Since the days when I started playing the drums and guitar in the late 90s, the way music is consumed has changed beyond recognition. So where does the modern musician fit in this ever-changing digital landscape? Allow me to share some personal thoughts... 

David Bowie predicted that the Internet would open up possibilities beyond anything imaginable when he was interviewed in 1999 by Jeremy Paxman. At this time I was just discovering the importance music would have in my own life. It seemed to him as though the Internet was going to be an exciting new medium, heralding a new age which would completely transform the artist/audience relationship. He quotes “the monopolies do not have the monopoly”, and claimed that we were “on the cusp of something exhilarating and terrifying”.

        Indeed it has been, and although I do have to agree that he did predict a lot of things to come in the digital age, the verdict on the benefits of the Internet for the artists and their audience is unclear to say the least. The reality today is that the Internet has produced immense monopolies like we’ve never seen before: Spotify, Apple, Amazon and Google with unparalleled wealth and power. And with this wealth and power comes their increasing ability to determine who has the loudest voices on the Internet and who can be silenced, and so consequently the artist/audience dynamic becomes inevitably dependant on the will of these giants.

        For the artist trying to find a way amongst these monopolies of the Web has become a complex one, and so with more Internet and technology comes increasing confusion. To take the example of Spotify, its influence has replaced the status of major labels but pays musicians peanuts for the songs they upload, even if they have a large following and many millions of streams, and the situation isn’t getting better. It has been left to the musician to figure out how to navigate the jungle of the internet, to try and get on the major streaming platform’s best playlists, to contact bloggers/radios, to create an online following, to self-promote on every social media platform and to find time to be creative all at the same time.

        As a result, this new digital era seems to have fallen victim to a form of ADHD previously unknown to any society, and that the artist as well as the listener seem to suffer from. Producing a generation obsessed with endlessly searching for the next best thing, unable to focus our attention for too long, out of fear of missing out (the famous FOMO). In the process we are depriving ourselves of our abilities to be creative, attentive and contemplate the beauty of a work well done, of true craftsmanship. I myself have found myself guilty of this behaviour of course, and I would challenge any of my fellow musicians to claim otherwise.

        But one fundamental question always come to mind: What is the point of being part of some new trend, like that of the rising social media platform TikTok today amongst the younger generation for example, if it is going to be replaced and forgotten by a better one, flashier, brighter, cooler in an instant? This ever-consuming society has inevitably pushed some of us creative people, and me included, into an increasing state of wanting to hit the brakes and go back to a time when things were simpler and unchanging, frozen in time: like using vinyls instead of mp3s, or analog recording devices instead of the latest new trendy plug-in software that’s just been released by a company claiming to be the best in the business.

        For every new era however, there is a counter-culture that appears: take the surprising surge in vinyl sales and vintage equipment amongst music lovers and makers. I myself made a conscious effort to get vintage recording equipment to re- cord my album, like the UA 610 solo or the Neve 1073 for those studio nerds out there! And I know that those purchases were made in a conscious effort to freeze time and to be able to say to myself with confidence "this has required true craftsmanship to make, time and effort has been dedicated to this and it will not require the next big thing to replace it. It was crafted to be the best at what it does, immune to the passage of time".

        I was reading an article in The Guardian not that long ago that read “Dusty vinyl records, vintage film cameras, rickety typewriters and antiquated recording equipment ... these are the creative tools being used by some emerging artists. Pure nostalgia? Or a laudable refusal to escape the speed and sanitised perfection of contemporary digital culture?” They go on to quote sociologist Alvin Toffler who coined the term “futureshock” to describe a psychological state for those of us with “too much change in too short a period of time” and this really does ring true to me. This simple quote alone seems to encapsulate what is happening to our culture as a whole. I really do applaud and admire artists that have a will to return to simpler times, as they are freeing themselves from the shackles of the endless pursuit of the next ‘best thing’.

        I suppose on a positive note, the age of the internet and streaming has allowed the bedroom musician to be heard by the masses, and has been pivotal for many musicians that didn’t have a record deal or any other medium to gain a genuine following without having to go down the more official label “routes”. But there is a point when it becomes too much, when you need to refocus in my opinion and ask yourself the fundamental question as an artist: why did I get into this in the first place? Was it to focus most of my energy chasing the latest Internet algorithms and trends? Or was it to be the best artist I can possibly become by working hard on my craft? And, for me in any case, the answer has to be the latter.

        Of course we are inevitably all part of this new digital age and there isn’t much any of us can do about it, but I believe that there must be a balance, and that this balance should always tend towards spending more time being creative, improving as an artist and being less focused on the next trend, big thing, or social media platform. Yes use the internet to your advantage and learn from what it has to offer in terms of promoting your creativity, but be wary of the rabbit hole of social media and FOMO, don’t let it get in the way of your sensibility and integrity as an artist.

        For me, the prospect of simply sitting at the piano/or on the guitar for hours and letting my creativity take me to exciting places is something I relish, and I find that beautiful in its simplicity, and yes: the phone stays off. Even though I do feel I am increasingly belonging to a rare breed.