Can rock and roll be crowdsourced or should you look inside your own head?
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 02:01PM 
Since reading about the announcement of a new ad agency called Victors and Spoils last week, I’ve been obsessing over the idea of crowdsourcing, which Wikipedia defines as:
Crowdsourcing is how VS plans to change the ad agency model, moving from one in which all ideas come from in-house teams and the occasional freelancer to one in which ideas are crowdsourced, meaning VS puts out a call for ideas over the Internet, and then sifts through the voluntarily submitted responses. VS hopes that this approach will lead to better ideas. I have my doubts, but here’s a question: can rock and roll be crowdsourced? In other words, is a band or an individual better off writing their own material or sourcing it from others?
To find the answer, all we have to look at is bands that write their own material, such as The Beatles or the Rolling Stones vs. bands that don’t, such as the Monkees or the Backstreet Boys. We can also look at individuals, such as Bob Dylan, one of rock’s most prolific songwriters, vs. Michael Jackson, also prolific, but not above asking others to write material for him. In my opinion, it’s no contest. Artists that write their own deliver far better quality and far more moments of sublime genius than those who do not, or who rely on a combination of their own gifts and their ability to attract ideas from others. Why would this be? I have to think about this. What do you think the reason is? Comments are welcome!
View Printer Friendly Version
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments (7)
I think that artists who create their own music pull from their own feelings & experiences, & that makes them more emotionally connected to the music they create. Thus, they can put more feeling into the presentation. When someone else writes for that artist, although the music may be good, it is more objective than subjective, & the artist won't "feel" the music as he/she would if they created it themselves. Does that make sense?
I think the analogy kinda falls apart.
There are still two highly personal relationships at work even when artists perform other people's songs that, I believe, are absent from Crowd-Sourcing.
First the relationship between the writer(s) and the song. They may or may not plan to sing it themselves but their creation matters to them, usually, above the money-making potential. They still want to say something of value. Some of the best Monkees songs, even, were written by Neil Diamond. And while they are far from his best, his craft skills and way with words are still evident. (Of course, there will always be writers whose only goal is to write a "hit")
Second, when an artist does another writer's song it's either because they asked that writer to create something for them or they collaborated on it. So there is an empathy between the styles of the writer and the performer.
In the case of Crowd-Sourcing advertising ideas, the equivalent relationships are missing.
The supplier of the idea is creating in a vacuum. He or she cannot deeply understand the client and their needs, or their style. Neither can he or she understand the style of the agency. As we know, the best clients (Apple) have a distinctive style and a clear knowledge of when an idea is right "for them" - not just a good idea in a general sense.
We also know the best agencies have a style (even if they seldom admit it) and it's what draws certain clients to them. Clients of CP+B (where the V&S lead guys came from) know what style of work they're going to get, compared, say, to a client of Grey Worldwide!
Random ideas are random ideas. And this is what Crowd-Sourcing generates. It's like Bob Dylan trying to write songs for Britney Spears! Or worse still Britney Spears trying to sing Bob dylan songs.
The reason they still need an in-house creative unit at V&S is because even if you get enough monkeys with enough typewriters working for long enough, someone still has to figure out if they've written Hamlet or No Country For Old Men! V&S is simply relying on having so many ideas from so many people that one of them just has to be brilliant. Big gamble if you ask me. And a very slow process, when what clients want most today is speed.
Millicent, what you write makes a lot of sense, and it dovetails with Dave's thinking on the relationship between the artist and the song. There is no question that you are closer to your own creations than those of others.
Dave, I wasn't so much trying to create an analogy between crowdsourcing and artists who rely on others for songs, but rather, I was just highlighting some similarities. That said, I totally agree with your take on all this, both in the music biz and in adland.
Jeff
Jeff:
Your argument is from a narrow perspective. What if you are a songwriter, but don't have a band or the money or the right location. You have the lyrics laid down, the lead guitar, but you need the piano or the percussion, or something, What if you want ideas from others in your "tribe" or your "network" to build on what you've started. That's a kind of crowdsourcing. It's being done at Berkeley school of music all the time and works for the students in a big way. I agree that it's about benefiting the crowd and all the participants. But sometimes you gotta give to get.
Edward, nice to see you here! You say my perspective is limited, but I disagree. What you propose, I tried, disaster. I need to work with people I know and with whom I can have great back-&-forths. Plus, I'm as picky as they come, and, to be blunt, most folks out there don't have what I'm after. Most important, I'm uncomfortable asking people to contribute for "free". There is very, very little likelihood of a payout that would amount to more than a few pennies. As a result, I choose to bring people on under work-for-hire (the same agreement VS plans to use!), but I always offer the option of some participation in future payouts and always give a writer's credit when a contribution merits it (my discretion, of course!).
Jeff
Crowd Sourcing Rock and Roll is already happening. I'm not really a fan, but check it out: Tommy Lee Wants You to be a Rock Star
Griff, I had no idea. Unreal, cool stuff being contributed, too.
Jeff