COMMUNITY IS THE FUTURE

From “Death of the IG Party Flyer” over at NINA:

“Semi-secret shows and anti-Instagram promotional strategies hold obvious appeal for audiences who want to be in on something, so how under-the-radar can these projects stay? And if the Wedding Planners do manage to stay relatively offline, can they stay afloat in a scene that is as expensive and competitive as New York? For now, they seem unconcerned with that, focusing on building community and giving musicians a place to play.”

There is allure in belonging to something small, to something that not everybody knows about. Social media got us grasping for more instead of focusing on living in the moment.

Don’t forget – we had a good thing going with music blogs in the early 2000s, before the techbros and investor hawks swooped in and bled it dry. The CPMs couldn’t keep up, so they built up the social media racket, which – if you love tragedy, hate, AI slop, and worse – well then, you’ll love it. And it’s ready to implode. Maybe not “Facebook closes up shop” implode, but enough so that the culture makers and curators and artists abandon ship.

History repeats itself, which is why if you have a foundation of creative friends, enthusiastic weirdos, and vibrant beings you’ll be just fine.