Who remembers watching the news on September 11, 2001? Do you remember watching as planes flew into the twin World Trade Center towers? Were you glued to your television as reports came regularly? Did you call friends and family to be sure they were watching? Did you know someone in New York City and worry about them? This is a shared experience on a grand scale.
There are other examples of this type of shared experience, but you need to go back farther in modern history to find relevant examples. How about the assassination of President Kennedy in November of 1963. This is truly a shared experience. Ask anyone from that generation to tell you where they were when they heard the news. I’m sure they will remember.
My father remembers where he was when Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese and World War II started. In fact, that was 82 years ago today—“A day that will live in infamy,” said President Franklin Roosevelt. My father would soon go to fight in this war.
This type of national trauma sears itself into some peoples memory.
But a shared experience doesn’t need to be so traumatic with world shattering consequences. In fact, today with news traveling at the speed of the Internet, it’s more difficult to find anything that qualifies as a “shared experience,” let alone reality.
This is a problem we here at TikiKiti face every day. We watch music videos (hey, it’s a tough job). We have watched the modern music video become something few would have imagined a generation ago. The music video is an artistic statement. Although it is often still considered a tool to market music, to become successful it needs to be brilliant and unique in ways never imagined by the big-time record executives that used to run MTV back in the 1980s and 1990s.
Today, the music video needs to grab the attention of someone scrolling through their social media feeds at lightening speeds. Because of this we see that songs are getting shorter and videos more dynamic. Take this for example: For MTV in the 80s, the pop group Timbuk 3 made their own video for their song “The Future's So Bright.” It played on MTV at the time because every pop song needed an MTV video if they wanted to become popular.
Now compare the first Timbuk 3 video with the video above done earlier this year by Optimoos—the YouTube channel name of Jorge Dugule from Spain. (This video he did for TikiKiti for our International Film Festival for this year.)
Using modern AI (artificial intelligence) software created just this year, he created a brilliant animation in a fraction of the time it took Timbuk 3 to do their, more traditional video. Everything about the Optimoos video is better—and more memorable. The production quality is a no brainer; there are no low quality film or video cameras involved. This freed up Optimoos to concentrate on being creative. Once he had the idea he built it with this new software and edited the production in that same software.
But without something like MTV where is the shared experience? When MTV first came to everyone’s attention it was an overwhelming success. Everyone started to talk to their friends; “Did you see that video by (insert famous group name from the ‘80s here!?)” This was where people went to share popular culture.
MTV stopped being relevant a generation ago. When they stepped aside, social media took over. Or, maybe they realized they could not complete with the likes of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Social media has taken over the role that was once the domain MTV and the music video. Along with this shift in the power dynamic it has become more difficult for any one artist to get the same kind of attention. MTV was the gate keeper. They decided what was popular—and what wasn’t—because they had the eyes watching them. They also had the money from the big record labels to fuel them.
In 2008 David Byrne was interviewed by Wired Magazine. From that interview came the article David Byrne’s Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists. In this article he discussed how technology has changed music production. With these changes the individual had more control they ever before over their career path. This article is still relevant today because technology has improved so much it is now easier for artists to control their music and the path they want to take. But it failed to take into consideration what would happen when our culture was inundated with choices.
Another serious flaw with this article was cultural myopia. Merge record label cofounder Mac McCaughan was quoted as saying, “The bands we work with, we never recommend that they make videos. I like videos, but they don’t sell a lot of records. What really sells records is touring — and artists can actually make money on the tour itself if they keep their budgets down.” In fact, nearly all record label types today will say the same thing.
They are all wrong.
Most new artists are struggling to make ends meet, let alone go on the road with an entourage. Maybe this is why YouTube has tens of thousands of music videos. People really do like to watch music videos. There are plenty of independent producers who can prove this. Now that YouTube and other social media platforms let artists monetize their channels, an effective alternative to touring is available. But artists still need to work hard at making money on these platforms.
As much as the recording label types want you to think so, the music video never died. Technology saved it as well.
This takes us back to the idea of a shared experience. AI software made it easier for individual artists and musicians to create their own music videos. The only cost would be the time required to learn and produce a video. Because of this new technology we have been seeing a proliferation of contests based on the music video. These contests have helped create the current environment for a renaissance in the music video that has led to some of the most artistic videos ever create.
Two classic rock artists, Peter Gabriel and Pink Floyd, have been largely responsible for this re-birth. Peter Gabriel released his new album “I/O,” his first in over 20 years, and Pink Floyd is celebrating the 50th anniversary of their album, “The Dark Side of the Moon.” These two events helped to bring the AI video to the forefront of music video production.
In his animation to the entire “The Dark Side of the Moon” album, Optimoos has taken his AI animation to different level and created an entire film to this classic album. After showing the complete film to friends, I was reminded of what is now considered a shared experience.
I first watched this film from beginning to end by myself. I was difficult to stop midway. Then I invited friends to watch it—without telling them I had an ulterior motive. Once everyone was together and settling into conversation I started the playlist. The music was immediately recognizable by everyone. It didn’t take long before the conversations stopped and all eyes were watching this film.
As each song stopped and the next started everyone was transported to when they first heard this album. There were a few “shushes” when someone started to talk, even though there was no dialogue to disrupt. At one point near the end someone remarked, “I didn’t know people could make something like this.” The animation is breathtaking—and to state the obvious, out of this world. As one person watching said, “It’s like taking drugs without the drugs.”
When it was over there was a rush to the toilet. But conversation was light as people were still trying to digest what they had seen. Later, one person told me they would forever think of this film when they heard the music again. Many asked me to send them the link. They knew they would want to watch it again.
A shared experience today is usually on a scale similar to what you see on YouTube. Even with all the “influencers” across social media, the shared experience is more personal. Size is determined by how many can say “you have to check out this video I saw on YouTube.”
Then ask them to text you the link.
