It begins as a throwback, something of a mirage-like homage to music history. In the former spot of Tower Records is a small sign outside, a faux cd cover entitled “Never Can Say Goodbye” by No Longer Empty. It’s the introduction to Never Records, a record store that never was but is, replete with record bins, posters, flyers, merchandise for sale, even a cash register, with individually painted dollar bills and calling cards of artists swapped out for change. Each item, from cardboard box to employee of the month sculpture, recreated and repurposed with the theme of invoking the history of how music was represented in a time when record stores could turn a huge profit. Composed by Ted Riederer, Never Records (a befitting moniker), is in actuality a record of 40+ artists whose displayed work has never had anything to do with music recording prior to its inception for the show.

picture via psfk.com

The exhibit also showcases the works of Ryan Brennan, Joe Diebes, R. Luk DuBois, Richard Garet, Invader, Josh Jordan, Kaz Oshiro, Meredyth Sparks, Naama Tsabar, Siebren Versteeg, and Paul Vilinski.

And while there is quite a lot to say about each of the artists, from the flight of Vilinksi’s bird records to Invader’s album recreations with Rubik’s cubes, I found the more subtle piece of Ted Riederer’s record bins most provoking given the setting of the show and ensuing panel discussion.

We can all remember perusing music lined aisles flipping through albums, or for my generation cds. It can be almost trance-like, the repetitive motion as each album face flips forward revealing another and another, until something strikes your fancy and makes you pause. It’s what’s captured and utilized in Riederer’s record bins, the centerpiece of Never Records. Each donated record blacked out with a single line on each album. Taken separately, one might mistake it for a guessing game of what the record might have been or it’s most famous single; taken entirely it’s a evocative, 15-stanza poem.

And while I hate to remove it from the exhibition backdrop, especially when each stanza ends with an oddly paralleled real album (also donated), it’s poignant enough to read on its own, especially given the context of Tuesday’s featured panel discussion “Discs to Downloads: New Directions in Music Industry” (which includes: Elliot Groffman, Music Industry Attorney for Dave Matthews Band and Jay-Z; Kevin Patrick, Artist Manager for Matt & Kim, Lord Warddd, Vivian Green; David Weiss, Co-Founder/Co-Editor SonicScoop.com; Ted Riederer, Featured Artist, “Never Can Say Goodbye”; Oli Stephenson, CTO, CBS Interactive Music Group).

I.
In the heart of nowhere
At the end of the beginning
We are all set adrift
Under skies of vermillion and silver

II.
Welcome to tomorrow
This is the age of alarm
These are ghost stories
Tales from planet earth.

III.
Our world
The one rare earth
Will never be the same
This is the turning point.

VI.
As the sun gets hotter
The vapor of gasoline in the wind
Will catch fire.

V.
The great lonely city
Is a dead memorial
To days of wine and roses.

VI.
Living in danger
We are walking a changing line
A battle of heaven and earth

VII.
So many men witness universal struggle
Around the world and preach
How they are different from others
And lie “It could never happen here.”
We are all destroyers and refugees
Connected by a bitter history of abuse

VIII.
The makers sing us to sleep
In a dreamland of product in paradise
Alkaline dreams murder minds

XI.
The rebel youth are hungry
For some kind of spiritual voyage.

X.
Resist the in-crowd
Who dance their danse macabre
In a theater of suicidal tendencies
Fight the status quo
Fight for love
Ideas are bulletproof
Like germs we will take hold of the system
One cell at a time
Some people cry “cultural decay” others Scream “revolution.”

XI.
The feeling that
It’s more than you
More than you know
Is the true meaning of brotherhood.

XII.
Look no further
Tear down the unopened door inside you
The ghost in you
Dreams of emancipation
Crossing a bridge that just won’t burn
You alone can save you.

XIII.
Believe in the midget and the giant
Diamonds and rust
Death and transfiguration

XIV.
In time a song shall rise
For those who believe in the wisdom of looking in
Street songs
Songs for sinners
A lullaby in tongues
The sweetest sounds
And the most beautiful noise

XV.
I will wait of you
In the diamond night
Alone together
With eyes that see in the dark
We will wait for the golden dawn of redeeming grace.

Let’s face it, the age of the internet has ravaged the music industry, but it’s important to examine exactly what part of the industry it’s taken a bite into. What have mp3s, iTunes, MySpace, YouTube, and the creation of applications allowing “free” downloads of virtually any song be it obscure live recording or top 100 billboard song done to the creators of music–it’s essentially taken away one major gatekeeper and with it a huge hurdle–the record label and distribution. This is not to downplay the fact that it also hits the pockets of the artist, but the label has always done that. I can remember a video interview of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes from TLC (yes I was a fan) livid at the knowledge that they made but a few cents off each album, which divided three ways and minus their own expenses was by star standards pretty modest to say the least. It’s more notable that major labels are finally feeling the pinch, so call it a little karmic retribution.

