Web 2.WTF?!?!

I’ve known that the internet landscape has been changing for some time now; to what and from what remained unanswered questions nonetheless. While “from what” is going to remain in unanswered exile for a while longer, I think I’ve finally gotten at least a slippery hold on what the internet has grown into.

User generated content (UGC) is the common denominator among the many definitions of Web 2.0 . And its older than we think. I was recently having a conversation with a buddy of mine regarding viral video. I brought up BMW films and the series of short films they did with Clive Owen entitled “The Hire.” This was one of the original viral campaigns, launched entirely online and burgeoning into a full-fledged DVD with featurettes.

What we have is a democratization of media, and Thomas Jefferson’s fuckin’ dream. No longer is there an entrance barrier of journalism school, or big media/conglomerate membership, or expensive equipment. With relatively Neanderthal video equipment and a laptop- the world is yours. Finding out that LonelyGirl15 was scripted made several worlds collapse on themselves. A good story, regardaless of who’s telling it, will reach a crowd.

So why is T. Jeff so psyched? The educated populace. While they’re still quite dominant, think tanks, corporations, and faceless entities have competition now. As a result people are forced to evaluate the news they receive. Before, we read it in the newspaper or heard it on the evening news and believed it. Now that a million Joe Schmoes are writing the news, we’re forced to evaluate the “truthiness” of a given story. And believe you me, this a great thing.

Follow my train of thought if you will: 1) BMW Films comes out, stirs up the big media mix. 2) Tim O’Reilly said web 2.0 and now users generate the content for all to consume. 3) You can’t trust what’s being told to you, and are forced to do some background work on your own.

That’s it- the whole kit-and-caboodle. Nothing to earthshattering, just reflections on reality, and that’s how I like to keep it.

Music Recording 2.0, The New Revolution

For those of you not familiar with the term web 2.0 (if you're not look it up in wikipedia because it's the "hot craze" right now), its basically this current trend of user generated content. Users upload their videos to youtube, photos on to flikr, links to news stories and other items of interest via digg and del.icio.us, etc.

It has really changed the way people are using the internet- not only the users uploading the content, but industry professionals looking for a creative spur. Gino Bona, while not via the web, won a contest in which an agency heard Super Bowl ad pitches from a plethora of fans, and will have his Super Bowl spot featured this coming Sunday. Some prolific posters on youtube have found themselves invited to work in the mainstream industry. Collegehumor.com's bread and butter is user generated content.

This got me to thinking about music. There has been a steady trend over the past 100 years of music production and process going through more and more hands. Initially, someone wrote a song, and performed that song for others. Next people started performing pieces written by others. Throw in a conductor (mind you this is all before recorded music) and there's another cook in the kitchen. With technology comes producers, masterers, collaborators, and so on and so forth.

This concept of music being individual and one person having ownership or control of a song has been convincingly eroded, yet some still linger on the romantic idea that THIS song is THEIR song. Why not get past this archaic individualistic division from community? It's quite cliche, but nonetheless: music is supposed to bring us together, not tear us apart.

Not only do I hope for, but I predict a web/music mash up where a user could upload a beat, guitar riff, vocal line - even an abstract sonic soundscape - and other users can download, manipulate, then reupload a new version of that track. It will even get to the extent where you won't need to download and upload. There will be a web-based application that will be able to handle all of the editing and recording functions necessary.

Remember that game in elementary school where all the students from a class sit in a circle and each person writes one sentence to the story and passes it on? That's is exactly what this is. Imagine the possibilities and endless variations other users could (and would) produce from the one soundclip you uploaded! Truly exciting stuff.