MacEagon Voyce (@maceagon) • Hey
music guy
.writing music/web3 stories + podcasting @decential.io (formerly @vice)
.building music's community layer @greymatter
.singing songs @ my living
Publications
- the latest beat (my weekly newsletter about lots of stuff but mostly music) centers the importance of play. it features bricks, blocks, Legos and Pharrell's new direct-to-his-website yacht rock album.
https://decentialbeat.beehiiv.com/p/beat-28f2
in an act of forced play, I also included a poem about toppling empires -- only using words that start the letter 'c' (mostly). sharing so that it may be a catalyst to your own creativity, and a call to caper:
Carefully climb the cursed crows
that caw and cripple cry,
Clacking clowns they croon and cluck
to your calls of “crucify!”
“Callow creator, you cretinous clod,
who contradicts the crown,” they caw.
“You don’t control the capital,
so you don’t control the crowds.”
“Curation is care” you cackle,
and you claim you won’t comply.
But chaos chokes your counter,
and they chortle from their sky:
“To champions of context,
and communities with creeds,
to your catalogs and crypto-chains
and charters of chivalry;
“We the crows will cater,
and create your cybertrash,
but it cannot creep on credit,
and it will not clash with cash.
“Consider clout and churn,” claim they,
“it’s critical to all.
We’ll create your cozy communes,
but you’ll have to cede control.”
“But cannot we cast it changed,” you cry,
“And cull from clamor, care?
Craft a code of conscience,
that calls us from our chairs?”
“Clearly you can challenge,” cry they,
“campaign for change and coze.
But know the crypts are choked with carrion,
of those who’ve challenged crows.”
- Today I minted my first track on @lens/catalog 💽
https://catalog.works/maceagon/transom
This piece, “Transom,” arose during the pandemic, and it's the first track on a forthcoming EP called 'Meridian' -- a record about the pains of trying to be true.
As a child I had a debilitating stutter and it became impossible to trust my voice. Singing was the only way to cheat it, but even then, I was bullied and forced to turn inwards. In time, a rift emerged between myself and the image of myself, and they grew in tandem until I could no longer tell them apart. I regard the other as Moon Man.
"Transom" is the beginning of the reckoning, peering through the window above the door into a room that feels familiar but isn't quite right. Expressed in flourishes across the piano, it's the realization that I was playing a supporting role of my own life.
The piano, of course, can be another musical workaround for the stutterer. It was my first instrument. My mom started teaching me when I was four, and though I took a regrettable and extended break, I’m happy to be spending time with it once again.
I'm releasing "Transom" in honor of Piano Day, the holiday inaugurated by the pianist Nils Frahm in 2015. It's the 88th day of each year -- one day for each key on the piano -- and today is that day.
hope you enjoy 🌻
#pianoday @lens/mixtape
- @lens/soundoffractures has been tinkering all throughout the bear market. Glad to see his creativity being recognized by @lens/maceagon in this piece:
https://www.decential.io/articles/listening-to-scenes-the-connective-experiment-from-sound-of-fractures-that-reminds-us-what-were-doing-here
If you havent checked out his scenes I highly recommend that you do. You may be able to spot mine, guess which one....
Not to be corny, but even though I was running around like a madwoman busy I am so glad he forced me to be thoughtful about it because holds a special memory of my mum. I wont forget it now. And its on-chain <3
- Here's the third pariah carey -- or, 'how to be a mariah and not a pariah'
The series covers the music marketing data bootcamp co-hosted by Water & Music Academy and Music Tomorrow. The month-long series featured eight nutrient-dense sessions on music data, filled with case studies and actionable frameworks to guide folks through the terrifying gauntlet of the digital marketing lifecycle.
Remember, there are 120,000 songs uploaded to streaming platforms *every day*. Reckoning with the unceasing flood of music – and the consequent marketing efforts required to “cut through the noise” – was one of bootcamp’s central themes. Good music is no longer enough, alas, but the “right” data can help an artist rise above.
This one covers marketing automation and the mysteries of algorithmic recommendation systems: https://www.decential.io/articles/pariah-carey-part-three-mysterious-marketing-and-trying-to-game-the-algo
Hopefully this series will help light the paths of other artists unsure how to take that first step (like me).
here to commiserate, support, and learn 🌱 feel free to shoot me a note
_____
part 1 https://hey.xyz/posts/0x01b1d5-0x3c-DA-641a8eb0
part 2 https://hey.xyz/posts/0x01b1d5-0x3c-DA-f1e0d711
- sharing part deux of Pariah Carey, which recaps + tests **Water & Music**'s Music Marketing Data bootcamp's wisdom and insights -- from data practices and benchmark setting to community building tools and storytelling -- and I'm applying them to my own nascent music journey.
