, blogs, etc. are thriving. Older people are realizing that Web 1.0 was pretty rad- certainly compared to what we have today, and younger people are seeing that there's an alternative to machine learning.
Thank you for writing this. I came of age pretty much right after the internet you describe. I remember finding spotify my freshman year of high school, it was brand new! The Feed and it's attendant consequences have had a deleterious effect on my life and the lives of friends. After a scary mental health episode earlier this year a very intentional friend of mine from high school began to reach out. We would go to a show once, twice, maybe three times a week. It saved my life and it deepened my connection to music. I made a good faith effort for this year to be my year of Chicago music, that's how I found your writing. This process of discovery has been far more rewarding then letting the stream choose for me. I wouldn't be writing this if you hadn't mentioned school nights. I work in CPS in a neighborhood where the nearest venue is maybe 40 minutes away (i love this neighborhood and the open mic are incredible but the venues are FAR). The grind of the school year is getting to me, but giving myself grace and perhaps thinking of the Chicago winter as a sort of off season might help. A time to review the gains made this year and plan for the next. And time to get my damn turntable fixed. Thanks for writing Josh!
really great read, glad i’m not alone here. i’ve also been re-evaluating my digital consumption lately, starting with ditching spotify to move to a locally hosted music library (incredibly rewarding), and, post-election, deleting social media apps from my phone (incredibly difficult, i still impulsively pick up my phone every hour). as much as ditching social media has been good, i also feel way less in tune with my local music scene and generally out of the loop about shows, so i’ll probably be back on instagram eventually and just hope i can keep a handle on reflexively doomscrolling.
it feels like a move toward a more diy internet using peer2peer tech is the only way we can escape corpo algorithms rotting our brains. p2p music sharing is still around and rocks—some might call it ethically dubious, but honestly, no worse than streaming imo. i joined a private torrent tracker recently and kind of feel like i’m in high school again when i get on the computer to find new music to download. it makes me wonder if there could be a way to use similar tech for social media. the big problem is usability—p2p stuff usually takes a decent amount of technical literacy, and we’ve all gotten insanely complacent expecting tech to just work without effort.
anyway, ramble over—glad more people are talking about this, great stuff josh.
Music is about other people, as you said— and at its core, it’s about vibrations and how they make you feel.
Just want to join the chorus and say thank you for writing this. I call twitter “the vibes machine” and man it has mad my vibes bad lately.
One of the best things I’ve done recently is taking a songwriting class at a local music school. Lot of people of different ages and skill and motivation sharing music, taking risks, and being in community. It’s brought me a lot of joy. And my phone is always on airplane mode when I’m in there.
Love your work, man
I agree re: seeing the older musicians while they're still here, so glad I caught Stevie Wonder a few weeks ago at the UC.