First blog

I've been debating starting this thing for quite awhile now, as I have no real clear idea of what to write about. I've decided, I suppose, that I'll write about the topic of online audio submission. I've been essentially obsessed with the website Newgrounds, once again. It seems, though, that since I was last an active member of the site (roughly 4 years ago, back in high school!), people have grown up a bit, at least a little. I've started to get more and more constructive criticism through this site than any other. And that's quite a statement to make, given the site's history.

Newgrounds has always been a place where you could go to see the always distasteful, usually hilarious flash media that random people throughout the world submit to. I've never put a single video up, for the simple fact that it's way to time-consuming in my opinion to make one of those movies correctly. Writing music comes much more naturally, and as more and more people comment and request and vote on these things that I submit, I find myself becoming a better musician. 

The members on this site force you to try your damndest to put something worthwhile on the site, or you'll get ripped apart. I've submitted my share of half-assed media, and I've been shamed publicly for it. But, when you do succeed and really do something right, you're rewarded with respect and admiration from your fellow followers of Pico.

I've also had a lot of experience with other "music" sites, which are generally Myspace clones in disguise. Myspace itself, it seems, is one giant whorefest and friend competition. I don't see the point in spending countless hours getting new friends, simply to create a large number halfway down the homepage, when you could be writing newer and better material, gigging, or just generally pushing yourself as a musician. And other sites like Audiostreet and Purevolume fall into this category as well. They're not properly set up, and there is no reward for simply composing a solid piece of aural entertainment. You have to whore yourself to really get anywhere online.

Back to the point of this rant, all I'm saying is that more sites should focus on rewarding the musician for his music, as opposed to anything else. Newgrounds awards, in my opinion, are far better than any count of "friends" on any other of these joke sites. I know I'm stating the obvious at this point, but the music industry needs to come back to the music, and with the ever-growing popularity and ease of use of the internets, don't you think that it would be high time for that to happen?

Support the independent music, the ones who are really about their music, whatever genre it may be. These are the artists of our time, and they (the talented ones, anyway) should be recognized for their achievements in this great and illustrious field of art.