by Barry Drogin
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Get with it.
If you don't have a homepage, get with it.
If you're not multi-media, get with it.
If you don't realize that "live" is a subset of "event," that "real" is a subset of "experience," that if you're not connected, you don't exist, then it is definitely time to get with it. Or get out.
I have always said that young composers write the history of music. Now, there is no doubt. The reins of power must be shared. After you're dead, if you are not linked to, if you are not mentioned, if you are out of stock, out of print, URL not found, no search results, you will cease to exist both corporeally and culturally.
You cannot link indiscriminately. A network of nobodies still consists of nobodies. You must help those you care about, unconditionally, but you must have a reason, you must believe in what you're doing and believe in others, and say why.
You must do it all, and you must do so on multiple levels, in multiple mediums, in multiple venues, old business models be damned. You must play with multiple business models. You must decide what to give away for free and what to sell, but you must give away something for free.
Some will have power, some will have influence, but some of it will be by virtue of their position, and they will make of that position what they will. Then they will not longer be in that position, and they will be ignored, or worse. They will not be able to hide their image from the power of the search engine. They will not get the last word in.
Content is king. Content will always be king. You won't be able to fool anyone, or at least, not for long. If you grab that brass ring and collect that pot of gold, mix your metaphors and milk it for as much as you can, for it will soon be gone and you will be yesterday. But you will be a freak, and everyone will know that you are a freak. You will be frozen in time. What will you do for the rest of your life?
Do good work, and do good works. But don't confuse purity with integrity. "Live" is a subset of "event." If you are only live, then you are scarcely alive. Be the process that leads to "live," and the process that follows "live" as well. Make "live" a part of the process. Make the process the "event." Keep the "event" on-going. Play with the "event." Change the "event." Let the "event" evolve into another "event," or spawn other "events." Be the "event." Collaborate with others on the "event." The "event" is the thing with which you will catch the king. Catch the king. Death to the king. Long live the "event."
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