This month’s Wired has an interesting article about the artist Beck and the release (and re-release) of Guero. Unlike traditional music release cycle, this body of work was released:

a) online as an unfinished mix that was leaked in late 2004; (b) as the official 2005 Interscope CD release, which contained most of the tracks on the leaked version plus a few new songs; (c) as the deluxe CD/DVD edition, complete with seven bonus tracks, a surround sound mix, and interactive video art to accompany every song; (d) in one of the many unauthorized fan mashups floating around the Net; (e) not as Guero at all, but as Guerolito, a commercially released companion piece featuring remixes by Diplo, Adrock, and Boards of Canada.

While I am a fan, you might be wondering why I am writing about Beck here. The thing that captivated me about the article was the way that the artist described his relationship with “the suits” at his label:

Does your label, Interscope, ever balk at your ideas?

Actually they’ve been great about everything. The labels are trying to figure all this stuff out just like everyone else, and I feel fortunate that I’ve been able to do so much experimenting to see what works. I’ve also been lucky because I signed a unique record deal back when I started that allowed me to try out a lot of weird things and even record different types of albums for different labels. I think that set me up nicely for where things are currently headed.

Isn’t all that repackaging just about making ways to sell more product?

I guess that’s part of it, but for me it’s more about giving the music legs, giving people new ways to experience it. There are so many ways to integrate technology into music; I can’t wait to see how the opportunities end up being put to use.

Why This Is Interesting

Recently, I talked about the culture wars that I see over the horizon as demographics begin to take over the workplace. In this context, think about the relationship between Beck and Interscope that I mentioned above. It is a creative partnership between an artist, his audience, and a business that is mutually beneficial. This is the face of innovation, smiling at us from just a bit down the road.

I have talked a lot about the differences between statistical and semantic information (especially around quality) in the recent past. I have also been interested in ways to bridge the gaps between these approaches, as they both have their own strengths and weaknesses. A project that is aiming to do something like this is the Semantic Media Wiki. They take an interesting approach to bridging the gap between human understanding and machine-processable truth by including it an easy to use repository, Media Wiki.

Why This Is Interesting

Astute followers will notice that Media Wiki is the same software used to power the Wikipedia, which makes things particularly interesting. An easy to use semantic engine with a large, public, well-maintained fact repository could make for a very productive combination. This is the exact opposite of something like OpenCyc, which is large and private and “stuttered out of the gates” about 5 years late.
I really agree with the principles behind Semantic Media Wiki, namely:

1. Let people define their truth in a way that works for them.
2. Make it easy for that information to be leveraged.
3. Mine the data for all it is worth.

When it is easy for people to share and build on each other’s work, there is no limit to what they can accomplish. Any system that can take advantage of this has a great chance at success.