Music Revolution

A couple weeks ago, out of boredom, I "googled" my son, Jesse. Up popped several entries on a site called "bandcamp" that I assumed were for another Jesse. Upon further investigation, though, I found that my son had uploaded some of his original music to a website where the world could listen and download his songs for free.


I also found another online recording artist who credited Jesse for "producing the beats" for a song. I asked Jesse how he knew this other guy and he responded by saying he didn't know him--they had heard each other's music online and collaborated on a song.


This was one of those moments where I felt very old as I was hit with how quickly the world is changing. 


I grew up in a household with four older siblings. I can remember when The Beatles were on Ed Sullivan. It was only a few months later that my siblings saw the Fab Four at the new Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Back then, we had to wait for the occasional television performance to see our favorite musicians. We waited for the new album to come out to hear them. We generally bought albums because we heard the new hit single.


As I grew up, I got more and more into music. When I worked summers in the family business, I would buy a new album (or 8-track) every Friday. Sometimes I would buy something without ever having heard the artist, just because it looked interesting.


Nowadays, we can hear every song on an album before purchasing. We can watch performances for free on Youtube. 


Twenty years ago, musicians needed a major record label to be successful. That has totally changed. Artists can now promote themselves on MySpace and Facebook. They give away songs and videos to increase interest.


Beginning musicians can upload their music to internet sites and collaborate with people they have never met. Inexpensive technology and computers allow teens to utilize complicated production techniques in home recordings. Technology has "democracized" music recording. Anyone can write and record songs. Every artist can find an audience. 


Check out Jesse's newest original song--"The Dust Bowl." Jesse plays guitar and mandolin. He made the video from archival film footage.