For those of you who may not be familiar with it, there is a seminal document called The Cluetrain Manifesto that defines a new style of communication in an age in which everyone and everything is electronically connected.  Its premise, to which I subscribe, is that the internet is fundamentally different from mass media like television because it allows lots of people to have “human to human” conversations (with all the complexity and difficulty that implies) rather than being force fed a one-sided party line or mass marketing message. 

There can be negative aspects to this ubiquetous connectedness.  Some people hide behind the mask of anonymity on the internet to say and do cruel and destructive things.  But, in the best case scenario, the web allows us to talk to each other and–under the right conditions of respect, transparency, and honesty–to learn and even grow into a community where people can disagree without being disagreeable.  I believe Sequenza21 is one of those rare communities and that makes me proud.

The first of the Manifesto’s 95 theses is this:  “Markets are conversations.”  In other words, if people are talking seriously about your product, or your Whitney concert, that is a positive thing from both a human and commercial point of view.

Just an old hippie (and professional marketer’s) point of view.

p.s.  We need a new conversation started over on the Composer Forum page.  If you don’t have a user name or password to post something let me know and I’ll fix you up.

Lots of terrific new reviews over on the CD Review page.

I listen to the fantastic Counterstream radio (see toilet seat icon) while I work and yesterday heard a terrific piece by Ezra Sims and it occurred to me that somebody ought to voluteer to write a regular column here every week or every other week called something like “Underrated,” which would focus on composers we don’t hear much about.