Vi Hart

"If you address yourself to an audience, you accept at the outset the basic premises that unite the audience. You put on the audience, repeating cliches familiar to it. But artists don't address themselves to audiences, they create audiences. The artist talks to himself out loud. If what he has to say is significant, others hear and are affected."

http://bit.ly/MBnNNM

That's the essence of classic rock, the essence of old school hip-hop. HOW DID THEY COME UP WITH THIS SHIT?

The best, most legendary artists of the classic rock era were unique. You might have been able to trace the connection to what came before, but what you were listening to sounded like nothing else. Kind of like comparing "Love Me Do" with the White Album. Yes, it was the same act, but the Beatles went on a journey of self-discovery, they refused to repeat themselves. The point wasn't to give people what they wanted, but to test personal limits and hope the audience followed you.

To a great degree music is artistically bankrupt.

Let's start with radio. We used to LOVE the radio, we were addicted to it. The deejays picked the tracks, respected us, and commercials were kept to a minimum. We couldn't wait to tune in. That's the first thing you did when you got home, never mind in the car. Can you imagine tuning in today's stations at home? You'd have to be a glutton for punishment, there are so many better alternatives. The radio was a club, the tribal drum, something we were all addicted to, discussed and followed. Modern radio let us down. Blame the Telecommunications Act of 1996, blame the owners, blame the "talent". Sure, there are still some good outlets, but they've been tainted by the stink of their brethren.

Then there's the labels... They only want what sells, instantly. Go to them with something left field, that is not radio-ready, and they'll laugh. They're out. They want what's easy. Once upon a time labels were run by owners who loved the music, who loved money less, now the reverse is true. Cut the salaries of the label honchos by ninety percent and see how many stay on.

Now nobody bitches as hard as artists. But if you cut their salaries, however meager, they'd continue to play. You see music is a religion.

But those are the old people. The young 'uns have been brought up in a bankrupt musical culture and just want to replicate what they see on TV, hear on the radio. I mean do we really need another Britney Spears, never mind Christina or Mariah? But that's all they know. And their parents want them to be financially comfortable and they don't stop telling their progeny how great they are so we've got a bunch of untalented me-toos fighting for attention from a public that pretty much shrugs its shoulders.

You see what the public wants is artists.

Not only the Beatles, but David Bowie and Roxy Music and Jethro Tull.

But everyone's afraid to be an artist. They're afraid to walk into the wilderness.

Until yesterday, I had no idea who Vi Hart was. But watching this video I got hooked. First and foremost by the voice. It wasn't auto-tuned, it didn't sound like someone famous, in the media, but someone real. Never underestimate the power of real. That's what we truly relate to, connect with, cannot get enough of.

And Vi is asking the classic YouTube questions... How can I play the game, rig the system, so more people can know me and I can become more famous.

If your goal is to become famous, please give up. We've already got enough of those. We're not interested.

And if your goal is to create a YouTube video that will get so many hits you can give up your day job as a result of the payments, give up too. Because the public hates lowest common denominator bottom fishers. Ever notice that the most successful viral videos are a party of one? It was a stroke of luck which cannot be repeated. The odds of having multi digit millions multiple times out is essentially zero. But you can create something of value and reach enough people to gain sustainability. You've got to shoot lower. You've got to know today everybody is a niche. And you're out to grow yours.

Vi quotes a decades-old book, Edmund Snow Carpenter's "They Became What They Beheld". It was written long before the Internet era, but it applies 100%. As does all truth. Whether it be the Greek philosophers or the aforementioned Beatles.

And like so many great things, Vi's video doesn't grab you instantly, it doesn't hook you right away, like all those books about creating hit songs tell you to do. But it's inviting enough that you stay with it, to reap its rewards.

And the video was so good, I decided to do some research.

This math whiz was so successful, she got a job with Khan Academy. Which was even featured on "60 Minutes". Khan is changing the world. Justin Bieber is not.

So are you an artist or a performer?

We've got enough of the latter.

We don't have enough of the former.

You've got to enjoy the work. You've got to be happy if you never become rich and famous. You've got to toil long enough that all the pieces fall into place, that your work sells itself.

That's how it once was in music.

That's how it's going to have to be again.

"Bending and Stretching Classroom Lessons to Make Math Inspire": http://nyti.ms/dHTuVX

Notice that the above article was published on January 17, 2011, eighteen months ago. You think publicity reaches everybody instantly, it does not. But stories live on online, so if someone suddenly becomes interested, they can find out about you.

"Khan Academy: The future of education?": http://cbsn.ws/z9K3a8

Do you think Salman Khan started his academy with the goal to get on "60 Minutes"? It's backwards in music, the end result is put first. If you're great opportunities will find you, not the other way around.

P.S. I found out about Vi Hart virally. That's how we find all the great stuff today, from links, from friends. And the sense of discovery is inspiring and ultimately overwhelming. I had to do more research, I had to find out what she looked like, I had to tweet about it. The old farts say we lost something with the death of vinyl album art. But we gained so much with the Internet. Now there's a plethora of information online for those who truly care. And the hunt for nuggets is akin to panning for gold. We do it alone. Not told to by anybody else, but personally inspired. It's so rewarding. And we hold dear that which we discover. And we tell everybody we know about our adventures, what we find. Not everything, just that which we know will resonate, which will not only inspire our friends but burnish our image as a connector.


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