Music Finds You Online

GS sent me a link to a blog on The Root about Janelle Monae's new CD. Well, the piece really isn't about Monae's new release. It's a long speculation about whether the gatekeepers of modern pop culture are going to allow Monae to become the big star she ought to be.

There's no question that she's not likely to get the insane press and hype of Lady Gaga. She can sing for one thing.

Ok, ok, I like Gaga just fine. But she's a phenomenon and Monae is way more that that. She's producing concept albums and working a vintage African American aesthetic, along with about fifty other things. And I think she's going to get huge success, not because she's going to get gigantic radio play, which is sort of the hub of the article in The Root, but because she's getting fans and getting known through the internet, because she's in the right place, with the right music to be viral.

I'm on the email list of this guy Bob Lefetz, who's been in LA for ever it sounds like and I can't quite remember how I got on this cranky, interesting guy's list. But he knows his stuff about the music business and all sorts of famous and behind the scenes people write him back to yell at him and thank him. He's pretty firm on the idea the the conventional ways of getting music to the people and money to the artists are dead.

He's not perfect. He's a little too strong on how wonderful Sirius radio is and loved this Eagles concert not long ago. But I think he's probably right about the change in the business.

Why? Because I didn't hear about Janelle Monae on the radio. I don't listen to the radio. Not because I don't love music. It's because I do love music that I can't stand most pop radio stations. Repetitious, no real flow, too many commercials. I used to listen to the radio all the time. But when marketing and market share stomped the last independent fm stations, I pretty much quit.

So how do I find new stuff? Online. People write about bands and I go and look for a YouTube video. A blogger will post a link. Emusic sends me email. 4AD sends me email. There's a ton of music and most of it's online. And music finds its way to every willing ear. I mean I saw Monae's "Tightrope" video on Facebook about month after I'd first heard about her from Black Nerds Network. If she's on Facebook, I don't think she needs your local Top 40 or Urban radio station to make it.

I'm going to find her album this week. I'm not downloading it from iTunes because I'm hating them right now. I bet I can find it somewhere else online.