In part one, I reviewed data practices and benchmark setting. Then I built the foundation, creating my artist story and developing ‘SMART’ (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) goals (I’m tracking them here) for sharing that story and building community. Today I’m focused on sessions three and four, and on finding tools and insights to help structure my content framework, crossing one more item off the proverbial list:
~~- Understand your story~~
~~- Set goals~~
- Choose the tools (and content pillars) that help you tell that story
- Build a content strategy – across music and social – to achieve those goals
- Observe how people respond to your content
- Track and adapt
This one covers 'Developing a marketing plan + The fan data goldmine: Building a bulletproof fan CRM'
Hopefully this series will help light the paths of other artists unsure how to take that first step (like me).
here to commiserate, support, and learn 🌱 feel free to shoot me a note
https://www.decential.io/articles/pariah-carey-part-two-building-an-artists-journey-that-moves-from-pariah-towards-mariahnbspnbsp
- I'm writing a four-part series called Pariah Carey, which recaps + tests **Water & Music**'s Music Marketing Data bootcamp's wisdom and insights -- from data practices and benchmark setting to community building tools and storytelling -- and I'm applying them to my own nascent music journey.
**Why Pariah Carey?** The wordplay, of course, and reference to one of the most successful artists of all-time. And fun fact: the word ‘pariah’ is actually derived from the Tamil word ‘parai,’ which means ‘a drum.’
But mostly, I’ve named this series Pariah Carey because while musicians you’ve never heard of aren’t pariahs, they may as well be. Algorithms treat them as such. Don’t want to play the game? Then don’t expect to get any attention.
As Ben Folds said in clear, unfortunate truth: *“Self promotion. If you don’t want anything to do with it, stay in your fucking basement.”*
I’m very early in my music journey, and I’m trying to temper my discomfort with self-promotion with the hope that there are people out there who will find meaning in my music, and that this series can be a guidebook for other artists trying to get off the ground -- maybe even go from pariah to mariah 🥂
Here's part one: https://www.decential.io/articles/pariah-carey-part-one-using-insights-from-water-amp-music-and-music-tomorrows-data-bootcamp-to-go-from-pariah-to-mariah
- Ladies and gentlemen!
For the grand Finale themed @lens/cristinaspinei
The super talented @lens/maceagon is bringing his own interpretation of the composition FLOWT!
This time the work.was even harder!
The artist had to write his own lyrics!
So show all the love for this grand Finale ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
LCCM
GET ready and remember to SPREAD THE LENSVOICE! 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩☄️
- ATTENTION LENSVOICE FINALISTS 👑
May we present you the LAST CHALLENGE of the first LENSVOICE TALENT COMPETITION!🎤
The Finalists will have to perform a piece on the base of the Magical @lens/cristinaspinei !
The composition is called. "FLOWT"
https://www.sound.xyz/cristinaspinei/flowt?referral_source=link
Every style is acceptable
Given that there is no lyrics, the biggest challenge for the participants will be to create their own as well as interpret the compositions on their own style!
1 week times starts from NOW
SPREAD THE LENSVOICE!📣
@lens/maceagon @lens/originstory @lens/nena1992 @lens/ckodaworldwide
@lens/ruthless @lens/cmn__ @lens/jessyjeanne @lens/jamesfinnerty
p.s. If you want to support the final prize feel free to collect this post!
0,3 WMATIC, 25% REF FEE
- Heellooooo professional bathroom singers 🛀
After a long review with the Judges and users interactions we can finally ANNOUCE the 4 finalists that will go to the GRAND FINALE 🌊😻😻😻😻😻🛀🫧
- @lens/originstory WITH 100% OF AGREEMENT !
- @lens/ckodaworldwide with 80%
- @lens/maceagon with 80%
- @lens/nena1992 with 60%
Congratulations 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Get ready for new instructions and for a the announcement of the GRABD FINALE jury!
Collect this post if you want to contribute to the prize and don't forget to subscribe to the private room f lensvoice for all the extras of the competition😎
SPREAD THE LENSVOICE 🤩🤩🤩🤩
- sharing a sneak peek one-minute slice of an original track called "Time" for the @lens/lensvoice competition. there will be more soon 👀 enjoy!!
- HEEELLO PEOPLE!!!
While we collect your votes and organise an amazing @lens/buttrfly spaces where the jugdes will share their thoughts about the first round (WITH FIRST WINNER ROUND DECLARED),
enjoy the incredible voice of @lens/maceagon ! This interpretation of "nothing compares to you" is just outstanding .....@lens/ruthless is so lucky to have such a strong element in his team!
SHOW MACEAGON YOUR LOVE
AND SPREAD THE LENSVOICE!!!!!
- Played my first open mic @ Dublin Castle in Camden the other day. The pub is known for being the spot that helped establish Madness, elevate Blur, and most notably, Amy Winehouse. She performed regularly in this space -- and even served drinks sometimes.
This is a snippet from an original song called "Time"
- did a quick one-minute living room cover of @lens/karmavioletta's track "Unity" for the @lens/lensvoice singathon 🌻
hope you enjoy!
- 15 For the Record || Montrey Whittaker
15 For the Record || Montrey Whittaker
For the Record is a conversation series where we speak with all manner of music heads — DJs, music journos, indie label captains, record shop owners, listening bar kingpins, et al — about their stories + the music that makes them.
