John Battelle and some other trendy music/technology lovers are catapulting the music festival industry into the 21st century.
They have created CrowdFire, described on its site as, “an online and onsite destination where music, culture and technology enthusiasts participate in a massive, crowdsourced act of digital media creation.”
Battelle acknowledges the transformation taking place in the supposedly dying music industry as it adapts to the digital age. He points out that musicians are not likely to make a decent living by subscribing to outdated business models of record labels, and the top 50. Instead, musicians should use the fruits of our generation–technology–to their favor. This includes using the online community to easily reach one’s audience. Also, the 21st century’s new mode of music consumption includes music festivals.
As technology, and personal media (which is uploaded onto the CrowdFire database) become more popular, they will inevitably be used in the music scene. All for the better, believes Battelle and I.
On his experience at Bonnaroo last year, he writes, “I came to realize I was watching something far larger than a music festival. In short, I was watching a new culture emerge, a culture fueled in equal parts by the timeless connection between musician and audience, on the one hand, and the breakdown of the traditional music business thanks to new technologies of personal media, on the other.”
That unspeakable experience of live music is a constant, through all generations. Our generation, however, adds certain technology to the mix, which only heightens the overall experience, if used appropriately.
Other examples include YouTube, which has provided a dumping ground for the grainiest and grandest videos of live shows. Plus, the message boards incites a group conversation about whatever show, artist, or song is being remembered. That community spirit of a festival goes virtual.
Battelle and Crowdfire surely know that. Everything gets digital.
Read the blog post here: http://www.crowdfire.net/blog
