Example 1: Virtual Reality

Remember Virtual Reality? If you weren’t around to witness the 90′s, just read the Wikipedia article. Otherwise, you’re well aware of the big hype that kinda went nowhere. VR hit pop culture like the Hula Hoop, from Nintendo’s migraine-seeding Virtual Boy to Stephen King’s The Lawnmower Man to the thank-God-it-was-never-widely-adopted Quicktime VR. All this at a time when the hottest Power Mac sported a whopping 110 MHz processor and could hold up to 264 MB of RAM.

Matthew Ebel's SL Alter-Ego

Shit, we actually invented Virtual Reality the way it was hyped up 20 years ago. For real. Virtual people, virtual objects, virtual sex, prims, and rock and roll. And the majority of the public couldn’t give a shit. Why? Because the hype happened 20 years too early. We saw the potential on the horizon and had our party before the birthday boy actually arrived. Now that he’s here, we’re all sick of cake and booze. Virtual Reality happened at the wrong time and now it’s merely a toy that lonely geeks and marketers play with.

And most of the marketers have already left.

Example 2: Podcasting

Podcasting: Audio via RSS Feed

More importantly, blogs existed and circulated via something called RSS. By 2005 RSS had been around for six years and most people today still don’t even know what it is. Then someone (maybe Adam Curry) decided to test if an audio file could ride on that RSS feed. MP3′s started floating around college campuses five or ten years before iPods did. All three of these technologies had been invented, circulated, and field-tested for years. Unlike VR, they had no sex appeal. Stephen King didn’t write any short stories of crazed men killing people through blog feeds (at least, not that I know of anyway). Duke Nukem wasn’t reprogrammed and brought to video arcades as an XML stream.

Podcasting in Tunes and the iTMS

And because of that last part, guys like me suddenly have a career. Thank you.

Now it’s six years later and anyone with an iPod knows what a podcast is. NPR re-broadcasts all their content this way, formerly unknown authors are now well-known among the podcast-listening public. Some of us musicians are earning most of our living through podcasting. And we didn’t even need Pierce Brosnan and Jeff Fahey in rubber suits to pull it off.

Is It The Right Time?

I’ve ditched cable TV and watch all the same programming I used to via HD broadcast, iTunes, and web streams. I only torrent shows when their producers are too stupid to give me a legitimate means of buying them directly- but I still get the shows I want. Is it the right time for everyone to do this? Maybe, I’d give it another 2 years before everyone’s got a Mac Mini replacing their cable box.

I’ve stopped listening to commercial radio and find much better quality music with far fewer commercials via Pandora Radio and, of course, Podcasting. Is it the right time for everyone else to get their music digitally? Absolutely. The variety is much wider, the barrier to entry much lower. Services like Pandora and some podcasts ensure that musicians get paid every time their songs are played. Radio doesn’t do that, yet they run 1 minute of commercials for every 2 minutes of music.

I live on a spaceship somewhere just outside the Earth’s atmosphere and live on a diet of squid meat and quinoa. Is it time for everyone else to follow me? Hell no, will someone please send up a steak and some ice cream? It’s definitely the right time for that.

Chicago Mike was asking about selling podcasts and video casts; is iTunes the only game in town?

…It’s not the only game in town, it’s the most convenient…[Matthew Ebel dot net] is probably the best non-iTunes version that I know of.

We here at Matthew Ebel Entertainment and all its subsidiaries salute Chris and John for their recognition. The revolution thanks them and will make sure marble statues of these two are erected once the Robot Army finishes conquering this galaxy.

Now it’s gone; the community has dissipated. And that’s okay.

Seriously, it’s okay. It took me a while to realize it, but disappearance of community is just the next major step towards permanence. Sure, it was sad to see some exciting projects lose steam or dissolve entirely, but it’s just the way of things. From the toils of early adopters and pioneers come both fruit and chaff. Once the spring season for New Media ended, it was time to tend the plants. That’s when I began to lament the disappearance of the New Media Community.