Join the Crate Coalition: https://discord.gg/sAaG6a7bv4
Like many, Montrey started his musical education while engaged in playing classical music in school. What began as a simple adolescent activity, quickly transformed into a deep love and appreciation for all forms of music. This love would continue to grow into his adulthood and manifested itself into the form of becoming a Co-Founder of EARMILK. This online music publication has become his outlet to spread all genres of music to those impressionable people, much like himself.
MUSIC MENTIONS
- OutKast
- Aphex Twin
- Daft Punk
- Earmilk
- IRC Communities
- Tumblr
- Counter Strike (video game)
- Blur
- “Coffee and TV” (song by Blur)
- Gorillaz
Evolution of Earmilk, music journalism (7:54):
- Noisey
- Hype Machine
Music curation, streaming, discovery (13:20):
- Spotify
- TIDAL
Q&A
- UNKLE
- “Lonely Soul” (song by UNKLE)
Artists of note discovered in the past year (20:02):
- Bakar
- Joy Orbison
- Nilüfer Yanya
Most under-appreciated artist from favorite music decade (22:12):
- Burial
Desert Island Discs (24:40):
- Burial - Untrue
- Daft Punk - Discovery
- Nas - Illmatic
- ATTENTION PLEASE!
The moment that we are all waiting for has finally come!
MEET THE FIRST MEMBERS OF THE LENS VOICE COMPETITION : TEAM @ruthless.lens
@maceagon.lens
@dmcsvn.lens
@coopdville.lens
SHOW THEM SOME LOVE! FOLLOW THEM AND STAY TUNED FOR THE UNVEILING OF ALL THE OTHER TEAMS!🎤
p.s. COLLECT WITH A Simbolic 0.25 wmatic.
Wmatics collected during the competition will be shared EXCLUSIVELY among the LENSVOICE winners🔥
- 14 For the Record || Lani Trock
14 For the Record || Lani Trock
For the Record is a conversation series where we speak with all manner of music heads — DJs, music journos, indie label captains, record shop owners, listening bar kingpins, et al — about their stories + the music that makes them.
Join the Crate Coalition: https://discord.gg/sAaG6a7bv4
Lani Trock is an interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles. Bridging the physical, - through participatory, improvisational music & movement, inside sculptural, immersive installations, - with the virtual - through archival research, digital gardens, & experimental audiovisuals, this work is made in service of our planetary evolution into biosphere consciousness. This way of seeing is grounded in the understanding that everything is alive, has spirit, and that together, we all coexist as an interconnected, symbiotic organism. In this interwoven worldview, all aspects are honored as sacred, and equally essential for their unique contribution to the collective whole. This perspective creates an impetus to reorient our societal systems towards collective wellbeing. Here lives her central intention, to make art that touches spirit, transforms consciousness, and manifests peace on earth.
With a practice centered in harmonious world building, she frequently utilizes fragile, evolving and ephemeral materials, in the creation of sacred space, to imagine the story of new earth. Concepts such as regenerative stewardship, decentralized power, and a novel social architecture built on open-source software, create the building blocks for imaginal institutions, rooted in an ethos of care, that ground these radical potentials into form. New local currencies, with cooperative & circular economics embedded in their code could sustainably fund public goods, manifest a more beautiful world, and improve the conditions of life on this planet for us all. This work envisions alternative future paradigms that embody a cultural shift away from scarcity, commodification and competition, in favor of abundance, collaboration and mutual benefit.
MUSIC MENTIONS
Journey getting involved in music
- Open Source Community Choir
- Carlos Niño
- Aaron Shaw
- Nate Mercereau
- Josh Johnson
- Genre DAO
- Leaving Records
- Elysian Park
- Greg Pope
Creative deception (13:14):
- Ira Glass
Evolution of self as an artist, community involvement (21:00):
- David Moses
- Wild Molasses
- Ochi Gallery
- Summer Bowie
- Philosophical Research Society
- Galactic Wave
Q&A
- Jamael Dean
- Quantum Listening (book by Pauline Oliveros)
- Miguel Atwood-Ferguson
How do you discover music today (31:00):
- Spotify
- Bandcamp
Three artists of note discovered in the past year (35:55):
- Alabaster DePlume
- Sharada Shashidhar
- Low Leaf
Most under-appreciated artist from your favorite music decade (50:33):
- Carlos Niño
Desert Island Discs (54:53):
- Carlos Niño - Please Wake Up a Little Faster
- Hiatus Kaiyote - Choose Your Weapon
- Alice Coltrane - Reflection on Creation And Space
Recommendations for future guests (1:02:34):
- Jacqs
- 13 For the Record || Guga Roselli
13 For the Record || Guga Roselli
For the Record is a conversation series where we speak with all manner of music heads — DJs, music journos, indie label captains, record shop owners, listening bar kingpins, et al — about their stories + the music that makes them.
