Matthew Good, whether he realizes it or not, exemplifies why more artists should blog. More musicians, more writers, more painters, more…maybe not everyone, but the ones with something to say. It doesn’t have to be political activism or witty saterical social commentary all the time. Posts like this one, same with Malcolm Gladwell’s here, add an ounce of humanity where the shiny exterior of an unwrapped CD and the crisp pages of a freshly purchased book end.
There are "artist blogs" that exist in places like Myspace – one of my favorite bands in the entire world is guilty of just posting entries about new shows, cancelled dates, and time off to record a new album.
I can find that on Ticketmaster. And undoubtedly many other websites.
What entries like the above examples show is an intensely personal side of a person who we mostly only get to see/hear/read about in the limelight. It’s not stylized and all perpetually acceptance speechy. And what makes it all the more special is that while I get to smile and be fascinated at their willingness to allow people like me to witness this teeny peephole into their minds, at the same time it is quite clear that they are getting something out of their blogging as well. I love that.
If I’m wondering whether or not the "celebrity" is writing the entries, that’s a bad sign. There’s lots of record label controlled psuedo blogs out there (and to their credit they have many fans…). To the best of my knowledge, and following what seems like common sense, there are fewer artists and writers who suffer from this kind of reining in/control. Regardless, I hope to see blogs like the above examples become the norm. At least, for those who feel like they’ve got something they need to say.
“If I’m wondering whether or not the celebrity is writing the entries, that’s a bad sign.”
Amen. I had this argument with a certain CEO recently – if a company wants to set up an RSS feed for press releases, go for it. Just don’t call it a blog.
I’m not sure why it irritates me so much, though – blogs are also about choice, so people can ignore ones they find irrelevant. I suppose as much as anything the key for me is transparency – if a press release feed is openly a press release feed, then maybe it shouldn’t matter whether the word “blog” is used or not.
I agree, Wendell. Remember when blogs started way back, and they were people writing about what flavor of Cheerios they ate for breakfast, followed by, “arg! that guy I hate at the office wore THE SAME SHOES in today…AGAIN”.
The quality of writing and information dissemination has definitely grown quickly. I find the blogs such as yours and Rachel’s to be entertaining / thought provoking.
It makes me wonder if I should stray from posting mainly about a single topic, and articulate other things…