The Weekly Roundup (week of 4.15)
you need to be curating more vibes
1. The A&R guru behind Kendrick Lamar and Drake on why ‘music sells fashion better than anything else.’
I’d like to think what I do is fueled by curiosity, or shrewdly maximizes the potential of an artist’s creative reach but that has changed the way that A&R operates. You’ve got the big four labels. How many A&R guys can you have in those companies to scour the earth for artists, or songs, or people that are all logging on and marketing their work in the same place? So, discovery becomes increasingly data-driven. It changes the pure artistry perspective of A&R because I might hear something that I like and think that that artist has the talent to break through and I go to sign them to a label and they look at me like, ‘There’s not enough data here, there’s not enough money being made on it to suggest that they deserve this deal.’
This interview is full of gems, but one of the most interesting bits Hank Korsan dishes on is the music industry’s obsession with data. Many people (suits) try to create some sort of scientific approach to culture building and creativity, they think they can hack it through metrics or analytics. But what they think is science is more like magic or astrology. If you mix enough metrics around in a boiling cauldron or point to numbers in your astrological charts (social-listening dashboards) you can concoct any narrative you want to tell. Most often, you get people who mistake the map for the territory and confuse engagement, views or follower counts with quality. The overreliance on data has been an insidious force corrupting art, culture, marketing, and generally, anything that requires a high level of human curation. Many think they can optimize their way into greatness by abiding by brand guidelines, looking at KPIs, or other misleading social metrics but what they forget is that creating culture is more about being excellent at curating vibes. I say this completely unironically, you need to be curating more vibes! Read the full interview for other interesting takes on the music industry, branding, and what it truly takes to be a global success.
2. The Ugly State of Shoe Collaborations
At what point do celebrations of irony just make you a plain old fashion victim? Read here.
3. Accounting for taste
I really enjoyed this piece on trend chasing and the importance of carrying through a consistent personal style through an evolved, highly personal, taste pallette. “There’s a longtime fashion blogger I’ve kept up with over the years who’s made a personality out of her pursuit of personal style. Leaping from aesthetic to aesthetic, her closet a conveyor belt of new clothes, she consistently performs the confidence of someone who knows what she likes, but without continuity, depth, or verve, which in the end transmits a certain hollowness. Incidentally, her online presence posits a riddle: If your style is meant to help you express your priorities, and your priorities exclusively concern being stylish, what does your style express? Can clothes express…clothes?”
4. How Davis Clarke Became the Most Locked-In Man on the Internet
GQ tapped the most LOCKED IN personality on the internet right now, Davis Clarke for a fun little Q&A. There’s really nothing negative you can say about the guy, I just hope he’s chasing a brand deal. Read here.