Join the Crate Coalition: https://discord.gg/sAaG6a7bv4
Passionate about slow tempo, electronic music and provoking new experiences to his very own audience using his sniper curatorship skills, the so to call Guga Roselli is a music picker, mastermind of the labels Mareh Music and Barefoot Beats and event producer of MAREH's projects including Mareh NYE, Marisco Festival, Babel party and more. Natural habitat: shaking the dancefloors, if not running crazy in the backstage of his own events.
Music Mentions
- The Edge
- Mareh
- Babel
Mareh & Babel (5:38):
- Metro Area
- Darshan Jesrani
- Eric Duncan
- Todd Terje
- Botin
- Mario Basanov
- Dicky Trisco
- Pete Herbert
- Pional
- Mar
- Mr. Mendel
- Ruby Savage
Q&A
- Renato Cohen
- Bjørn Torske
Discovering music (17:45):
- Soundcloud
- Shazam
Artists of note discovered in the past year (22:20):
- Glenn Underground
- Ash Lauryn
- DJ Spinna
Desert island discs (25:50):
- Jorge Ben Jor - Energia Bom Bom (Dádiva)
- Jorge Ben Jor - Bem-Vinda Amizade
- Jorge Ben Jor - Rio Babilônia (Dádiva)
Recommendations for future episodes (31:08):
- Dicky Trisco
- 12 For the Record || Steph Guerrero
For the Record is a conversation series where we speak with all manner of music heads — DJs, music journos, indie label captains, record shop owners, listening bar kingpins, et al — about their stories + the music that makes them.
Join the Crate Coalition: https://discord.gg/sAaG6a7bv4
Stephanie Guerrero, a veteran in the music industry, has shaped standards at major labels for over a decade. With executive roles at Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Tellie, and Spanish Broadcasting System, she's also a Web3 leader, excelling in content, digital promotion, and campaign strategy. Working with notable projects like Decent.xyz, she advises at Legato, empowering artists with monetization tools. Stephanie founded Goat for Mars, aiding artists in Web3 transition and NFT exploration. Her event and speaking skills, seen at Miami NFT Week, SXSW, web3 Creator Summit and GRAMMY U. She is currently the cohost of Appetite for Distraction with Maarten Walraven.
MUSIC MENTIONS
Go-to Karaoke songs (3:38):
- Queen
- Somebody to Love (song by Queen)
- Gloria (song by Laura Branigan)
- Selena
Intersecting passions for music and technology (4:16):
- MySpace
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Premiere
- Napster
- Limewire
- Facebook
- Sony
CD’s while working at a label (10:30):
- Brandi Carlile
- Adele
- 21 (album by Adele)
- Calle 13
Exploring beyond music industry majors (12:40):
- TikTok
Q&A
Three artists of note discovered in the past year (15:30):
- X&ND
- Xcelencia
- Kasbeel
- Yaxx Castillo
How do you discover music today (19:50):
- Twitter Spaces
- Spinamp
- TikTok
- Tai Verdes
Music community shoutout (22:30):
- Black Dave
- Waveworld
Most under appreciated artist from your favorite music decade (23:23):
- Jessie J
Desert island discs (24:25):
- X&ND - The Beacon
- Renaissance by Beyonce
- Hello, Dolly! Soundtrack
- 11 For the Record || Dianna Loevner
For the Record is a conversation series where we speak with all manner of music heads — DJs, music journos, indie label captains, record shop owners, listening bar kingpins, et al — about their stories + the music that makes them.
Join the Crate Coalition: https://discord.gg/sAaG6a7bv4
Raised in Pittsburgh as the sidekick to a fashionable 90's raver by the nickname of DKNY Caroline, Dianna gained her first exposure to electronic music and was hooked.
As a teenager she got involved in the dance community and started doing promotion for local crews, which led her into studying public relations at American University.
Following a stint at PAPER, and overseeing community at Soho House's three New York locales, Dianna co-founded Mizz Softee, a Brooklyn-based underground party brand with an emphasis on techno genres. In addition, she's building The Creamery, a boutique artist booking agency.
MUSIC MENTIONS
Early years getting into music (2:47):
- Wiz Khalifa
- Mac Miller
- J Dilla
- Nas
- Cam’ron
- Eminem
- Dave Matthews Band
- Phish
- Grateful Dead
NYC, Washington DC - getting back into electronic music (4:52):
- 18th Street Lounge
- Eric Hilton
- Thievery Corporation
- U Street Music Hall
- Tittsworth
- Paper Magazine
- Soho House
- Mizz Softee
Q&A
Discovering music & community shoutouts (17:34):
- Jacob Milham
Three artists of note discovered in the last year (20:29):
- Kodemul
- Spekki Webu
- Miss Twink
Favorite artist from under appreciated music decade (23:22):
- Mister Sunday (event series)
Desert island discs (26:26):
- Jocelyn Enriquez - A Little Bit of Ecstasy
- Orbital - Orbital 2
- Physical Therapy - It Takes a Village
Recommendations for future guests (29:15):
- Aurora Halal
- DJ G
- Georgio Oniani
- heyooo 🌻
- 10 For the Record || Brodie Conley
For the Record is a conversation series where we speak with all manner of music heads — DJs, music journos, indie label captains, record shop owners, listening bar kingpins, et al — about their stories + the music that makes them.
