Your comment reminded me of a podcast I listened to a few weeks ago. “You’re Dead To Me!”, which is a history podcast, did an episode on the History of “Cultural Fandom. One of the key ideas raised was how the invention of mass media (eg the printing press) changed the relationship between reader and author. Before the printing press, yo…
Your comment reminded me of a podcast I listened to a few weeks ago. “You’re Dead To Me!”, which is a history podcast, did an episode on the History of “Cultural Fandom. One of the key ideas raised was how the invention of mass media (eg the printing press) changed the relationship between reader and author. Before the printing press, your audience would be limited to your close circle of friends (realistically, fellow educated writers as well). But with mass media, readers still longed for this personal connection with the author!
And this was beneficial for the writers as well. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, for example, thrived on having correspondence with her fans. She had likewise been a loyal fan of Wordsworth, so by receiving the same praise from “random strangers”, helped her to feel empowered as a writer.
Essentially, people don’t just want to “consume product”, they want to feel like they have a deeper connection and understanding of the author. While I haven’t been here for long, I think Substack taps into this phenomenon quite well. It avoids the “echo chamber” issue when forming small niche online communities. And isn’t on such a macro scale that the system is forced to rely on “engagement” rates and emotional content. I haven’t started publishing here yet, but as a reader I’ve certainly felt more comfortable reaching out to authors of work I like and having a meaningful discussion.
(Podcast was through the BBC but I think it’s on Spotify and other platforms if it’s region locked)
I've been thinking of the same thing you were except for music. It's amazing (but also really obvious) to think that before the technology to record music, the only way to listen to music was at a live performance. But that performance may be the only time you would hear that specific piece of music.
Yep and it’s interesting to think about how many of the icons of the classical music canon (think Bach, Mozart, Beethoven), died penniless and whose music was only rediscovered years later through scholarly research. There are still many ambiguities as to how to perform some of these pieces because of the difference in conventions and standards of the time. (HIP = Historically Informed Performance) Recording technology for sure helps the long term preservation of an artist and their work.
Your comment reminded me of a podcast I listened to a few weeks ago. “You’re Dead To Me!”, which is a history podcast, did an episode on the History of “Cultural Fandom. One of the key ideas raised was how the invention of mass media (eg the printing press) changed the relationship between reader and author. Before the printing press, your audience would be limited to your close circle of friends (realistically, fellow educated writers as well). But with mass media, readers still longed for this personal connection with the author!
And this was beneficial for the writers as well. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, for example, thrived on having correspondence with her fans. She had likewise been a loyal fan of Wordsworth, so by receiving the same praise from “random strangers”, helped her to feel empowered as a writer.
Essentially, people don’t just want to “consume product”, they want to feel like they have a deeper connection and understanding of the author. While I haven’t been here for long, I think Substack taps into this phenomenon quite well. It avoids the “echo chamber” issue when forming small niche online communities. And isn’t on such a macro scale that the system is forced to rely on “engagement” rates and emotional content. I haven’t started publishing here yet, but as a reader I’ve certainly felt more comfortable reaching out to authors of work I like and having a meaningful discussion.
(Podcast was through the BBC but I think it’s on Spotify and other platforms if it’s region locked)
I've been thinking of the same thing you were except for music. It's amazing (but also really obvious) to think that before the technology to record music, the only way to listen to music was at a live performance. But that performance may be the only time you would hear that specific piece of music.
Yep and it’s interesting to think about how many of the icons of the classical music canon (think Bach, Mozart, Beethoven), died penniless and whose music was only rediscovered years later through scholarly research. There are still many ambiguities as to how to perform some of these pieces because of the difference in conventions and standards of the time. (HIP = Historically Informed Performance) Recording technology for sure helps the long term preservation of an artist and their work.
Yes, it’s all really interesting.