Community Exists on the Frontier

The cycle is not without precedent. Bloggers were considered a small group of enthusiasts before CNN paid them for full-time positions. I vaguely remember when there was an “Internet Community”, do you? Back in the days of Archie and UUEncode and Telnet? The Internet Community emerged as a natural product of the Computer Community. This was before my time, really, but I know the stories told by elders around the New Media campfires. Intensely interested pockets of engineers and tinkerers gathered in garages to make boxes that would process spreadsheets or calculate Ham Radio satellite orbits. They held meetings, traded secrets, drank a shitload of coffee.

Was the excitement all about the circuit boards, packets, and wires? No. These communities are not formed because of technology. Technology is just the fertile ground these pioneers settle upon. They- we -gathered and bonded because of our shared love for uncharted territory. Communities like these form because there is the promise of something no one has ever done before. Places nobody has seen. This is what binds us together as a community, and those bonds do not last forever.

Lighting the Torch

With every community formed on the cutting edge, there is always the inevitable dissolution. The band of brothers and sisters on the frontier, connected by their intense engagement, light a torch for the rest of the world to flock to. Sometimes, as with Computers and New Media, they do. The world embraces this new frontier. A small settlement like New Amsterdam grows to a city of over 9 million. Every home houses several computers, none of which were built by hand in a garage. Podcasts and blogs are as ubiquitous and unremarkable as radio and newspapers.

And that’s okay.

The community dissolves, diluted by mass adoption. And that’s okay. Some friendships remain strong, some businesses and ventures hold together, but the attitude towards New Media has changed. Territory has been well-charted, leaving only a few nooks and crannies left to explore. With mass exposure, the focus shifts from how it’s done to what is being done with it. The original community reacts as each individual is inclined.

Some run in ever-growing circles trying to lasso the community back together, wishing the heyday wouldn’t end. Some, like me, mourn the decline of the community. I know that mass adoption is what the community worked so hard to achieve, but sometimes it’s sad to see something mature. You adopt the kitten, but it grows into a cat. The sadness, in my case, comes from the uncertainty of where the next community will form. This frontier is paved and developed, where will the next New World be?

Finding the Next Community

Community is like a drug. I need my fix.

I’d like to be a part of a New Community. Some faces from the old community will meet me there, some will be responsible for inviting me there I’m sure. Old friends never vanish into the masses, but nothing can top the experience of being a part of something new. I want to lead, to innovate, to explore. I want to form new communities that make the old seem superficial. It’s not about the size of the community- quite the contrary, the size it what breaks it apart. The longing is for the intensity.

What communities are you a part of? Where are they going? Maybe I’m leading somewhere undiscovered and I just don’t know it yet. Maybe others will follow and we’ll start a new settlement on this frontier. We’ll form a community that lives intensely, then grows and scatters. Just like the New Media Community.

And that’s okay.

rev⋅o⋅lu⋅tion [rev-uh-LOO-shuhn] –noun

2. Sociology. a radical and pervasive change in society and the social structure
3. a sudden, complete or marked change in something

dictionary.reference.com

Back in the days when High Orbit was a weekly show, I named the spaceship the UTF Revolution. In those days there was an air of excitement, even fanaticism, about podcasting and downloads and new technology. The discovery that people could make and deliver content beyond the confines of TV, radio, and newspapers electrified the internet crowd. We called it a revolution. If the revolution started in 2004, it’s only beginning to come to a head now.

Revolutionary Communication

[flickr align='left' class='alignleft' hspace='5']photo:2602427250(thumbnail)[/flickr]If you’re reading this, chances are good you’re a fan of my music. You didn’t hear me on the radio, you didn’t see me on some prime-time contest show. You heard me on a podcast, in a virtual world, or on live video. I am doing nothing special; I am merely putting my music out there wherever I can. It is you who drive the revolution every time you use these channels. You make the choice to spend your time outside the pre-fab information streams set up by Rupert Murdoch and Robert Iger.