Brodie Conley (he/him) is an Ottawa-based music industry professional and artist with diverse experience in research, artist management, and community music initiatives, as well as government program and policy development.
Currently, he works as a researcher at the Center for Music Ecosystems, and also consults for research organization, Water & Music, where he explores the intersections of music and technology.
In the past, Brodie worked in artist management (Andy Shauf / Lido Pimienta / Ada Lea) and as the Festival Manager for the MEGAPHONO Music Festival, which provided opportunities for Ottawa-region artists to cultivate new knowledge and catalyze export opportunities.
Brodie is a motivated advocate for Canadian independent music and hopes to continue to support knowledge development for emerging and underserved artists. He is a proud board member for the Ottawa-based independent and underground music presenter Debaser.
MUSIC MENTIONS
Background and journey of getting into music (1:17):
- The Eagles
- Phil Collins
- Warped Tour
- Fat Records
- NOFX
- Broken Social Scene
- Godspeed Records
- Constellation Records
- Kelp Mgmt
- Andy Shauf
- Lido Pimienta
- Ada Lea
- MEGAPHONO
- Water & Music
- Center for Music Ecosystems
Listening and playing during the “Warped Tour Days” (10:08):
- Lagwagon
- Thursday
- Geoff Rickly
- Cursive
- Future States
Q&A
- Yo La Tengo
Discovering music (19:20):
- Stereogum
- Said the Gramophone
- Catalog
- Aquarium Drunkard
Three artists of note discovered in the past year (23:30):
- Katy Kirby
- Joe Rainey
- M. Sage
Most under-appreciated artist from your favorite music decade (28:38):
- Kate & Anna McGarrigle
Desert Island Discs (30:20):
- “A Ghost is Born” by Wilco
- “Canadiana Suite” by Oscar Peterson
- “Big Sur” by Bill Frisell
Recommendations for future For the Record episodes (40:11):
- Cherie Hu
- Kat Bassett
- Sarah LaReau
- 05 For the Record || Ben Steidel
For the Record is a conversation series where we speak with all manner of music heads — DJs, music journos, indie label captains, record shop owners, listening bar kingpins, et al — about their stories + the music that makes them.
Ben Steidel is a DJ, musician, and co-owner of Brooklyn Record Exchange. Originally from San Francisco, he spent nearly 10 years working at Amoeba Music before relocating to Brooklyn with his band Lemonade. He opened his first store Co-op 87 Records in Greenpoint in 2011, which was re-named Brooklyn Record Exchange upon opening their Bushwick location in 2019. He's a passionate record collector and music head spanning a wide variety of genres and has been a resident DJ at The Lot Radio since 2016.
Crate Coalition Manifesto: [bit.ly/46HKDCL](http://bit.ly/46HKDCL)
MUSIC MENTIONS
**Early days/Influences (:43)**
Amoeba
Hardcore
Top 40
Lemonade (his band)
Dance music
Jefferson Starship
Tears for Fears
Michael Jackson
Weird Al
Nirvana
Grunge
Pearl Jam
**Working at Amoeba (5:20)**
Free Jazz
Merzbow
African Music
Academy
Sonic Youth
The Killers
Def Jux
Cannibal Ox
El-P
**Moving to New York (11:30)**
Salsoul
West End Records
Strictly Rhythm
Nervous Records
House
Disco
Prelude Records
**Starting his own record shop (14:30)**
Mexican Summer
Co-op 87
Brooklyn Record Exchange
**Has streaming affected cratedigging for you? (17:30)**
Spotify
Bandcamp
**Three artists of note you’ve heard for the first time this year (21:30)**
Jess Williamson
Tiro!
Lo-fi house
SPF 50
**Most underappreciated artist from your favorite decade (24:00)**
80s
New Musik
(ELO)
Synth pop
**Notable music community (25:30)**
Record store scene in New York
**Desert island discs (28:25)**
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
McCoy Tyner - Extensions
Bjork - Homogenic
(Helmet)
- 04 For the Record || Josh Dalton
For the Record is a conversation series where we speak with all manner of music heads — DJs, music journos, indie label captains, record shop owners, listening bar kingpins, et al — about their stories + the music that makes them.
Having founded Crack in the Road one of the leading independent tastemaking blogs of the 2010s, Josh has spent the past decade working across A&R and management. He's also currently part of the core team at next generation music marketplace Serenade. He's a big believer in supporting artist independence, and fighting for a fairer creative economy for all.
