Media
Articles, blog posts, and commentary on (social) media, journalism, and broadcasting.
- Thoughts on villin, 2023 ()
It’s kinda funny, thinking about how this thing got from there to here. I’ve already unpacked all this to and for myself in great detail — of what my idea was with villin when it started, and how it died and came back to life a few times over the past decade — but it’s […]
- the slowdown: Amusing Myself to Death ()
Listen to the slowdown via Apple, Stitcher, Overcast, Pocketcasts, Spotify & more. I’ll start this by piggybacking off the last episode in this series which began to sink teeth into the separate realities created by media bubbles… It’s December of 2020 as I type and record this, and I began this small project about six […]
- Media List #6: The Money Where Your Mouth is Edition ()
“I Don’t Feel Like Buying Stuff Anymore” by Anne Helen Petersen for BuzzFeed News While we’ve opened back up society to a limited degree, some things may never be the same as they were. Thank god. It feels like so much has changed in just a few months. When all of this began, the minority […]
- Social Buddha ()
“TV Buddha” is a forty year old piece by artist Nam June Paik. Its visual — that of Buddha staring at himself on a television, as captured through a closed-circuit video camera — is striking, through my interpretation stands beyond its original meaning, slightly, given the four decades of technological indulgence that have passed since […]
- The Ultimate Musician’s Guide to Navigating the Entire Internet ()
Just because you know some online basics, your high school friend is your “manager,” or your Rap Genius page is pending verification, does not make you a Professional Musician. What follows is a jumping-off point for those looking to make the leap, five New(-ish) Rules written for amateur artists looking to go pro. #1) Educate […]
- Stop Putting Social Media Buttons on Everything ()
Until inanimate objects become connected to some evolved inter-dimensional future-net, slathering social media buttons all over non web-based advertisements will remain a silly and useless strategy. Until that day comes, the world will be divided into two groups of people: Those who believe that branding on magazine advertisements, peanut butter jars and barbecue sauce labels […]
- Creative Solutions for Online Success ()
“Creative Solutions for Online Success.”
- Why Eminem Still Matters ()
Nearly 15 years ago Eminem’s “My Name Is” set a new rap standard when the skinny white MC found fame by filtering his generally abasing wordplay through an obnoxious Labi Siffre sample. While the single’s music video mocked both celebrity and lowest common denominator Ameri-slob entertainment, the track stood out as much for its shock […]
- Web as Foie Gras ()
In “The Amazon Doctrine” Michael Heilemann compares how easy it is to trust a brand relative to how profit-focused, or “driven by business reasoning,” they are when dealing with customers. “When did Amazon last make a move that screwed you over as a customer in the name of profit,” he asks, before shooting down Twitter […]
- Demand Better Curation ()
“I’m really scared for my generation, you know. The thing that scares me most is Tumblr. I hate what Tumblr has become… Instead of kids going out and making their own moments, they’re just taking these images and living vicariously through other people’s moments. It just kills me. Then you’ll meet them and they’re just […]
- Dear Struggling Rapper, Here Are 5 Easy Steps To Success ()
“I don’t think there’s any magic key to promotion — you send emails, you manage your web presence, you cultivate your email list or Facebook page or whatever, you hand out flyers, you do the same stuff people have been doing for years now; the real key happens before all of that,” explained Minneapolis-based MC […]
- How to Fail at Blogging ()
Last week I wrote something called “How to Fail at Promoting Music Online” which was pretty much about a handful of issues I take with the way publicists and bands push music online, particularly via email marketing. It’s pretty easy to unload such unsolicited advice though, and truth be told, picking on some issues and […]
- The Trouble with Local Scenes ()
I moved to Nashville last summer on a whim, really only because one of my best friends lives here and it seemed like a not-so-terrible idea. And here I am 17 months later, still waking up each morning in some strange city that has somehow become a part of me. I can’t explain what exactly […]
- MySpace Has Been Sold, But Can It Be Saved? ()
Earlier this week it was rumored that MySpace would be going through another round of extreme layoffs which would serve as a budget cutting measure to help secure a buyer. Though the asking price of $100 million was still on the table, all but two potential companies had seemingly bowed out from the race to […]
- If Nardwuar Can Do It, You Can Do It, Too! ()
For those still unfamiliar with Nardwuar (his Odd Future SXSW interview ring a bell?), the Canadian radio and television personality has been going strong and doing his thing for well over two decades. One of the higher profile aspects of “his thing” has been creating a niche for himself as one of the world’s most […]
- How to Avoid Pissing Off Music Bloggers (And Several Other Handy Tips for Artists) ()
This week Culture Bully is celebrating its sixth anniversary and in looking back on the years it quickly becomes evident that even during such a short amount of time the online musical landscape has changed immensely. While the blogosphere on the whole has made many complex advances over the years, music blogs in particular have […]
- “Entourage,” Altered Zones & “Straight Talk” ()
[Ed. Note: In June I was invited to contribute some words to Hypebot in response to Mark Morgenstein’s CNN article titled “Before I get old: Success for late-blooming bands.” An idea was suggested in the comments section of the article, and I was subsequently asked to respond. I thought about it, and came up with a version […]
- Hypebot Interview ()
Recently, I spoke with Chris DeLine, who is a writer and author of the music blog Culture Bully. In this interview, Chris shares his perspective on a number of big ideas, ranging from late-bloomers to the Hold Steady to the ten-thousand hour rule to the work of economist David Galenson, and back again. In recent […]
- Reengaging Facebook ()
Back in April I decided that I was going to attempt to reduce my “online presence” by dismantling my MySpace, Facebook and Twitter accounts with one fell swoop. The reasoning behind doing so seemed simple enough at the time, but since I’ve come to understand a deeper significance to these sites, one which I hadn’t […]