Riederer, who abashedly claims friendship with a few bands signed by big labels remarks that for the band members what changed wasn’t so much the cash-flow from album sales, it’s that now they could gain a larger following more quickly. Riederer also quips musicians are still screwed, they “still have to try and make money the same way that they always have… and that’s going out on tour and selling merch.” And aptly notes, “it’s as if we are sitting here trying to connive or figure out a way for major labels to adapt and keep their profit margins.”

Looking at the larger picture of what the panel brought to light was the trend across all mass media towards that of an individual, DIY media. Traditional paradigms of distribution and discovery have been shattered, opening avenues and ways of communication that promote connectivity amongst the masses that up to now have never been available. As David Weiss, the Co-Founder/Co-Editor of SonicScoop.com said, “New technology has shifted supply, having music recorded and distributed is no longer a privilege it’s a right.”

One could argue that the plethora is overwhelming, unleashing a herd of mental masturbators who want the world to know their indigestion woes from week old pizza or worse show it to you with a soundtrack. And yes, there is a multiplication of the mediocre and banal added to the internet ether. On the flip side however, it’s enabled a dialogue, a conversation if you will, that no other artistic age had available, introducing an additional tool into the art making process, the highest social art form, the art of conversation. To be both fiercely individual and intensely interconnected, to have unique ideas and views that can be disseminated, related, and understood and equally misunderstood, is an environment both exhilarating and leveling. Today, the next big star isn’t necessarily one that gets signed by the major label and manufactured to stardom, it’s as easily plausible to get discovered on MySpace, mentioned on Pitchfork, and skyrocketed into the ears of adoring fans. One realizes the awesome power of the most base form of marketing – word of mouth.

With the proliferation of blogs, Facebook accounts, and  twitterers, everyone is a critic. Why listen to the opinion of a single critic, when you can survey thousands in seconds and decide for yourself if what someone has to say matters to you. It’s easier to doubt the opinion of a critic from a single news source, no matter how established, but when 100 of your facebook friends became a fan of a new band, you listen, hell even a fraction of that. If I saw that 10 friends completely unrelated to eachother were buzzing about a song, I would without a doubt be curious to check it out, not just to hear it for myself, but also see what it was that was connecting people, in a way transcending boundaries of personal taste.

Word of mouth is nothing new, it has always held sway, Malcolm Gladwell wrote about the power of it in his national bestseller The Tipping Point over ten years ago. But word of mouth has gained a momentum factor very different from the turn of the millennia. It’s mind-blowing to think about how many gadgets, words, and modes of communication have become fully integrated into daily practices that weren’t even in existence a mere decade prior. How people are connecting today in 2010 is completely different but the “laws” Gladwell laid down in is his book still apply. Gladwell quotes sociologist Mark Granovetter and his coined adage, “the strength of weak ties.” He writes,

“Granovetter argues that when it comes to finding out about new jobs — or, for that matter, new information, or new ideas — “weak ties” are always more important than strong ties. Your friends, after all, occupy the same world that you do. Your acquaintances, on the other hand, by definition occupy a very different world than you. They are much more likely to know something that you don’t.”

And what have applications like Facebook and Twitter done? They have vastly increased one’s ability to nurture weak ties and with it our abilities as individuals to influence each other. It has created a river of ambient personal knowledge, which the reader can choose when and how much to dip into.

Douglas Rushkoff, author of Life Inc., made an interesting comment at his recent Etsy appearance in Brooklyn, about how in our emerging DIY society to become relevant as an artist today is to be irrelevant. It eluded to the Renaissance practice of artistic sponsorship and its subsequent corporate iteration. The corporation can no longer extract value from the individual and shape it, it must come with greater authenticity–come from the individual and be built with other “irrelevant” individuals to gain relevance.

So where does this leave the evolution of the music industry? I leave the answer to the Do-It-Yourselfers and give nod to Riederer’s featured poem, “at the end of the beginning we are all set adrift…in time a song shall rise for those who believe in the wisdom of looking in.”

Additional Links:
Behind the Scenes, the making of Never Say Goodbye

Subject Related Links:
02/03/2010 Imogen Heap embraces twitter technology or rather wears it
02/03/2010 An “Interactive” Experiment

About No Longer Empty

No Longer Empty (NLE) is a comprised of arts advocates, curators and artists who orchestrate public art exhibitions in vacated storefronts and properties in New York City. The non-profit organization was conceived as an artistic response to our present economic condition and to revitalize empty spaces and areas around the venues by bringing thoughtful, high-caliber art installations with accompanying programs to the public.

Locating art in unexpected places in the public domain suggests new models of community art that are different from major institutions and galleries. Committed to art as a positive component for community and cultural development, No Longer Empty conducts outreach into the community to contribute meaningfully and bolster the local businesses through the increased flow of visitors that these exhibitions attract and by arranging programs such as panel discussions, music and performance evenings, children’s workshops, artist conversations and more.

These exhibitions could not have happened without the vacant spaces being generously donated rent-free by the landlords. The exhibitions and art chosen or created are site specific in the sense that they reflect such issues as the former use or history of the site, the nature of the neighborhood and, of course, the specific features of the space. Both established and emerging artists have been selected for the exhibitions, benefiting our audiences with rich variety and discovery.