Saturday, March 15, 2014
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah On The Value Of Tiny Audiences
Fast Company | Business + Innovation: Bands today, even the big ones, are on the surface more approachable than ever. They play more shows, release more music, and are a simple @ away on Twitter. Their pictures, snapped by fans with cellphones, are everywhere online; you can turn to YouTube for footage of them performing in a Brooklyn-apartment sized studio. And there's no one who understands playing the game of constant interaction better than the music industry’s original Internet-age pioneers, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (CYHSY).
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3 comments:
I think this is a great idea. I have been thinking of the worth of technology when it comes to connecting to people. How convenience has come at the cost of sincerity. I think this is a really important thing to keep in mind. It affects groups from the size of 15,000 to even just two people communicating. I think the way he was reminded why he wanted to be a musician in the first place can be applied to anything someone is passionate about.
Why do we do what we do? Why do we interact with who we interact with and why do we interact in that way? Why do we feel differently about emails and hand written letters? Why does commercial have a negative connotation? If we are closer to the person or production do we intrinsically feel more connected? Or do the people performing just pay more attention to the details? Where is that line between sincere and convenient where one takes over the other?
I think every medium is different and each calls for a different feel. When people pay attention to this aspect of a design or show or interaction we have a stronger impact that directly correlates to our mission, whether that be accomplished through promoting with something as widespread as Facebook or as acute as having a conversation with an individual.
In a lot of ways, I feel like the entertainment industry can be bitter sweet. Many musicians work their way up to performing in front of stadiums of people, however, like the article said, you lose an intimate connection with the audience. If you perform with out promoters and labels in order to stay intimate, your art is not as known as you might want it to be. It's definitely interesting that this artist likes performing in living rooms versus bigger places and I can relate to how he wants to connect with the audience however, I don't think all artists especially musicians can do that readily. For example, if Miley Cyrus wanted to suddenly do living room tours I don't think that would run easily and the audience would grow too big. So, is there a happy medium to this idea or are artists either to stay small or make it big?
I understand the point that this article is trying to make about the connection between bands and the audience and how large shows and technology make that less applicable, but I would argue that the large audience shows have the better value, at least for me. When i go see a show live, I go because of the performance and production aspects, which come together to make the show. I feel like, despite the somewhat personal connection of a smaller show, I could have just as easily listened to it on my ipod. With large audiences, there are larger budgets and cooler productions.
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