Music to my ears- literally

I have never been, and will never be, a person that is concrete. Some people can decide to do something and stick with it until it's finished and I applaud those people. I get an idea in my head, and then another, and then another... I am never just pursuing one thing at a time. So I am considering two different ideas for my project. The first is a website to launch my record label. It would be a digital label. This would work as long as all the bands I plan to sign record their music digitally. Being a Communications major and possessing skills in HTML coding puts me at an advantage because I could build it entirely from scratch and really set myself apart from other digital labels. However, I am extremely detail-oriented and fear I might get too wrapped up in the minor aspects of it. Another potential challenge would be that in order to do this I would need to rely entirely on technology. If a file gets deleted or there's no Internet access I won't be able to do what I need to do.
The next idea I am contemplating is a paper which will chronicle my experience as an intern for Appalachian Jamwich over the next several months. Appalachian Jamwich is a magazine based out of Shepherdstown that features "visual artists and mid-level bands in the jam scene", according to their website, which you can find here. Working for Appalachian Jamwich will not only give me insight on what it's like to run a business, but considering I want to work with artists in this region, they can set me up with some really great contacts. Team members at the magazine regularly attend festivals and concerts and even host their own festival each June- The Mad Tea Party Jam, which can be seen below.

Working alongside Co-owners Daniel King, Elise Olmstead and Taco Olmstead and the rest of the team at Appalachian Jamwich and attending these events could really help me break into the music industry. One challenge of writing a paper would be the size of it. I would have to condense several months' worth of work to make sure it's readable. It also wouldn't entail the visual aspect that I crave.
Now that I sit here typing this, another idea would be to vlog my entire internship. I may end up pursuing multiple ideas if I find that I can manage my time well. I would hate to just "pick" something and produce mediocre results because I end up resenting my choice. 

Disc-covering

Music is such a big part of our lives. We listen to it no matter what mood we're in, no matter what location or situation. It makes us feel things, connects us to others, helps us get through the bad times and makes the good times better. I'm listening to it as I write this.

I want to bring music to the world- but not with my own voice. Definitely not with my own voice.
So whose voice? Where will I find my artists?

Coffee shops, bars, street corners, the dark depths of the Internet, my college campus.
The genre? Good music from local artists. Call it homegrown if you will.
Where is "local"? Wherever there's good music. I know I just mentioned my college campus but if Gainesville, Florida has the next Tom Petty you bet I'd book a plane ticket.
I love the authenticity of local artists. You hear their struggle, you hear their pain. It's not a gimmick. It's real life.


I won't let anyone to tell me when or what I should be doing, or what hair color to have for that matter. I will do my own A&R. I will manage social media accounts for my artists, fulfill orders for their merchandise, books their gigs...
 
You may ask what a Communications major knows about music. Well, I know it's a major form of communication. And there are many great artists that don't get the recognition they deserve. They don't stand in line for hours in the hopes of auditioning to win America's hearts. They don't run into Usher at the airport. They don't just go "viral".

They work hard every day.

My dream career isn't about me at all. It's about small town artists just trying to make a living.

I would say Sir Richard Branson is a major influence for me. Branson, Founder of Virgin Group, which controls over 400 companies, achieved his status by realizing it wasn't about him. It was about those he represented. Said Branson in an interview for Inc., "...If the person who works at your company is 100% proud of the job they're doing, if you give them the tools to do a good job...they're gonna be happy and therefore the customer will have a nice experience".

Whereas Virgin Records represents several big name artists (think Fall Out Boy and Rihanna), I'm not worried about that amount of success. I just want to showcase other people's gifts.

What I love about Richard Branson is that he never stays in one place.
I want to do something different every day.
I want to:

• discover new artists
• run a studio
• build and run a website
• manage artists
• shoot music and promotional videos
• listen to podcasts on how to better engage my clients
• host interviews with my artists to help them connect with their fanbases

I would also book the artists to speak at schools in the area to teach local kids about music and how to achieve their dreams. Having a studio in a smaller town would hopefully generate enough revenue to provide aide to music programs in schools.


There are so many kids who have a hard time expressing themselves verbally so they use art. Music, writing, drawing, you name it. I want them to feel encouraged. I want them to know they don't have to use words in a formal setting to explain how they feel. And I want to remind adults that.

The Internet Paradox

The Internet is a nearly-indestructible source of information. Individual countries have no power to shut the Internet down because it is a "global shared system", as described in Episode 2 of "The Virtual Revolution"; However, that doesn't mean they don't try to.
Back in 2009, after the allegedly rigged election in Iran, the Twitter-sphere lit up with messages from half a million opposition supporters within the country, describing the events that had begun to take place after the election, including protests. Considering all media reporting inside the country had been banned, individuals were able to link up with users in other countries through Twitter and the Internet so that their struggles were broadcast and became widespread. These tweets, over 2 million within 18 days, as well as several graphic videos posted, became a wake-up call for outsiders, and a means of communication so that they could find out how to take action from the people living in Iran at the time. For example, when a video was posted of a young Iranian women in her final moments of life after she had been shot, people were outraged and felt it necessary to avenge her death. Things happened so quickly and even if there was nothing outsiders could do, having that connection to people inside Iran and being able to say "Hey, we see this, and we're here for you even if your government isn't" really strengthened a bond between different countries and races and cultures that may not have otherwise occurred.

