This one's been in my field a while... the concept, one I can't take credit for and can't remember who first seeded the idea years ago, but that there's been an increasing itch to write about lately...
Somewhere along the way, this young generation caught this bug - and everyone wanted to become "content creators." And "influencers."
And somewhere in that process of shifting collective values & aspirations, emerges a question from outside the phenomena:
What happened to ART? Why the transformation from the soul-calling to be ARTISTS to self-definition and embodiment of a term reducing the results of creativity to mere "content...?"
What happened for the longing of creatives to be artists with the redirection & reidentification as "content creators?"
Somewhere deep in the human psyche, heart, and soul, there was this ache to create - not for approval, validation, social credit, or economic leverage, but to express... to communicate something Divine. To dance in the waves of universal life force, channeling a sliver of Godliness into form. To touch, move, inspire by providing others a glimpse of raw, rich beauty in its purest form. To make others think, feel something, and pause for a moment to reflect on the wonders existing out of day-to-day routine.
And now... kids want to make "content" to feed the algorithm. To gain followers, amass likes, and build up a monetizable audience.
Some time ago, truly great men sought influence in order to teach and impart honorable values. To serve humanity by embodying spiritual principles in action and provide living examples of integrity & wisdom. To help lead society with a vision for responsible stewardship and constructive transformation of one's lower animalistic nature into a higher, more refined character - both individually & collectively. And great women sought to support that role of the masculine, providing only what the embodied feminine can in healthy counterbalance. To influence men, family and community with the type of energy & vision that can only come from a woman well-protected by the masculine from the noise & distortion of the world, living from her own authentic signal.
Now... a generation wants to be "influencers" for the ego-gratification of attention, social capital, and monetary gain. To be seen as "someone." For status, clout, and validation of worth in a culture valuing numbers of followers over substance.
(This all said acknowledging that nuance is essential. This is obviously not true of/for all self-defined "content creators," as there certainly are some who approach it seriously as art and create mindblowingly amazing stuff that inspires many. Nor is this to suggest there aren't "influencers" who aren't using their platforms for truly honorable purposes.
Though after years of observing trends, it's safe to say they are an increasing rarity amongst the dime-a-dozen whose content radiates the energy of content rather than art, whose "influence" is based in/on appearance rather than character. Whose creative output merely fills up space in a social media feed as an undifferentiated economic product rather than something that actually powerfully grabs your attention with the individualized heart, soul and passion put into it. Whose "influence" does more to reinforce cultural beliefs that worth is determined by "success" as measured in monetary & social capital, rather than serve to teach and inspire others in the cultivation of honorable values, integrity, meaningful soul-driven purpose, and real skills required for the embodiment of them.)
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There's been alot of skepticism in circles over the prospect of AI art - arguments that it will diminish human creativity, take attention away from human artists that "deserve" it more, etc, etc. Though I dare debate: in recent years, this shift towards "content creation" has already exemplified the types of concerns these people have about AI art -->> even before AI art arrived, there has been an increasing amount of content on the internet lacking any significant heart & soul distinguishing it from much of the rest of cookie-cutter prototypes being pumped out by "content creators" and "influencers" following the exact same marketing strategies and "success formulas."
Of the top 100 songs on Billboard charts, how many sound like they came out of the same factory...? The music industry has been producing "artists" for years as economic products. Different faces, different clothes as fashion trends change - same variations of chord progressions and 'catchy hooks' deliberately manufacturered to trigger psychological addiction patterns. Same mechanically-precise boy-band and K-pop formulas, just slightly refined over time. Same capitalistic motives to turn "artists" into contracted "content creators" that keep the machine's output steady. Rewind a few decades, and musical artists were making albums - complete masterpieces that etched timeless legacies deep into the souls of listeners worldwide through their statements of artistic genius; now, entire albums are increasingly rare, a majority of musical output being released as singles vying for their 15 minutes of fame.
Of all the "content creators" and "influencers" on social media, how many "morning routine" and "a day in the life of" videos flood Instagram and YouTube nearly interchangeable with one another - it becoming increasingly evident the more you watch that the majority are following the exact same scripts promising "success" as measured by numbers of likes, comments, and follows. Watch enough travel vloggers, self-proclaimed "manifestation" experts, "life coaches," tech nerds with polished gear reviews, MLM sales reps trying to pitch products under the guise of "financial freedom" - all of whom have at some level bought into the identification as "content creators," and it all starts to lose the manufactured allure. Eventually, the high from all the sugar-coatings wears off. And underneath the surface: so little actually has much substance of any truly unique artistic quality that could stand on its own for long without algorithmic push in a collective socio-psycho-economic landscape that has a majority of people seeking quick easy dopamine hits rather than something with far more depth, meaning, heart, and soul.
