
We could build something revolutionary: how tech set underground music free - rizumu
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/nov/22/we-could-build-something-revolutionary-how-tech-set-underground-music-free
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siquick
Absolutely nothing in that article is related to underground at all. From the
styles of music through to the VC-funded platforms.

Underground is record labels owned by a couple of friends pressing 250 records
globally and distributing them by any means possible.

Underground is people putting all their spare money into putting on
parties/gigs in obscure venues for the 100 other people in their city that
like their particular niche of music/art.

Underground is not sitting in your room recording lip-sync videos and then
sending them out over a platform used by millions.

~~~
bane
Here's half a million songs going back a few decades by a community of artists
so underground they don't even play gigs.

[https://modarchive.org/](https://modarchive.org/)

~~~
willismichael
It's good to see somebody else that visits The Mod Archive. Virtually nobody
that I know is aware that it exists.

~~~
bane
And there's some really great music there as well. Lots of crap of course, but
the ratings are usually pretty reliable.

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wturner
Summary:

if you are an artist performing live shows and you are interested in building
a cult of followers you can do so, and no one will stop you. If your
performances and merchandise fees break through a threshold of profitability,
you are designated a success. You can use digital tools like YouTube and
Facebook to do this, but engagement is low. There are new companies and
digital tools that are building engagement by facilitating addiction and game
mechanics to make artists money. Record companies are bad, and they are not
the way forward.

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creaghpatr
Very interesting article- I do think Chance the Rapper is an outlier but still
a potentially repeatable business model for the 'next' star.

Interestingly it requires the artists to be digital/business savvy which may
select for those artists over those with better music, but that's always been
the case to an extent.

~~~
santaclaus
> I do think Chance the Rapper is an outlier

Recently it seems to be the path to success as a hip hop artist, not the
outlier case. Beyond Chance look at 21 Savage (who blew up before he signed to
Epic), Lil Peep, hell, even Run the Jewels is independent.

