THE PLAYLIST

It’s a bit like that old gang of mine fading away, or a one-time band seeing its members leave one by one until maybe there’s only the drummer sitting there waiting for the count-in.

This was how I was explaining to a friend of mine who used to work with me at EMI how I feel about spreading the gospel of Music to the, well, those who don’t even know the names of the Beatles, let alone having heard Dylan roaring through “Like A Rolling Stone”, or listened to the “Blue” album by Joni Mitchell or are interested in knowing what songs came out of Tin Pan Alley or the Brill Building. 

Too much of everything often dissipates into nothing of anything until one is lost in the clutter of clickbait and TikTok goofiness with nothing having any sustainability because much of muchness is meaningless and discardable. Plus what about all the music that should be heard but falls through the tsunami cracks of streaming.

Perhaps what’s needed is to make something that’s NOT discardable and where there are collectors who value things money cannot buy instead of hopping onto every camel train that rolls by. 

Remember NFTs? And how long did this “futures market” last? 

Will AI and the crypto world be smooth sailing or will these and more take time when we might be running out of time?

How much longer before using online platforms to show off being nouveau riche becomes embarrassing self promotion with many asking, “And the point is?”

The closest that the music world got to pulling a rabbit out of the hat and offering new artists something new was in- yes- Hong Kong.

This was when David Bowie mentioned at the China Club over dinner how he would like to list on his website a playlist of new artists he recommended listening to along with some of those hidden gems from the past. 

Alas, the dark star came down and took Bowie away before this could happen- “this” being something simply called The Playlist and with Prince wanting to be part of the pie and my personal Wish List including The Purple One, David Byrne, Ryu Sakamoto, Todd Rundgren, Placebo, Peter Gabriel and David Lynch, below.

My takeaway from that dinner and listening to David Bowie is that it’s all about the music fans and catering to THEIR needs- meaning, sure, the speed of delivery, but also offering a CHOICE and being GUIDED by where they go and who to.

The fractured relationship between music fans and what might have once been the “music industry”, should today have no labels. 

It might be something waiting the former group wants for a more pure way of discovering talent and adding new value to the magic of music that goes beyond views and followers, the multi headed promotional machinery and the neediness of online fame. 

In order words, OUTSIDERS KEEP OUT!

Offering some Hope is that there is some exciting new talent out there hidden amongst the clutter waiting to be discovered.

Do I really need to spell it out?

---