» HADOUKEN « brands aren't the new bands, they're the new SoundCloud rappers
I was just approaching the big 3-0 when I first learned about SoundCloud. A digital platform that facilitates the publishing, discovery and sharing of audio files on the Interwebz? Democracy now! Sign me up! What basically amounts to MySpace without the poor UX, cluttered design and useless v1.0 social networking frills (top-10 lists!), SoundCloud seemingly offered not-yet washed (but soon to be, then…now is a different story altogether) people like me the opportunity to reasonably keep oneself educated on the hottest new acts on the music scene.
Seemingly.
Like all great ideas of our digital age, SoundCloud is a wonderful utility, to a point. That point being the complete and utter inundation of garbage one inevitably experiences after a certain amount of time spent on the platform. Likes beget follows beget a timeline full of “Lil” this and “Young” that, each releasing and re-posting track after track of what amounts to shit that would have never made a B-side back when albums actually mattered. You know, the days when you waited upwards of 2 whole years to experience the complete compendium of sonic output an artist fought to condense and stitch together since his or her last effort.
Today, we instead get what amounts to weekly reminders that these “artists” still exist. Vapid bags of mind-numbing “tracks” are regularly administered intravenously as we lay there, half-sedated under the constant barrage of relevancy as nurses—the influencers!—check our pulses (tweets!) to make sure we “get it.” Each release as forgettable as the last, the point is clear: heaven forbid you forget Lil Tommy Rouge or any fabricated personality whose importance to the advancement of the culture is as much a joke as UntuckIt’s importance to fashion! Their entire lives positioned such that he one day can hopefully become rich and famous. At this point, it’s not even about the music, it’s about attention.*
You know who needs your attention? Of course you do--fashion brands! Think how painful it must be to sit in a room full of 50-something decision makers who come up with #DGMillennials, who reference their latest collection as “streetwear-inspired” or who have to explain to their board that they are moving to a “drop model” because it’s all the rage among the kids. While I generally agree with the last point from an operational perspective for most apparel brands, when taken in context, it’s kind of funny. Of course a steady drip of scarce product makes sense in today’s market, but only when produced under a scarcity model and communicated through the right media to the right audience and with the right intentions (to target and convert a potential consumer whose loyalty to your brand should be viewed more as an eventuality due to shared values and aesthetics). Instead, this is not the case. Brands, like artists on SoundCloud, are desperately dumping product into the market in what amounts more to the retail equivalent of non-consensual sex than thoughtful courtship.
Slow down. Think before you act. A Hail Mary rarely works. Sometimes you need to run the ball down the middle, over and over, until your team is fine-tuned and the defense succumbs. Yes, it is correct that if you sit on the sidelines long enough you will find that the game has evolved and that your methods are no longer effective. However, I (and I posit most consumers) will take a 6th Man-Award winning player over some scrub chucking up threes from 35 feet out every time he touches the ball.