Notes From The Week #7

Welcome back. Media heavy this week. Appreciate everyone that’s still rocking with these notes and that reaches out to offer additional articles, podcasts and thoughts to consider. Since I’m speaking about the attention economy this week it’s only fitting to say that I appreciate you taking the time to explore some thoughts with me. You could be anywhere on this world wide web but for a few minutes in your week you spend it with me and I’m grateful for that.

The Attention Economy

In the attention economy, the ability to hold an audience’s ears and eyes becomes the main goal. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has said that the streaming giant's biggest rivals aren't Amazon, YouTube or even traditional broadcasters. It is actually sleep. When asked about the company’s competitors during a Netflix earnings call in 2017, Hastings said: “You know, think about it, when you watch a show from Netflix and you get addicted to it, you stay up late at night. We’re competing with sleep, on the margin. And so, it’s a very large pool of time.”

The same hour an individual uses to scroll TikTok could have been an hour used to watch an episode from the latest series on Netflix or Amazon Prime. The hour-long podcast episode could be spent listening to the latest project of your favourite artist. While content consumption is not zero-sum, an individual could easily do both consecutively, the fact still stands that both tend not to be done at the same time. To be discovered or heard, musicians must compete effectively with all forms of content. And with the introduction of social media influencers in the last decade, musicians no longer have the monopoly over the attention and thus sole influence of their audiences. The attention economy has significantly fragmented this influence as it is not uncommon for people to identify more with YouTubers as they may be provided with a deeper insight into their life.

Musicians are competing for the same ears (and eyes) as all the other players in the attention economy and this is directly impacting the music that is being created. The ways in which we consume music has changed—particularly with the onset if streaming. It makes it incredibly easy to skip songs and as a result the frame of a song has changed. In the mid-1980s, the average intro of a chart-topping song ran for 20-25 seconds. By 2015, it had decreased to 5 seconds. No wonder why DaBaby was always eager to get his stuff off.

Economics also play in role in influencing song structure. Spotify structures the payment of royalties on per song, per stream basis and only if it’s been listened to for 30 seconds. This strongly encourages a shift away from the album strategy that categorised the business of music for the last 40 years and shifts towards placing more importance on the single release in a shorter and catchier structure. A strategy that the Hip Hop artist Russ has become relatively well-known for.

In the video below—Vince Staples provides some interesting thoughts to the evolution of what encompasses a music superstar. He talks about how the attention economy has changed even the metrics used by record labels and music executives when discussing the popularity of an artist.

Theory Must Accompany Practice

I’ve been thinking a lot about organising and political action recently — a debate came on Twitter as to the viability of Black Capitalism. Looking at both sides of the debate reminded me of the time when I watched One Night in Miami. A fierce directorial debut from the incredibly talented Regina King. The movie depicts a night spent between four African American juggernauts; Malcolm X, Jim Brown, Sam Cooke and Muhammad Ali intensely discussing the plight of their people and their respective roles and responsibilities within the movement. We are provided with a thrillingly fierce discussion whilst also walking the stirring emotional burdens these men are placed with—particularly Malcolm X. A man who sought to give his all to the political and social liberation of his people at the very real cost to himself and his family.

I thought of my own contributions to the situations at hand in my community and how I’ve sought to remedy some ills I’ve seen. The questions they posed to each other seemed weirdly close to the questions me and my friends ask ourselves: are we doing enough? Particularly when we have been provided with opportunities that haven’t always been available to people who share the same hue/class condition as us. I still maintain that for the purposes of value creation—capitalism proves effective but without the proper controls in place to manage progressive redistribution of wealth will ultimately not create the positive environment for society to continue to be productive.

Watching the movie seemed eerily familiar—the tension of navigating different worlds and somehow trying to bring them to an amicable fusion in your mind. This weekend I revisited an essay from Huey Newton discussing the Black Panther Party’s take on black capitalism (Huey Newton on “Black Capitalism”). It reminded (and encouraged) me that theory and practice must always go together. One is insubstantial if it is not accompanied by the other.

Bad Since ‘97

BNXN (formerly known as Buju) has become one of Afrobeats breakout musicians in the last 2 years. I first became acquainted with him in 2020 through the remix of his song Lenu which featured Burna Boy. The melodies he provided were refreshing and there was a fine-drawn swagger that I really enjoyed. Visiting the Africa Fashion exhibition last week I ran through the tape and enjoyed it as a smooth accompaniment to the exhibition.

Favourite songs from the tape and some thoughts from the artist:

• Many Ways (feat. Wizkid)

• Modupe

Until next week. Peace.