So I've been avoiding blogging for class for quite some time now. I'll be honest here. I just didn't know enough about digital culture to feel comfortable making statements on it. And I still don't. But this is a start. A late start, but a start. They say to write what you know and that hasn't gone so well for me so instead I'll write what I like. Which is music. I stinking love music. And as an avid music lover, I've worked on finding some connections between digital culture and music. I have found some gems!
Crowdsourcing!
When we were talking about crowdsourcing in class today I had a huge moment of realization. So huge, in fact, that I had to mentally prevent myself from actually hitting myself in the head. I know something about music and crowdsourcing! Last year the artist Imogen Heap started a new music project. At the beginning of this project she warned her fans that it would take up to three years to create but that they would enjoy the journey with her. She knew that she needed to produce a record and for various reasons she decided that using her fans to help her would be beneficial. Since then she has created 10 songs in collaboration with fans, other artists, and producers. And they aren't too bad either! She has taken sound bites, lines of music, images, moving images, lyrics, and ideas from willing participants and made her music into art. One of my favorites is her first one, originally titled "Heapsong1" and later re-titled "Lifeline." You can explore other projects that she is doing on her website (the Listening Chair project is especially interesting).
I'm not saying all this because I'm a crazy fan of Imogen Heap. She's a good musician but I'm just not that into it. What I am interested in is crowdsourcing within a field. It can be tricky to decide that line between crowdsourcing out of interest and collaboration for profit. I've heard plenty of artists collaborate with each other to create a new sound. And yes, it can be awesome. But when you're pulling from a larger crowd with a greater sample, I think that creates a lot of potential.
When I met with Professor Burton he suggested that it would be interesting if we could share other ideas the way we share music, particularly scientific and medical breakthroughs. What does it say about our culture that we're willing to work together to create social networks, music, recipes, and service projects but unwilling to make business models, medical steps, and technology together? In a world where it is so easy to share everything, we put a limit on what we give and take from the web.
Crowdsourcing!
When we were talking about crowdsourcing in class today I had a huge moment of realization. So huge, in fact, that I had to mentally prevent myself from actually hitting myself in the head. I know something about music and crowdsourcing! Last year the artist Imogen Heap started a new music project. At the beginning of this project she warned her fans that it would take up to three years to create but that they would enjoy the journey with her. She knew that she needed to produce a record and for various reasons she decided that using her fans to help her would be beneficial. Since then she has created 10 songs in collaboration with fans, other artists, and producers. And they aren't too bad either! She has taken sound bites, lines of music, images, moving images, lyrics, and ideas from willing participants and made her music into art. One of my favorites is her first one, originally titled "Heapsong1" and later re-titled "Lifeline." You can explore other projects that she is doing on her website (the Listening Chair project is especially interesting).
I'm not saying all this because I'm a crazy fan of Imogen Heap. She's a good musician but I'm just not that into it. What I am interested in is crowdsourcing within a field. It can be tricky to decide that line between crowdsourcing out of interest and collaboration for profit. I've heard plenty of artists collaborate with each other to create a new sound. And yes, it can be awesome. But when you're pulling from a larger crowd with a greater sample, I think that creates a lot of potential.
When I met with Professor Burton he suggested that it would be interesting if we could share other ideas the way we share music, particularly scientific and medical breakthroughs. What does it say about our culture that we're willing to work together to create social networks, music, recipes, and service projects but unwilling to make business models, medical steps, and technology together? In a world where it is so easy to share everything, we put a limit on what we give and take from the web.
At the same time, I think there really are some interesting medical/technological projects developing that seem really interesting! Kickstarter is one example of crowdfunding, specifically - check out the popular projects and scroll down to "Technology." http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/popular?ref=sidebar
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there are others, but I'm not involved enough in those kinds of communities to know.