Infinite Span in the Time of Coronavirus
/Throughout the past months, our lives have been upended in ways that feel novel and unprecedented. It’s even called the “novel” coronavirus. Schools and offices closed, events cancelled, travel halted — most of us, including myself, have never experienced these disruptions at such a grand scale.
We’ve had to alter our routines, adjust our expectations, and adapt to a new normal. Maybe it’s coincidence — or maybe it’s synchronicity (which happens to be a great Police album) — but shifts like these are exactly what my book Infinite Span: Lives in Music is all about.
The book includes stories of influential individuals from music history who’ve gone through similar cultural, epidemiological, and technological transitions. It’s a guide for working, growing, adapting and living in an ever-evolving world of creativity, commerce, and connection.
In the modern music industry, concerts and touring often represent the largest revenue source for many artists, venues and other companies. With physical shows wiped out, so too is their business for the foreseeable future. And we don’t know when it’s going to come back. It’s possible that as public events return, there will be incredible demand for live music, but nobody knows for certain how it will look.
We are experiencing increasing cognitive, biological, and societal dissonance. And we don’t know how to resolve it, and move towards consonance. There is no single answer, but we can help ourselves by placing these experiences in context.
In the late 1990s, recorded music was the most valuable product in the businesses — many artists viewed touring as promotion for records. With the popularization of file sharing, and the industry’s unwillingness to adapt to the digital age, that revenue disappeared. Some thought the industry was collapsing. Why would artists record music if they couldn’t sell CDs? Today, we know recorded music is as popular as ever, but it's been transformed and streaming is the new model. Recorded music remains, but in a new medium.
Through this pandemic, we’re witnessing innovation in digital performance. Future possibilities are coming to life due to necessity. Twitch, YouTube, and Instagram Live — once thought of as platforms for gamers and lifestyle influencers — are offering new promotional and monetization opportunities for artists. When the old live performance model begins to reemerge, these methods won’t disappear.
Many are lamenting this pandemic’s impact on music and the creative industries. While we are in an economic downturn, we’re also in a creative opportunity. If streaming was born out of file sharing, what will emerge now? In many ways, the emerging and undeveloped artists and entrepreneurs are best placed to take advantage of these opportunities. Large companies can get stuck in their business models. The young, independent musician and entrepreneur can do whatever they please.
While we can examine new opportunities around us, figuring out what to do is difficult. Those first steps are always challenging. Infinite Span combines history, philosophy, and analysis to provide foundation for self reflection and growth and offer a platform to discover new ways of thinking and learning.
As a professor, teaching online is not as enjoyable for me as being in the classroom. The technology that affords us this connection is easy to take for granted, but it didn’t exist until roughly the past decade, and even if it’s worse than in person, it’s much better than nothing.
So like musicians all around the world, I’m working to find new ways to reach my audience. Infinite Span is a new opportunity to communicate, and I hope you join me on this journey.