Crate Coalition Manifesto: bit.ly/46HKDCL
MUSIC MENTIONS
**Early Days**
- Discovering the internet
- Limewire
- The Beatles
- CD Wow (site)
- Kanye West
- D12
- Dancing Jesus (blog)
- Arctic Monkeys
- Crack In the Road
- HypeMachine era
First Few Artists From Crack in The Road
- Chiddy Bang - Kids
- MGMT Sample
- Pacific Air
- Eddie Front (singer)
- The Neighbourhood
Other Career Developments (13:45)
- RCA
- Everybody’s (MGMT Company) (16:00)
**Change in Music Discovery (16:30)**
- Pigeons & Planes
- Fader
- Distant Naiveties
How to bring back the magic of Music Discovery (19:45)
How are you discovering music today? (21:10)
**Three Important Artists (past year) (23:00)**
- Medium Build
- Future Islands
- Lizzy Esau
- Maisie Peters
**Most under-appreciated group during favorite music decade (26:18)**
- Late 80s-Early 90’s hip hop
- Black Sheep
- Beastie Boys
- Early 90s shoe gaze
- Pale Saints
Music Community You’re Fond of and why? (27:50)
- Dancing Jesus
- Fred Again
**What has inhibited the discovery experience? (31:30)**
- Daphne and Celeste
**Desert Island Discs (37:00)**
- Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division
- Influenced work in Serenade
- Touching From a Distance - Story of Ian Curtis (book)
- Fevers and Mirrors by Bright Eyes
- Bob Dylan
- Janis Joplin
- Scott Walker
- 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul
- David Bowie (unrelated general mention)
**Where can people find Josh (42:30)**
- Everybody’s
- Future Kind
- xxx (mix engineer)
- Sam Smith, Liam Payne, Calvin Harris
- Serenade
- Muse
- Noah Gallagher
- Liam Gallagher
- Jungle
- The Hives
- On the latest episode of Big Brother, Matt Sanders (aka M. Shadows) & I dove deep into:
- the human voice
- psychedelics & the limits of speech
- the origins of his band Avenged Sevenfold
- (not web3)
- writing a record about the positivity of meaningless
- embracing the beauty of our impermanence 🌻
https://www.decential.io/podcasts/m-shadows-avenged-sevenfold
- enjoyed diving into all manner of things w/ Simon de la Rouviere:
💽 music, from Muse to Boards of Canada
✍️ using names to articulate a thing AND differentiate it from what came before
🛰 navigating yet untitled frontiers so that others might do the next one better
https://decential.io/podcasts/simon-de-la-rouviere-untitled-frontier
- gm lens 🌱
we're grey matter, a community for sharing and discovering music, together.
It’s a social network for music where:
💽 music can be played and shared from wherever you stream
🎹 moments of discovery form the building blocks for community & meaningful artist connections
We are:
🍰 a community layer built atop music streaming platforms
🌎 forming as a public benefit corporation, owned and operated by artists
💾 a working product and a work in progress.
Our mission is to connect people through music and build enduring value for those who make it.
**collect this post to stay tuned 📻**
- latest ep of big brother is with @soundoffractures.lens 🙏🏼
we chatted about:
🎬 scene creation & Wild Awake
🎹 music's inherent value
🌎 anti-scale & growing a project by speaking w/ people, one by one
https://www.decential.io/podcasts/jamie-reddington-sound-of-fractures
- latest episode of big brother is with the talented @vibing.lens 💽
we chatted about documenting his musical life on the internet, from web2 to web3, & paving paths for the next generation to do the same (this time with more autonomy & less platform capitalism)
🌻
https://www.decential.io/podcasts/big-brother-and-the-hodling-company-with-alec-al3c-dalelio-music-artist-reveel-campfire
- latest episode of big brother & the hodling co is with the excellent @ladidaix.lens 🌻
we covered a lot of ground, but the bit that stuck with me most was remembering to reach back + lift up, even while you're still climbing yourself
https://www.decential.io/podcasts/ladidai-songwriter-artist-manager-and-director-of-social-partnerships-for-campfire
- latest big brother w/ the ever thoughtful @maartenwalraven.lens about:
- the intersection of music + identity
- the importance of scenes & creating space for deeper relationship
- using music to push boundaries + grant creative license
https://www.decential.io/podcasts/big-brother-and-the-hodling-company-maarten-walraven-wild-awake-music-x-water-music-and-symphonylive
- latest big brother w/ the one & only @blackdave.lens, who -- before diving into a conversation he infused with deep thought + care -- opened with a lovely bit of gratitude for just getting to be here 🌻
https://www.decential.io/podcasts/big-brother-and-the-hodling-company-i-black-dave
- core themes of this beat -- bi-monthly breakdown of the music-web3 byway:
💽 there's a massive bottleneck in music at the point of discovery
⏳there is so much, and only so much time
📲 trying not to succumb to the lure of convenience
“Time swiftly passes by – do not squander your life.” 🌻
https://www.decential.io/articles/the-beat-music-as-experience-the-looming-ai-battle-and-time
- latest big brother and the hodling ep w/ the one & only @stephguerrero.lens 🌻
we dove into:
- Steph's story
- the major labels, licensing, & Legato
- misogyny & the dreams never die tumult
- gratitude for the sublimely weird on-chain music culture that refuses to let the bullshit seep in
bit.ly/3Whrtiu
- connected w/ @niftysax.lens on Nifty Music + the future of web3 music -- sharing an excerpt from the piece 🌻
“But as things go on,” he continued, “I feel like this is going to be something that’s more geared towards niche music that doesn't really have a space in the normal economy, because maybe it's weird – maybe it doesn't hook you in the first 10, 30 seconds.
