POP2049 - The Internet Killed the Radio Star

nonafiona (25)in #music • 7 years ago (edited)

We're beginning to see the overlap and collaboration of previously sanctioned-off genres of music. I feel like I'm living in the distant dystopian future with all of these new developments. It's exciting.

If you've been paying attention to the music industry, some revolutionary pieces of art have been made since the artists of my generation (GenZ) started releasing music. Not only that, but I'm starting to see these methods of content creation used by young artists, be applied to the greater space of the music industry.

"Where do these new artists come from?"

Answer: They don't come from the studio.

My peers, ages as young as sixteen, are writing and recording studio albums out of their bedrooms and dorms. They'll post it on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, and even Spotify to widen their opportunity for new listeners to find their work. Gone are the days that people like USHER pick up kids like Justin Bieber from Youtube covers.

But, Youtube does still play an integral role in music discovery. The common theme of all these young artists that release full-length albums, they have music videos, even if they're recorded on their MacBook Pro camera (or a potato). As long as it looks artsy.

Music communities on Reddit, Twitter, and 4chan are essential to widen the reach of music discovery.

Yung Lean

Yung Lean is the essential and original example. He was just a fifteen-year-old kid on the internet, living completely isolated from a music scene in Sweden, who ended up pioneering an entirely new genre of rap and the reason why people know what Vaporwave is.

A bunch of people started posting his videos on 4chan and Reddit, which is how he gained his cult following. This music videos are from five years ago.

His new album, including songs like "Agony" and "Red Bottom Sky" is much more fine-tuned and self-aware. It's been interesting to watch him and his music grow up over the years. Yung Lean is now 22.

A Serendipitous Mistake

A couple months ago, Youtube's recommendation algorithm fucked up. But what came out of that was something quite serendipitous and gave way for two new artists to gain a mass following.

Clairo

Clairo is a girl who was making beats out of her bedroom, mainly just posting singles, covers, and anything that interested her. Her music video for "Pretty Girl" was produced, recorded, and filmed on her MacBook. Over a couple months, it got millions of plays, she got record deals, collaborations with other artists, and tours with BROCKHAMPTON and SXSW. Homegirl is killing it.

Boy Pablo

Boy Pablo is an unlikely band based out of Norway, and after their video "Everytime" appeared on every user's Youtube recommended tab. They've since gone on tour all around Europe, have articles written on them in Pitchfork, and released more music, with millions of fans around the world.

BROCKHAMPTON and Understanding the Marketing Funnel

BROCKHAMPTON is a phenomenon that brings together content creators of talents, backgrounds, strengths, and personalities into a boyband. Not only that -- their level of respect and interaction with other creators on the internet, creates this really interesting conversation & mutual appreciation for other artists' work.

Kevin Abstract's tweets and live streams are relatable and engaging to fans. Their release schedule and Spotify marketing were incredibly ingenious. Their art direction for videos, album art, and merch was so fine-tuned that it created a fashion movement and subculture in itself.

Gen Z musicians innately understand how to engage their audience better than most other people in the music industry. I would argue BROCKHAMPTON is helping create a shift in how audiences interact with their favorite bands. Artists are beginning to treat their audiences as peers, friends, and acquaintances rather than acting as public figures or pop stars.

In addition the tenacity of releasing three full-length studio albums, going on five tours, and immediately selling out of merch as it's released online, in the course of a less than a year is something that hasn't been done by any other band. The only other comparable bands that have attempted this successfully are ODD FUTURE, Yung Lean's SAD BOYS posse, and The Beatles.

International Artists on the Internet

Previously, we talked about Yung Lean, a Swedish teenager re-inventing hip-hop at the age of fifteen. And Boy Pablo, a bedroom indie rock band from Norway. But there are other rising artists like Sigrid and ALMA with previously little exposure, now gaining an audience, thanks to the internet.

Convergence of Hip Hop and Pop with Electronic

This has quietly been going on in the music industry for years, so I want you to think back to the day that you might've realized that Coldplay's sound dramatically changed. The band was no longer Coldplay, it was, in fact, Chris Martin working in partnership with electronic producer John Hopkins.

With albums like Pop 2 by Charli XCX, a traditional pop star who's been rolling out music for a while, there was a whole new element added to her music. I had some hunches after listening to the album several times and did some research. I later found out Pop 2 was entirely produced by SOPHIE, a queer experimental electronic artist. Pop 2 is a masterpiece, featuring pop artists from underrepresented groups, and with the work of SOPHIE, forged an entirely new genre.

We've seen these collaborations on Daft Punk's Random Access Memories with collaborations with Pharell Williams, and more notably, Panda Bear from Animal Collective, which is my personal favorite.

Later on, you see the Weeknd working with Daft Punk on songs like "I Feel It Coming" and "Starboy". Off of the Weeknd's most recent album, he works with another experimental electronic Gesaffelstein on songs like "I Was Never There".

I think we'll continue to see these types of collaborations in 2018, and in the upcoming couple years.

The Power of Samples and Beats in the Age of the Internet

Steve Lacy, co-producer of The Internet's Ego Death album talks about the perceived barrier of entry to making music. This seventeen-old-kid couldn't afford a MacBook so he started making drum beats on his phone. The beats he produced ended up in an award-winning album. He has since toured with the Internet and BROCKHAMPTON, playing his new Demo tape. Here's a TED talk of him talking about his musical process.

Artists (still teenagers) can collaborate with talented producers and beatmakers with the current state of the internet music community. This is why you see names like Lil Xan, KILLY, Lil Pump, Rich Brian, and many more dropping fire tracks from all over the world.

The youtube channel Lyrical Lemonade ran by the video producer Cole Bennet, has a knack for finding these kids that are blowing up on Soundcloud. Having a single source of truth has helped cultivate this new hip-hop community and help find it's audience.

Visibility and Popularity of Queer Artists

From what we've seen in hip-hop, pop, and electronic genres in the past couple years, artists have been more open about their sexuality in their music amongst the over-saturation of traditional heteronormative ballads. Kevin Abstract made a large impact in being outward about his sexuality and his struggle in finding his own path.

Artists like Tyler the Creator came out to fans on his most recent album Flower Boy. This was both shocking and encouraging to fans and shows how toxic masculinity is incredibly prevalent in hip-hop.

Hayley Kiyoko

We have pop icons like Hayley Kiyoko, who serves as a voice for queers girls of all shapes and sizes. She's commonly referred to as "Lesbian Jesus" and I'm here for it. She just recently dropped her album "Expectations" that I'm about to binge-listen a thousand times.

There are gender non-conforming artists like Shamir and SOPHIE that are incredibly talented and inspiring to the queer community. It warms my heart to see more queer artists putting their music out into the world.

Closing Thoughts

This is my first Steemit post! I went to Token Fest a couple weeks ago and heard the founders speak, and instantly fell in love with the idea. I'm also thinking of posting content on topics in tech and product design, so if you'd be interested in that, please let me know.

If you guys would like to see more content like this, album reviews, playlists, and insights within the music community, please comment or upvote!