Years ago the idea was born to create a place where I could express and explore ideas outside that sphere into which the construct currently still known as “the internet” had evolved. A place where I could host all that very diverse output of mine, which ranges from texts, conversations via images, videos to tracks, albums or other, larger audio formats. It is needless to say that places where one can dialogue or explore ideas related, but not only, to music – places formerly connected to the now extinct genre of music journalism – do no longer exist – neither as legacy media nor on the internet. Those places have either been sucked up by pseudo journalistic, late-capitalist platforms (RA and others), hegemonic mega-corporations (Google, Twitter, Zuckerberg, etc.) or billions of smaller platforms of which every single one itself often follows a narrow, old fashioned exploitative business model whose focus lays on selling an audience to related brands – if following a model at all. Every single channel often with the necessity to shrink music down to genres, styles and fashions, necessary for the marketing of the channel itself. Trying to have conversations about music (on legacy media or online alike) had turned into an increasingly frustrating endeavor over the years. Music in general, and so-called “electronic music” in particular has fallen into a trap out of which I still do not see a way out.
My interaction with legacy media on one hand and the new, online based channels on the other hand, had come to a halt many years ago. I do feel that the legacy media is stuck, not only in its way to understand and dialogue about music, in its classifications and (creative/business) models, but most importantly in its entire world view. I am sick of talking about “albums” and “singles”, sick of reading either descriptive sequences of adjectives or news about hegemonic trends which ultimately stem from the intent to control and dominate a market – sick of being asked “what is new?” by a media which has not presented anything new in decades.
Then, on the other side we have the real “new” media: those online channels which have turned into something equally tiring – informational pyramid schemes, being sold as “social” media. Channels which not only have deformed “content” itself, but also the way we interact with it – all of that to a degree which I find unsustainable. I am no longer willing to populate that particular space with my content, not only because I can’t compete with multi dollar corporations, but mainly because I consider those places toxic, wrong and ugly. I am not interested in using platforms which impose their language, their discourse and their thinking onto me. I don’t want those places to deform my content either through the perspective or the context they provide. Ever since I started to make- and to release music to the public, my strive for independence stood at the very core of what I was doing and how I was doing it. The Future Music Diary is another step on this journey which has now arrived at the frontier of information itself. From now on I will populate this place here with the content I find relevant in relation to my musical or non-musical output. I will populate it with the language and the thoughts I consider appropriate. If the media is unable to ask me ONE single interesting question, then I may conclude that I have to proceed somewhere else. In the end it’s all about hygiene.
That being said, I am interested in establishing conversations and interaction with my audience and will soon present ways and formats to do so. I am also opening this space up to friends and colleagues so they can present their ideas or projects here, have dialogues about those or any other topic they may esteem relevant. I believe all this can be achieved in an entertaining and positive manner. Everybody’s free to comment, though, obviously, I will remove inappropriate content, such as insults or aggression.
The Future Archive Diary consists of two layers for now: the subscribed and the unsubscribed. Subscribing is for free yet will give you access to special content. I eventually will establish a third, “paid” layer in the future, depending on how things go, though this isn’t the focus of this platform.
The first entry will be a text that was published in 2020, called “An Algorithmic Odyssey” by X1N. It’s a text which, in its quite particular, delirious manner, explores the postulate that “art has ceased to exist” – a postulate I am quite serious about, today even more than back when that text was written.
4 Responses to “Welcome to the Future Archive Diary”
Hello,
Thanks for this new place. I’m “just” a lover of your music and also very interested in your views and what you can offer.
Cheers
Laurent
Welcome! 🙂
I just noticed this site in your New Year’s email and had no idea of this project. It’s very nice, and I’m looking forward to what you continue to use this for as a rather jaded individual myself.
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