CURATION v. GATEKEEPING: HOW CAN WE GET OUR MUSIC HEARD?

I was in a Twitter space yesterday for one of the NFT music communities that is emerging in the web3 space, and I was compelled by the conversation about music curation versus gatekeeping and what that means for the music industry going forward.

For those who do not know, the name of the game as far as getting your music in front of people has always been getting past gatekeepers of some kind. In the 80s/90s, it was the radio. You had to get your songs on the radio somehow to gain the exposure you need to grow your brand.

With the emergence of streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify in the 00s/10s, radio slots became playlist adds. In order to be heard, you had to find a way to get your music on a playlist that people are listening to.

In both generations, your music has to impress someone enough to earn a slot (or you can pay for it, that’s fair game too). You have to get heard in order to see if your music appeals to the masses.

Online communities that exist on blog sites and various social media have turned into the new gatekeepers. They curate their own playlists that fit their vibe/aesthetic, and they give artists they like a platform to be heard.

I am all for exclusivity and highlighting the best work in some fashion, but I believe that most aspects of curation and gatekeeping continue to blend together under one belief: your music has to be “good.”

Last night, I heard multi-platinum, Grammy Award winning, juggernauts of music discuss this fine line between curation and gatekeeping. Some express the need for there to be a filter. Some disagreed. All around, the consensus was that there are levels to music making, and curation (with feedback) can be used as a tool to help people get better.

When I got the opportunity to speak in this Twitter Space of about 150 people, I knew that this was the place to bring in fresh thinking on these subjects.

I said what COMP stands for and what we believe in, which I will summarize for you below:

I think that we have the unique opportunity with web3 technology to redefine the process of getting heard. Firstly, what does being “good” really mean in terms of art? Isn’t art subjective?

I think being truly “good” is a technical level of mastery of the music making craft, and I argue that it is not fair for people to “curate” or “gatekeep” songs based on if they like them or not.

That technicality can be taught to anyone willing to learn it, and it is our responsibility as the founders and pioneers of the web3 music space to not get these words confused. In fact, we now have the technology to build an infrastructure that allows listeners to curate for themselves based on their own taste.

With those components, we can make the craft of music making accessible, and when someone has become “good” at expressing themselves through their musical art, they can market their work directly with people who are looking for it.

These conversations tie directly into COMP’s products, services, mission, and vision. It is why we have built the COMP SCORE.