The past five years may have made this revolution seem… well, less revolutionary. After all, we’re not as jazzed up about the miracle of flight now that we can hop a shuttle from NY to Boston for less than a hundred bucks. Make no mistake about it, however, you are committing an act of rebellion with every new channel you support. The record labels and major networks are starting to realize they cannot make money anymore. Soon they will realize the nagging truth that some of us have been shouting from the town square for years: The artists and the fans no longer need them.

Revolutionary Thinking

Is that true? Are record labels obsolete? The answer isn’t a matter of sales figures or Billboard charts. The future of the revolution is in your mind. You must understand that as long as the old-media channels still claim a foothold in your brain, they are controlling you.

Here’s a revolutionary question:

If you’re a fan of my music, are you wondering when I’m going to get “discovered” by a record label?

If so, those record labels still control your brain. You are still chained down by a world where big companies decide what music is legitimate and what music is “just indie”. As the mon once said, “emancipate yourself from mental slavery.” Good videos don’t need a TV network, good news doesn’t need radio towers, and good music does not need a record label.

YOU are my record label. Yes, you. Do you like my music? Then my music is legitimate. I don’t need some guy in a crisp suit to own 80% of my artwork to make it good. All I need is for you to understand that as soon as you become a fan, you become part of my record label.

Revolutionary Action

[flickr align='left' class='alignleft' hspace='5']photo:2287769640(thumbnail)[/flickr]That’s right, you’re part of my record label. You are also your own TV and radio network. You are working for the best media conglomerate ever created; you contribute only what time and effort you see fit, you cannot be fired, and you are part of something truly revolutionary. In fact, depending on your iTunes playlist, you probably work for so many different record labels right now that your resumé should be 40 pages long. This revolution, however, cannot survive without action.

If you want to keep the revolution fueled, you have a few responsibilities (I’m not going to call them a manifesto, that’d be beating a dead analogy at this point).

• Evict the corporations from your mind.
  They aren’t the ones buying the music, YOU are. You are in control.
• Small sacrifices must be made.
  Have you bought an album? Picked up your favorite show’s official shirt/mug/chia pet? Congratulations, you are now a shareholder in the revolution.
• Grab your bullhorn.
  The #1 thing you can do to support your favorite artists and shows is spread the word about them. Whether they’re on a major label or not, all musicians need that key action from their fans.
• Show up for the battles.
  For musicians, it’s about live concerts and release parties. For podcasters, it’s the live recording events. Whatever division of the revolution you’re fighting with, they need warm bodies to man the barricades.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate!
  The artists, producers, and revolutionaries are only as good as their supporters make them. Talk to them. Comment on their blog posts, post your photos/videos in their Flickr group or Facebook page. Tell them what you like, what you don’t like, and most importantly where you want this revolution to go.

The Revolution Grows

Some of us have been a part of this revolution for years. Some of us just discovered yesterday that you can turn a Mac Mini into an entertainment center (yes, that’s a link to a how-to video). However long you’ve been a part of the revolution, make no mistake: the battle rages on. Until we’ve completely killed the notion that a show, artist, or band needs a major corporate partner to be considered “legitimate”, we are still subject to an oppressive regime.

Make the change happen. Take action, and long live the revolution!

Hear the complete concert at matthewebel.net

As a bit of a teaser, I also just released one of the live tracks to the podcasting world. If you’re interested, check out Night Train – Live at FWA 2009 at matthewebel.com/podsafe.

Just like the previous check (my first one), it’s not enough to retire. Not enough to pay rent either. Heck, it’s not even enough to celebrate with sushi and sake. It’s encouraging, though, to see that one old-media establishment does indeed work in the new media world.

If you’re a podcaster, this is the part I want you to focus on: Once you can afford your bandwidth and hosting, get a BMI license. Every reported podcast play puts another drop of gasoline in my touring tank. BMI is not a big evil monolith like the RIAA (assholes), it’s a well-established system where songwriters (me) get paid for radio and internet play (you). Even on a small scale, it works.