The Web also enables users to route around censorship, and that is one way that it can divide us in a political context. Because of the luxuries we are used to in this country, it may seem totally outrageous to us that countries such as China and Iran moderate their Internet so heavily. For example, a man named Austin Heap created an encryption software called Haystack that allows users to bypass sites their government may have blocked. In the case of Iran, such sites as Facebook and Twitter were blocked after the massive uproar post-election. Haystack is secure and cannot be filtered, and there is no way to trace it back to its users, hence its name. This may seem harmless because it is allowing users in such countries to connect with us, but as so perfectly stated by David Runciman, "[The Web] makes various forms of national politics irrelevant because people can bypass them,". Undermining governments that aren't our own only results in harsher repercussions for the people within those countries.

The "Great Leveling of Humanity"

Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist, invented the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1989. I don't think he had any idea it could amount to what it is today. Though the Web is only a portion of the Internet, without it, there would be no social media sites or blogs. In fact, half the pop music we have today wouldn't exist because the artists were discovered online (see: Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, etc.) However, the Web can be also be a dark and scary place- and I don't think Berners-Lee could have predicted that either.

How many times a day do you use the Web? For reading (or writing) blogs, looking up recipes, Googling the latest cat video or reading an article about the most recent celebrity scandal (talking about you, Obama). Most of our world today revolves around technology, considering we have an infinite information source right in arm's reach. But you probably don't just look at one thing. You look at related things. So you read blogs related to the type of style your write and you look at similar recipes to compare and you've probably Googled "cat video" more than one time and you probably said your piece in response to the latest celebrity scandal whether it was on Facebook or you talked about it with someone IRL (in real life).
The point is, the Web has connected us today in a way that nothing else has had the power to do. Everywhere you go you can find a group whether it's a forum for something you like or your Pinterest or your related videos on Youtube. And these tools were enabled to help us make the most of our technological experience. Finding and connecting us with people from all over the globe who share our interests.
For example, when I go to Youtube, I see that I would watch 7/10 of the recommended videos. Of those 7 I follow every person the videos were filmed by. So the Youtube Gods or robots or whatever they are know my interests, because they've tracked them. And they are now hyper-targeting me based on what I'm watched, 'liked' and commented on.

However, with great power comes responsibility. And therefore abuse of power can quickly occur. For instance, you may find Youtube comments on the videos I watch along the lines of 'You wear too much makeup!' 'Get a real job because you'll never make it in Hollywood' and 'Too fat'- and those are the nicer ones.
People take their right to free speech very seriously so if you use the Internet as an outlet for your own positing there's always a chance you will get hate for it.
Another example would be a blog that happens to be against your blog specifically or the type of blogs you read (whether it's for the stye or content).
You could let it go, but because of your right to free speech you may also comment/create your own post in response.
And that's when you give them the power over you. You will do anything to beat them in this "fight" and change their minds but they know they won't and so they're using you for whatever sick reason.

In closing, I'll say the Web is still a great tool that should be utilized often as technology is evolving every day. Just be prepared for consequences for the things you post.

Social Media and Fashion

    The CMO's Guide To: The 2014 Social Landscape lists multiple social media outlets and rates them by a list of criteria including: SEO (social engine optimization), brand exposure, traffic to site, and customer communication.
    The two main social media sites I use to connect with the world of fashion are Pinterest and Instagram.
    Pinterest earned a "good" rating in 3 of the 4 categories, only scoring "OK" in the Customer Communication section due to the fact that "private messaging is nonexistent". However, starting at the end of 2014 Pinterest did introduce a private messaging aspect. In my opinion though, Pinterest is a more visual social media outlet: I don't necessarily go on there to talk to other people, just re-pin outfits I like. If I want to know where something is from I can click on the picture and most times it will take me to another site where I can get the information I need, essentially eliminating the middle-man and the need for communication.
    Instagram received a bad rating for the SEO part as well as Traffic Generation. This is mainly due to the fact that the app is more mobile-based as opposed to desktop, and there aren't really links that re-direct users to other sites.
I use Instagram to post pictures of my outfits (for the most part). If someone wants to know where I purchased a certain item, I can either tag each piece in the picture with the Instagram of the place I got it from or let them know in a comment.
    In general, I would say the social media sites I use work well for what I use them for, which is to showcase my own personal style and gain inspiration from others.

Websites Are Dead

Websites are dying, however, they are still on life support.

To debut a new product, or boost interest for an already existing product, Taco Bell puts out a commercial. Then they send out a tweet. They probably update their website too, but nobody bothers to check it because websites are boring. Commercials are interactive, with close-up shots of melted cheese and beef piled on tortillas. Tweets show us that even Taco Bell execs are regular people like us- sort of. Sometimes +Taco Bell will even tweet back to their fans. Now that's dedication.

However, there can't be a commercial for every item on the menu, because our TV screens would literally be filled with nothing but the Mexican fast food restaurant- good for them, not necessarily great for us. 

Speaking of that, the reason I keep using Taco Bell as an example is because I saw the commercial 3 times this morning, and now I have a craving for the stuff.

As for my own digital presence, I mainly use Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Considering I want to get into the fashion industry, even though I post fashion pictures on my Instagram it would be wise to create a second account dedicated to just that. Then, if I posted a picture on my personal page, I could tag my fashion page for a more detailed picture, and from there send people to my fashion blog. I could incorporate Pinterest with my blog by showing different takes of an outfit. 

I would say that a blog would be the biggest thing I need to create my professional digital presence, because it is- in my opinion- the most professional form of social media for the work I'm doing. I could connect my blog and my Facebook so every time I made a new blog post, I could post a status on my Facebook about it. 

I love the fact that social media offers so much creativity. Even though Instagram and blogs and Facebook are all social media outlets, each one offers something different: blogs are mostly words, Instagram is all pictures, and Facebook is a good mix of both. This ensures that viewers never get bored.