To the countless "content creators" and "influencers" whose aim it has been to simply "create content" to "build a monetizable platform" by the means of algorithmical manipulation to boost likes, comments, and follows - yeah, AI may pose some "threat..." because it can fulfill the economic role of the same type of content creation... likely far better humans. But, the internet has already become so flooded with generic cookie-cutter "content," that true art standing out as something exceptional... no AI will ever be able to duplicate that. It's already rare as fuck.
AI can't replace artists. But "content creators" already have been.
(Or, they haven't - and never truly can. Because while content can mimick art, there's a certain quality of heart & soul poured into art that can't be falsified - whether by "content creators" pumping out content for the algorithm or by AI algorithms.)
And just maybe, as AI increasingly replaces content creators, we'll see a reemergence of desire for artists once again as the value of "content" becomes increasingly diminished as more people see just how indistinguishable the economic output of "content creators" following cookie-cutter formulas to gain likes & followers is from "art" created by AI's algorithmic formulas. (Or maybe not.)
It needs to be said again: this is not to 'put down' "content creators" and/or "influencers" or imply all who self-identify as such are in any way inferior than artists. (Although it could be fairly argued there are many who are. Lol.) This is all written with an awareness that casting such "opinions" is walking a fine line between discernment and judgemental condescension. And as with many topics, nuance is essential to clarity.
Without a doubt, there are many calling themselves "content creators" that still are artists - no matter the label. "Content creation" does require certain artistic skills. And there are many who make, produce, create, craft, whatever the fuck you wanna call it... amazing content/art.
Likewise, there are surely many "influencers" who in spite of having played the role in current cultural ideologies & linguistic definitions, still are in essence artists. Who aren't doing it solely for all the egoistic status-driven reasons listed above, but as a means to the ends of having their artistic expression reach a wider audience. And that art - whether called "art," "content," or whatever - does touch, move and inspire millions.
And while there are many "content creators" who wouldn't consider themselves "artists" for whatever reasons, whose "content" does resemble more the mass-produced cookie-cutter pop-trend style than anything truly unique & artistic, it too surely has it's place. In spite of its rigid corporate manufacturing akin to an assembly-line, there is great K-pop. (I confess: the Black Pink and Katseye documentaries were probably my two most recent Netflix favorites.) Boy-bands bring joy to millions, no matter anyone's judgements. And for every "content creator" riding the wave of this current trend, there's an audience - small or large - who digs their individual take, no matter the similarity of formulas and adherence to "content creator" cultural protocols.
Surely, too, conversely, there are "artists" whose "art" is crap and put to disgrace by the work of some content creators. To call oneself an "artist" could be just as damn superficial & convoluted, all the profound "meaning" one attributes to it little more than Neptunian delusion & word-salad at times. Ha.
I'd be an asshole if I didn't acknowledge all of this. (And who knows, I might still be a bit of one - still casting traces of judgement, rationalized with seemingly-sound logic cloaking critical self-righteousness. If only I had the original statements on the topic I'd heard years ago that described the phenomenon better for reference, they might reduce the cynical undertone with their more neutral frame. Nonetheless, even if I can't articulate my point(s) with impeccible precision, it's my intention & hope here that y'all can read between the lines and get what I'm getting at here.)
In honesty, I'm in no place to judge. While I may be putting together this "piece of content," rationalizing it as some sort of "artistic" output or "individual expression," there are "content creators" and "influencers" making & putting out stuff far richer in heart & soul. While I've been spinning in circles in my hermit cave, some of them have been pumping out content/art daily and inspiring millions with it. And I ain't gonna play it off as I am "an artist." While I might potentially fit the label, it's one I was never quick to embrace; and I may have somewhat veered from that path. Not necessary buying directly into a "content creator" identity, but perhaps similarly gotten so immersed in music production and audio engineering that lost touch with the heart & soul of songs - and an earlier vision for releasing albums as an artist. Yep, I speak here from experience - having myself swerved from the path of soul-driven creativity into an overly technical & mechanical frame of producing economic output, ambition for worldly validation & success metrics overriding the artistic signal that once wanted to come through. (And surely has the whole time - the repression of which, has been the root of immeasurable tension & conflict.)
And maybe, that is why I'm qualified to discern the difference here...
