The digital age has brought many changes to the world of art. Creation, consumption, distribution, and exposure have all been revolutionized by the advent of the digital age. Through a series of interviews with artists across the creative spectrum, as well as people who cover the arts and entertainment industry, PressPausePlay attempts examine these changes and whether or not they are beneficial to artists, consumers, and everyone in between.
The internet age and the tools it has provided have allowed artists to create, collaborate, and distribute their art in ways that would have been unimaginable ten years ago. Technological advances in film editing and recording equipment allow no cap on creativity. The documentary examines the neo-classical compositions of Ólafur Arnald and how he is able to write and arrange full-scale symphonies from the comfort of his in-home studio. The documentary compares this to recording techniques of only fifteen years ago, where producers and musicians would not be granted as much freedom and creativity that modern recording technology allows.
Distributing art has completely changed thanks to the advent of the digital age. Artists can completely forgo the traditional route of going to a publisher, signing to a label, or giving away distribution rights, in favor of distributing their art themselves over the internet. Sites like BandCamp allow unsigned musicians to distribute their music to a much bigger audience, comedians Aziz Ansari and Louis CK self-released their last stand-up specials, it has never been easier to put your art into the public space for consumption.
However, is this democratizing of culture a good thing? Should everyone be able to sell their music, promote their short film, sell their photography online, regardless of how talented they are?
It used to be that everyone was a critic, now everyone is an artist. The documentary discusses how the art world, especially music, is reaching a sort of point of saturation. The advent of the iPod allowed people to walk around with months worth of music in their pocket. 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Streaming sites like Netflix and Hulu give consumers access to more films and TV shows than a person can watch in a lifetime. Anyone can write a novel and forgo the traditional publishing route by distributing it as an e-book. Photography and illustration sites like and sites like DeviantArt and Flickr allow anyone to upload and share their illustration and photography and share it with the world.
Some of the critics of the digital age interviewed in the film claim that allowing everyone to showcase their art steals attention away from art that is truly great and worth adulation. Author Andrew Keen claims that in today’s film business, a young Scorsese or Hitchcock could have never made it. If released today, their classic films would now get lost among the “ocean of garbage.”
Those critics claims are ridiculous. Even before the advent of the digital age, there were still scores of awful movies and music and great art was still recognized and adored by those willing to look for it. We live in an amazing time both as artists and consumers of art. The digital age has allowed anyone with an internet connection access to scores of art that would have never gotten exposure without the great equalizer of the internet. If anything, the internet has made it easier for artists to do well because it is easier to find their niche and develop a fan base. Artists now have access to a much larger pool of resources to expose themselves to, gain inspiration from, and collaborate with, resulting in more interesting, engaging, and exciting art.
Contrary to what critics like Andrew Keen claim, people will always make great art and there will always be people who will seek out and appreciate that art and will pay good money to support the people who create it. You just have to look harder.
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