I was a captive audience this week, listening to an Adult Contemporary radio station while sitting in a waiting room. I was kind of shocked, as in the half hour that I was there, I couldn’t have identified any of the artists. They were seemingly all auto tuned, though…(meaning their performances were electronically altered.) I found that pretty disconcerting. If indeed music is written into our DNA as an ages old human communication device, what exactly is communicated by a half robotic delivery? I won’t spend a lot of time about the quality of the songs. Suffice it to say there wasn’t even one I heard that compelled me to find out what it was. It all just seemed to be going through the motions. It is no wonder radio is losing audience. And it is no wonder people are going to the internets for music discovery. A recommendation from a friend to listen to a song might just carry more weight than the soul-less stuff I heard delivered through the airwaves.
Of course, the process of discovery on the Internet has its own problems. The fact that there is JUST SO MUCH STUFF makes it daunting. And then even if you have the intent, it is so easy to get waylaid. I can’t tell you how many times I have cruised Facebook for a particular item, only to be diverted down some rabbit hole looking at new baby pictures or travel vistas from a friend’s latest trip. Honor Finnegan knows. She combines elements of musical theatre, comedy, traditional folk, and poetry, to bring an all too true commentary on our ‘connected’ lives today. Oh yeah, and she is not auto-tuned! The song “Internet Junkie” is from her latest album, The Tiny Life.
-Jessie Scott