I couldn't possibly count the number of songs listened to, both during my years as a DJ and before & after, diligently searching for the hidden gems in the rough and needles in the haystack of rare works that stick out with an intensity piercing the soul. I couldn't count all the books I read, YouTube videos I've watched, astrologers, Human Design readers and "spiritual" teachers I've listened to. I couldn't possibly calculate the amount of 'content' I've consumed on social media. Whether ADHD, my Strengthsfinder "Input" strength, or who knows - I've had a strong inclination towards curation that's kept me intensely on the hunt for a fresh supply of inspiration. And I can say with 100% certainty: in spite of the nuances, on the whole, there is absolutely a massive difference between the vast majority of "content" produced by "content creators" and art that is the manifest soul-expression of artists.
It's the difference between yet another reactive swipe through the endless algorithmic feed and being stopped dead in your tracks with absolute AWE.
It's the difference between liking something forgotten seconds later as the hunt continues and those moments time stops as stumbling across something SO fucking potent it doesn't just stop the hunt, it stops time. And next thing you know, three hours has passed as deep-diving into a cat like Japanese dancer Satsuki Kitani's Instagram - SO completely blown away by the sheer artistic mastery and purity of signal. So fucking inspired it hurts as brings into question: what the fuck have you been doing with your whole life when there are examples such as these of what's actually possible.
So my apologies for potentially stepping on the toes of any self-identified "content creators" and "influencers" who may choose to take offence at these critiques. While not sorry for calling out the epidemic of complacency present in the younger generation to have settled for aspirations of being "content creators" battling for success measured in popularity metrics rather than upholding higher standards of artistic vision & integrity as embodied in art.
An embodiment that makes people pause the addictive pursuit of dopamine via short-form content and reflect deeply on the fucking Godly potency of beauty possible as stepping out of the frame of "content" back into the transcendent experience of art as a means of communion with the Divine.
Yeah, tastes differ, and I may not be able to declare what content is & isn't art. Art is always highly subjective. And what I think might just be some crap content, there may be others who see it as art and absolutely love it. Yes, nuance matters. And, distinctions still remain.
There's a difference between productive output many "content creators" aim for to satisfy number-driven 'visibility' goals and thedemand for integrity a true artist embodies through sacred offering at the altar of life as undertaking their soulful duty of passionately birthing meaning into the world.
There's a difference between making something to capture people's attention for just long enough to manipulate their brain into hitting like, subscribe and commenting - versus crafting a masterpiece intending to make a fucking statement.
There's a difference between sitting down to engineer content conforming to current standards of "what works" in the technology-driven dopamine-economy and humbly bowing to the Gods, open to receiving & transmitting something timeless & sacramental as a steward of light bringing Divinity into form for the purpose of increasing the amount of beauty in the world and uplifting souls.
And when you directly experience the contrast of the two side-by-side, it's fucking undeniable.
So pardon my bluntness if any of this is coming off a bit too heated or politically-incorrect. But deep down, I think we're all starving for more signal of real art in this world being increasingly polluted with the noise of endless content.
That what we're really starving for isn't just more content in a never-ending feed of cheap entertainment to appease the growing addiction to dopamine, but connection.
Not the type of "connection" coming through the game of engaging with content put out by people chasing popularity & dollars, but the human-to-human connection that happens as partaking the in the sacred ritual of art being shared. The heart-to-heart and soul-to-souls communion not possible via superficial rapid-fire scrolling, but in those moments when the beacon of light passionately put out into the world as a work of art stops another in their tracks and provides not only a profoundly meaningful sense of connection with the artist, but with Source.
Perhaps it's even been the lack of such connection driving recent rises in addictions to screens - the absence of deep, rich relationships being prime breeding grounds for addiction of all sorts. And rather than address the root, we tend to seek the quick fix. So, the dopamine economy thrives. Longings for artistic suppression reduced to "content creation" as fears of being a "starving artist" are appeased with promises of "success" adaptating to what's trending. Safer to "do what works" than risk bearing one's heart & soul to the world with art that might stand out yet face rejection and seal the fate of broke, struggling, undiscovered artist. I could be wrong. So could we all be.
Yada, yada, yada.
'Nuff probably said here, all-in-all.
You can surely parse through and fill in the rest, if anything here was missed.
Take what resonates. Discard the rest.
And with that all said, there might be no better way to end this than leaving you with one of my "works of art." Enjoy this sneak preview of a track originally crafted in 2019, that I've been re-mixing/remastering for an upcoming album release... 🙏✨