Simon Hewitt Jones - The Violin Blog

Mar

26

Open Source Culture

Filed Under Future of Music | 

Some Thoughts

The old guard is competitive.

The new order is collaborative.

Sure, it’s a vast generalization, but it is often true.

The fusty old professorcrank passes on his trade secrets to his favoured students. His folly? Scarcity = value. Back then, maybe. Not now. The real truth about his ’secret method’ of creating extra resonance for the staccato on an upbow when playing at a moderate to fast speed (or whatever)? Noone knows about it, so noone gives a damn.

The cheery old professor is generous with his knowledge, and feeds ideas to anyone who will take them. He always raises the bar for himself; he has to keep looking for something new to pass on, even though he’s in his eighties. His abundant approach echoes ideaviruses through the generations that follow him. People become inspired.

Those people fighting to keep the rights in the old declining record industry? They’re like the fusty professorcranks. As for the technologists breaking down the barriers - they’re not a new breed. They’ve been there all along, in the form of the cheery and the generous people.

But for the first time ever, the structures of technology favour the side of abundance.

That doesn’t make it easy to jump ship, though. Especially for those who are used to the scarcity mindset, and who have succeeded with it in the past. The potential unknowns are more frightening than the failing knowns. It’s too tempting to stay with what you know; to look for a quick fix, not a complete refigurement.

Deep, profound change isn’t just a question of flexibility; it’s also a question of courage.

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