“The more time I spend in web3, the more I see it going that way because I see already we are starting to race to the bottom,” he said. “So this is more like a safe environment for weird music –**** this little garden of weird creatures.”
To varying degrees, both outcomes are improvements. Option two is clearly a smaller shift, but still significant. Streaming platforms categorically devalue the weirdos. Few people are going to listen to Karlhein Stockhausen or John Zorn or LaMonte Young on a regular basis – their music is challenging and often dissonant, and that’s the point. Stream counts shouldn’t dictate the value of their music.
Without LaMonte Young, there’s no Velvet Underground. Without Velvet Underground, no Sonic Youth. Without Sonic Youth, you probably don’t get Nirvana. You get the point. Zoom outward from any artist you love and you’ll eventually find a cadre of influential weirdos who made them more interesting. We owe them a great debt – all those pioneers who grant creative license by doing something yet undone, so that the artists that come next have more expansive territory to wander.
Count Lombardi amongst that group. By going first, he created precedence and a path to follow. Even if ultimately the result is a garden for weirdos, that’s a win. But perhaps we can dream bigger – maybe an entire forest of fiddling folk next to tree-lined raves where theater punks write symphonies for hundreds of guitars and psychonauts channel the cosmic fidelity of their own subconscious. A place where the Eno acolytes sew generative seeds of sound, tending them into chordant gardens of their own algorithms, teeming with rich, bizarre musical life, endless and ever changing.
https://www.decential.io/articles/this-little-garden-of-weird-creatures-how-nifty-musics-milo-lombardi-wants-to-protect-on-chain-music
- latest big brother ep with Tyler Bancroft -- we covered everything from AI to blockchain (and how they'll interact) to the dreams never die tumult to List3n DAO's first grantee to spongebob voice actors.
may we never be replaced 🌻
bit.ly/3I1jeRO
- latest ep of Big Brother & the Hodling Company is with Metalabel's Austin Robey, one of the pathfinders in collective internet culture
he reminds us to ask important q's like: who owns this?
ownership matters, everything flows from there
🌻
https://www.decential.io/podcasts/austin-robey-metalabel
- Wild Awake / Catalog Number WATT001:
Save Me by C O N T X T
12 editions only
Drop Date: May 11 on @tokentraxx.lens
All collectors get access to an exclusive mix including unheard songs, and access full downloads of the upcoming C O N T X T EP via bandcamp.
"We see people push prices down to push numbers up. That’s not the game we want to play. In opposition to this, we see music-on-chain as a re-evaluation of how we think about music and the value it has in our lives.”
Read more about C O N T X T and Wild Awake via our mirror page https://mirror.xyz/wildawake.eth/E751ntZTznXu5hlUmlBsuSMimI0pftCQeg25gLE0cwI
- last week at @MusicAlly's NEXT event in London, some folks really showed up & evidenced the sublime weirdness of on-chain music culture when it's at its best.
*snippet from the piece, quoting Butter founder Vaughn McKenzie-Landel + Elleven co-founder Charlotte Caleb:*
“The difficulty in web3 is there’s no Facebook-controlled algorithm or Spotify streams or Google SEO that you can try to game,” McKenzie-Landell said. “There’s this open and expansive universe where you can do anything – NFTs are infinite and programmable. That can be quite daunting.”
Tabula rasa means that artists – not platforms – determine the rules of engagement and build boundless new worlds in which they find and gather their communities. It’s a terrifying, compelling and incredibly powerful shift.
“You do get to be your weirdest self,” said panelist Charlotte Caleb, artist manager and co-founder of Elleven. “You’re not fighting with an algorithm for exposure. This is a sure-fire way to get feedback from your fans and get them involved. You’re not looking at other people, like ‘that person’s got X amount of followers and they did this’ [and asking] ‘how can I emulate that?’ You can find your people.”
🌻
bit.ly/3HsH1JQ
- latest big brother ep with the one and only @abelow.lens, the thoughtful soothsayer we can trust to keep us attuned to 'where music's going'
amongst many things, we discussed the full breadth of the music experience -- sight, sound, smell, resonance
🔊
bit.ly/41JNB6T
- *“It’s **not about choosing one network to rule them all** — that is crazy Silicon Valley logic,”....*
*"The future is that you’re a member of dozens of different communities, because as human beings, that’s how we are.”*
Topical read on the trend back to smaller internet spaces: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/19/technology/personaltech/tiktok-twitter-facebook-social.html
If you're building a community-oriented app on Lens pls reach out or comment below!
