Lately, I have been thinking about the parallels between skateboarding and music ecosystem, much like the parallels between music and tech I have previously written about. Take the simple ollie as an example, the level of today’s versions of that simple trick shows just how far skating has come.
Much like music the speed of innovation has a lot to do with technological advancement. Surely, boards, wheels and trucks must have come a long way since I skated? What I think has changed the most is the speed and level of ambition which is now possible. Yes, technology played a part in the advancements but it is still about the ideas. Rodney Mullen is an amazing skater but the footwork of some of these new skaters is beyond insane, not to mention the fact I can see their newest tricks moments after they happen. Same in music. Look how far electronic music has come since the mid-70s. Or how a group like Migos can record hit records from their closet. Blows my mind. Today’s change is FAST.
Looking back I started skating during its first big wave – Powell Peralta, Tony Hawk and Thrasher Mag. Back in the 80s street was just getting going, the “ollie” was still new. A long time ago now, so it is amazing to take a 30-year pause and see how things have developed. Makes it all the more interesting how I’ve ended up following skating again…via Instagram.
To say that things have quickly moved on since I skated is an understatement. I mean people like Clay Kreiner or Nyjah Huston. There’s another skater who I really liked who rode for Santa Cruz, Henry Gartland. Youtube is full of videos showing how much determination goes into him landing just one trick for Insta. I was sad to hear that he took his own life. That is always so shocking, but it’s, unfortunately, more common than one might think, which is why we donate money to the UK’s Maytree every time we do a #HowWeListen Live. I see this as the flip side of things blowing up faster, they can fade away equally as fast. People talk about how so many famous musicians join the 27 Club. That’s old news. Now you can blow up and die in the same year, long before the big two seven, or even before your first full-length album comes out.
I’ve written about the influence of the 4-track and 8-track recorder on producing and releasing records in the 90s. The result was lots more music being both created and released. I’ve also mentioned my time working at an artist-run label around the same time. Back then the name of the game was trying to get your records distributed. Making music available for people to actually buy as a CD or vinyl was the biggest challenge.
Today, well the barriers to entry are gone. ANYONE can release music then blow up overnight while they sleep, so the legend goes for Post Malone. Though as we all well know, he was making music long before that overnight success happened.
This new world doesn’t just affect new artists trying to break out but every artist out there. In Pop’s need for speed: ‘You have to drop new stuff constantly’, the Guardian’s Aimee Cliff interviews UK artists like Foals and The 1975. Both confess to being affected by the “existential reasons” behind today’s music pace for releases. In the article Foals’ Yannis Philippakis talks about a time when iTunes were the gatekeepers, dictating album formats and release schedules “Streaming has totally dismantled that” he says. A while back, in Complex Mag, I cited the Beyonce album drop as a way larger artists get around piracy. That was only a few years ago, now keeping up your release frequency takes precedent to piracy.
Either way, there will always be a solution for larger artists and their teams, more resources (usually) means better planning. What does this mean for newer and DIY artists? I see two big challenges to overcome; first finding a structure that works, then making it work long-term.
Back to skateboarding. Today there are hundreds of new tricks, but most are variations around the ollie or simple grinds. Like skating, while much has changed in the music industry, the basic building blocks have stayed the same. You need to reach people with your music. At one time you had to convince certain people, be it distributors or labels, to give your music a chance in order to reach people. Now ANYONE can release music via streaming services. I have previously written that this is a good thing but it does come with some challenges. If anyone can release music then everyone is trying to get noticed. Imagine what a record store would have looked like 20 years ago if every record ever released was available to buy on the racks. That is what it is like today. Access has been democratised, now it is all about getting noticed. We focus a lot on how people in the music industry notice or find music in our #HowWeListen interviews. We have realized that while everyone has their own unique ways of discovering music there are recurring themes. This is where planning and finding a structure that works comes in, targeting who you want to hear your music by knowing how they access their music. The best trick is to look around and incorporate those things you see working for others and then make them work for you. Timelines are equally as important. If you want to promote your music when it’s released, some people need to hear it before the release date.
Once you have a plan and a structure, the challenge is making your structure work long-term. The downside to the fact that tracks blow up overnight, is they can disappear just as fast. Before digital democracy, it might have taken a few records to get real attention, that time could be used to get established and slowly develop a plan. Now you need to get traction right away and then find a way to maintain it. I would argue that in some ways this is even harder today than before. This goes back to when I wrote about “Here” and “There”, you need to know where “there” is, and where you want to go. The Thin Sleek Dart is what I call the ideal approach, you need to know what you are aiming for and visualise the path forward. Today’s music ecosystem has removed all the barriers between “Here” and “There”. So it’s up to you to plan on how to make an impact.
Thinking back I was never a good skateboarder, I was too afraid of the pavement. Skiing and snowboarding were much easier as I was much less worried about slamming into a snowbank than on pavement. Maybe fear is not just about if something will happen but more about how it will happen. That fear I had in skating, I see it in a lot of people I talk to wanting to get into music or trying to move their music and/or their careers forward. The best piece of advice I can give is that I’d be more worried about what will not happen than what will.