Singers and their creations
On album release days, AI slop factories, and the appeal of creating things organically in the real world
Taylor Swift has conclusively proven that, no matter what happens to terrestrial radio broadcasting, the legacy of pop music remains true to its name. Whether objectively newsworthy or not, her newly released album has been the subject of at least 100 articles in news publications just on its first day. Whatever else the album may or may not be, it is certainly popular.
■ The album has been streamed millions of times, reviewed exhaustively, and been made the subject of scores of podcasts. It is not enough for us to have entertainment, we seem compelled to entertain ourselves by rehashing the entertainment itself seemingly nearly as much as we consume it in the first place.
■ Entertainment can lead to lots of good sensations: Happiness, joy, pleasure, even satisfaction. But one thing that pure entertainment isn’t equipped to provide is a sense of fulfillment. Consumption (like listening to music, watching a movie about an album, or looking at photos of a singer) lights up the brain in different ways than original, organic creation.
■ With every passing day, it becomes easier and easier to consume entertainment non-stop anywhere and anytime. Facebook users are even being invited to virtually snap their fingers and produce endless streams of AI-generated video slop.
■ Against these headwinds, we have to be sure that the real creative pursuits get their due share of our time. Without them, something goes missing -- not just at the social level, but for the individual, too. Doing is more rewarding than viewing.
