Unicorn Mafia

If you’ve watched the news lately, you’ll notice that networks and newspapers alike won’t shut up about all the incredible, crazy changes that are going on in the word due to the Internet! Facebook and Myspace and Twitter, oh my! And on your cell phones, too! Goodness gracious, they just can’t keep up! Why, it’s a revolution!

Look, guys. The sites listed above are tools we use every day. They’re really very simple to use, and anyone can access them for free. Yes, they are creating important changes in the world, but instead of reporting on the technology itself, put it to good use, accept it as a reality rather than a science fiction concept, and move on. Do you remember how different the Beatles were, how your parents “just didn’t get it”, or straight up hated them, even? Do you remember hearing their songs on the radio constantly and eventually getting very used to their sound? Did you or did you not roll your eyes when your parents STILL scoffed at their music? Well, that’s what my generation is doing to you. Most people are over the hype. You need to accept this change. Let’s move on, shall we?

Technology has been changing a number of industries, however, and in noteworthy ways. The music and journalism businesses are both prominent examples of this. The old models of each are based around 3 or 4 massively powerful corporations with complete control over the products that are distributed to the masses. To be successful in these industries, one would have to amass a great deal of skill, intelligence, perseverance, determination, and for the most part, luck. All of the above didn’t mean squat if you weren’t lucky enough to get the attention of someone who had power in one of those huge companies. This was actually a fairly unjust process, but it became an accepted one for quite a long time, for the most part, especially since the corporations had all the power and there was nothing that an average person could do to stop them anyway.

This is no longer the case thanks to our beloved Internet. Anyone can provide you with infinite amounts of music and news, among other things. I am doing so at this very moment. It does not cost me anything, as I am using someone’s free wireless, and I can broadcast the latest headlines or hits across the ends of the earth at my will. For FREE. Now, we all know that money equals power. So you know what I meant earlier when I said that the massive music and news companies were “powerful”; they bought their way there. Needless to say, the Internet is dismantling the foundation of these corporations at a ridiculously rapid rate. (Yay, alliteration! The perfect combination of awkward, unexpected, and poetic.) They are crying and moaning like the main characters of a Shakespeare tragedy, mourning what they believe to be the downfall of their respective industries.

There is a distinction to be made here between the two. From what I have learned at this conference, the traditional moguls of journalism cry of its death, and their death along with it. Those who are bringing about the downfall of these companies generally agree that, indeed, physical newspapers will soon be extinct, yet they are uncertain and varied in their predictions about the future of journalism itself. Major record labels are quite aware that they are DOOMED, in all caps, but they are in denial and are taking down anyone they can with them. Music itself, however, is thriving like never before, and nobody can deny it. Myspace is flooded with independent artists of every genre you can (and can’t) imagine, and they can record their music and videos at next to no cost. They can distribute all over the world without spending a dime, and, if they do it right, they can be very successful. It’s an absolute free-for-all, and the artists are loving it. The major labels, not so much.

Changes are scary!!! Ooooh!! Well, actually, they can be. But they’re very, very necessary. And when everything is different, there will be pros and cons to the change. We will adjust though, and when the dust settles, I like to think that we will be better off for it.