Music Industry Reading List from Dave Haynes of SoundCloud
An installment of the series of summer music industry readings lists being published by Hypebot (for me essential music biz reading). This list if from Dave Haynes of SoundCloud.
Dave Haynes’s Summer Reading List (for the entire text). Below is an abbreviated version with my added keywords before each one:
(1) virtual reality, creativity, web 2.0
You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier – … best known as a pioneer of virtual reality, (Lanier) argues against many of the web 2.0 theories and … makes the case that these trends could stifle creativity, individualism and expression in the human race.
(2) art, creativity, self-expression, success
Linchpin by Seth Godin – Linchpin… argues that we must become indispensable, setting about our ‘true art’ rather than being content with being just another cog in the wheel. And that in today’s environment that’s not just desirable but actually vital, if we’re to succeed.
(3) web 2.0, technology, gin, sit-coms, creativity, media, social network
Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky – argues that the critical technology that got everyone through the early phase of the Industrial Revolution was actually gin! People had to drink themselves into a stupor just to get through it. In the Post-Industrial Age the gin-equivalent has been the sitcom. The compelling argument here is that times are now changing. We’re no longer happy to sit back and simply consume. A new generation has started to watch less and less TV and use this spare time, this cognitive surplus, to participate and create. Whether it’s posting to Wikipedia, leaving comments on blogs, uploading videos to Youtube or creating lolcats, the fact is that things are getting more participatory and it’s easy to create and publish. Media is no longer a one-way street.
(4) inspiration
What Matters Now by Seth Godin – Godin… has compiled a really inspiring e-book with wise words from all manner of different people on ‘What Matters Now’. Contributions come from the likes of Fred Wilson, Joi Ito, Kevin Kelly, Hugh MacLeod, Chris Anderson, Tim O’Reilly, Gary Vaynercuk, Jason Fried etc. It’s a very simple idea, get a bunch of smart people, ask them to write one short page on what they thing matters now, compile it into an e-book, then ask people to go and share it for free.
(5) fiction, music industry
Kill Your Friends: A Novel by John Niven – an extremely dark tale set in the late 90’s, at the height of Britpop, about an A&R guy working at a major label. It’s loosely based on the author’s own experience of working in the music biz and a murderous plotline is wrapped around tales of ridiculous A&R meetings, demands from artists and trips to music conferences such as SXSW and Midem.
Deciphering Culture
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