If independent music is making your podcast better- and especially if your podcast is sponsored or making affiliate sales or ad clicks, etc. -then please help us fill up our tanks (and stomachs). This system actually works, but only if you make it fair.

Get “Downtown” at http://matthewebel.com/podsafe

And please link back to http://matthewebel.com

Thanks a bunch!

[tags]Matthew Ebel, piano rock, downtown, podsafe, podcasting, music[/tags]

I released a new album in 2007 that paid for itself from the pre-orders alone. Fans in Germany, the Netherlands, China, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England, and the US have already bought copies. My fans released another album on my behalf seven months earlier. They also launched their own website at matthewebel.net and created their own music videos.

I discovered UStream, Second Life, and Twitter in 2007. Half my fan base has never seen me perform in person, and most of that half thinks I’m a bird. UStream.tv put my face and my music in front of viewers around the globe. Twitter has found me beds to sleep in, gathered crowds for badly publicized gigs, solved technological mishaps, and made working alone a lot less lonely.

I visited Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, California, Tennessee, New York, and New Jersey all in the name of the music business. More travel than I saw in the previous five years.

Touring has paid my bills in 2007. So has Coca-Cola, the Mommycast, crayon, Porter Novelli, Justin Kownacki, Joseph Jaffe, The US Postal Service, The Podcast & New Media Expo, Jeff Pulver, and a whole lot of music fans.

Chase Home Finance paid my bills for two and a half months in 2007, even though I wasn’t working there anymore.

I got my first mutual fund, my first IRA, my first business bank accounts, my own health insurance, and printed my first business checks with those useless stubs for people’s records.

Or, to summarize, 2008 is going to have a damn difficult time outclassing 2007.

[tags]Matthew Ebel, piano rock, 2007, 2008, Goodbye Planet Earth, Virtual Hot Wings, matthewebel.net, UStream, Twitter, Second Life, Hali Heron, Hali of Firpine, Touring, podcasting, Chase Home Finance[/tags]

Here’s a choice quote:

Along with playing music gigs, looking for session work and marketing his CD Beer and Coffee, Ebel is trying to make inroads in the world of [tag]podcasting[/tag], or downloadable audio blogs.

Dude, she plugged the album for me. Thanks, Jeanne!

Photo by Billy Kingsley / The Tennessean

[tags]Matthew Ebel, Money Makeover, Jeanne Naujeck, Billy Kingsley[/tags]

Some would argue that, since they own the pipes, they should be able to charge what they want and let the “[tag]free market[/tag]” drive prices down. Sort of like charging $2,000 more for a V8 over a V6 in the same truck. The flaws in that logic are that the “competition” consists of three giant companies who aren’t getting any new competitors any time soon, and that so many different kinds of industries rely on their current internet setup that a sudden bottleneck would kill all kinds of businesses.

Like mine.

As a musician, it’s rough enough having to pay for [tag]cable[/tag] or [tag]DSL[/tag] just to be able to upload new music and spread the word. If [tag]AT&T[/tag] is given the power to extort more money out of guys like me, the entire [tag]indie music[/tag] world might suffer greatly. Podcasters would certainly find themselves up a creek. Some might argue that the [tag]telecoms[/tag] wouldn’t make things worse than they already are, but those people obviously don’t know the power of human [tag]greed[/tag].

Just to clarify, this is not about offering different speeds to end users at different prices. They already do that. What’s at stake here is offering different prices to different types of users (consumers vs. businesses, for example). The telecom heavyweights want nothing less than to make content providers (me) pay more than the customers they service (you) for the exact same bandwidth.

It’s not only unamerican, it’s unconscionable. And it’ll kill the indie music scene if we let it happen. I don’t know what you can do just yet, other than writing to your Senators and Congressional Reps about it. That’s a good way to start, though. Then visit savetheinternet.com and spread the word.

[tags]internet neutrality, savetheinternet.com[/tags]