
We’ve stopped stressing over the concert programming. We don’t have to do a movie concert, or ask if we need to do more pops, or wonder if we can get away with programming a lesser-known composer instead of Beethoven on every other concert. Not one person said, “I need a shorter concert.” Or “I don’t want to hear [insert any classical co…
Independent labels have always dived the deepest into these waters, bringing treasures to the surface that the mainstream has been unable to comprehend. The most meaningful art has never been created via a democratic process or a popularity contest. It is born out of the obsessive creative vision of individuals who often are seeking to destroy the commonplace, the mainstream, the popular. Great music pushes and challenges the status quo. New genres often appear as a reaction to social conditions (think punk and rap) and often are initially disparaged by the mainstream. This music is born like a virus and spread by small groups of passionate people until it is popularized.
Curation is more important now than it ever has been in the history of music. We’re wading through millions of tracks via tiny interfaces, and are still figuring out how to distill it all in a meaningful way. Data and algorithms can help provide unique music experiences with scale. But they can also be used to remove human beings from the music value chain and produce pablum for easy digestion by the masses. Only someone who lives music has the empathy and understanding required to recognize that rare emotional component in art that makes it is worth elevating. And nobody has invented an algorithm that can replace that.