- enjoyed connecting with @athenayasaman about the importance of curation -- now and forever -- as a form of caretaking...tending to our musical gardens 🌻🌱
https://www.decential.io/articles/inside-catalogs-curation-strategy-thats-hoping-to-keep-web3-music-from-being-lost-in-a-sea-of-noise
- latest big brother episode features the wise LaTecia Johnson
tune in to her story & heed her words: focus on communicating the value the tech creates instead of the tech itself
🌱
https://www.decential.io/podcasts/latecia-johnson-visionary-rising
- Thesis of this beat -- **bi-monthly breakdown of the music-web3 byway** -- is brought to you by @seedclub.lens:
**“Crypto is fundamentally a consumer technology. Value flows to the social layers in this world, not the technological ones.”**
bit.ly/3KJnBkR
@patrickxrivera.lens recently resurrected a piece from 2018 called “The Myth of the Infrastructure Phase,” which traces a cyclical Internet history back to email and messaging in the early 70s. The apps always go first, then the infra is built to support them.
Some people are helping that cause:
🧮 @abelow.lens created a calculator that measures new fan metrics – Fan Lifetime Value and Total Fan Value – to help artists transcend the vanity stats and build for deeper connection.
🎹 @maartenwalraven.lens and @soundoffractures.lens revealed details about their new scene-building project Wild Awake, which will facilitate releases for a small cohort of electronic artists and use them to coordinate community.
💽 Water & Music released a spectacular study on the psychology of music NFT collectors:
**“On-chain ownership of the music is of more value to [the collectors], as it represents proof of their identity as a fan and allows them to stay connected to the artist’s community.”**
🌱 Elsewhere:
- @soundxyz_.lens crossed $5M paid to artists
- @catalogworks.lens launched splits
- @lensprotocol is seeing an uptick in music NFTs (largely courtesy of @beatsapp.lens)
- List3n DAO launched, which supports emerging web3 artists through unconditional grant funds
**But diversity remains a big issue, across music & web3 (& the world at large):**
- a new report by BCG found that only 7% of web3 founders are women
- another report, Fix the Mix, tracked the top 10 songs streamed on major DSPs in 2022. Results are egregious (see image below)
****So go listen to music that features women and non-binary folks.**
Here are a couple songs to kick it off, one's a new discovery (courtesy of @dreamsneverdie.lens) by Lola Young:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aeGxyelzgQ
and another is a song by Beverly Glenn-Copeland that never gets old:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YCJ2we9jeQ
Finally, RIP to the singular Ryuichi Sakamoto, who was keenly aware of the ways in which new technologies could affect coordination surrounding music.
Check out this prescient 1998 speech about the Internet’s effect on music & human behavior:
bit.ly/41iNhMf
🌻
- does anyone know good ways to balance/automate content sharing across twitter + farcaster + lens (or two of the three)? or have a good strategy for balancing these flows?
- this convo happened a little while ago now but it still resonates. I love Jon's mind, and his story across Abbey Road Studios & The Rattle -- exploring the intersection of music & tech on behalf the artists + pioneers -- is one worth listening to.
🌻
Full podcast ep here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P6697_cpA0
- sharing the opening excerpt from my new @dreamsneverdie.lens feature:
In 1968 Philip K. Dick asked *Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?* The dystopian work inspired the *Blade Runner* films, and provoked prescient questions of aliveness and empathy in a world increasingly populated by machines. Today, our reliance on algorithms and the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence makes these questions more urgent than ever.
What does it mean for the dreams of creators, for instance, if we train machines to create in our image? “It is the ultimate shadow, the defeat of creation,” reads one of the novel’s famous lines. “This is the curse at work, the curse that feeds on all life.” Indeed. But perhaps dreams never die – at least while there are those of us who believe that great creations will *always* break through the noise.
https://www.decential.io/articles/web3-music-label-dreams-never-die-fights-to-discover-artists-and-avoid-signing-tiktok-data
- AI in music will paradoxically create a movement back to a focus on artists & authenticity.
An endless sea of faceless music will make fans crave something more.
Connection. Humanity.
Building real community & connection will be as important as the music.
- For the latest ep of Big Brother & the Hodling Co. I spoke with the great @mynameisheno.lens about:
- life
- paying it forward
- using music to drive social impact
- just doing the thing.
Stay tuned for a new restorative justice project we're working on together that grew out of this conversation 🌻 It was an important reminder that you never know when the universe might conspire in your favor ✨
YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jJQ1MelCUw
- Per usual @lijin.lens nails it!
When traditional platform moats erode, ownership shifts to creators, changing the dynamics of building a successful social product.
But one thing remains constant: You can't fork a community with a strong sense of ownership 🎯
Must read for the Lens community both builders and creators: https://li.substack.com/p/building-psychological-attachment
- pitstops on this beat, the bi-monthly breakdown of the music-web3 byway:
- @abelow.lens on web3's adoption paradox
- Yancey Strickler on "the old shit doesn't work anymore"
- @danfowler.lens mapping the on-chain music ecosystem and centering public goods
- Courtney Love on the "rock & roll hall of cock" (an important reminder at the end of women's history month)
bit.ly/3ZNqmaA