David Bowie Has Died • Hacker News Board

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#201

Post by thomnottom » Mon, Jan 11, 2016, 2:53 PM UTC

It's cliche to say someone like Bowie was timeless, but it is really true in his case. He was not only ahead of his time, but he was behind his time. The man was able to find new trends but also take old and existing ones and turn them into his own.

I remember listening to Earthling for the first time and feeling those hyperkinetic d'n'b beats and thinking "How does this 50 year-old man continue to make himself so relevant?"

I tend to have momentary sadness when a celebrity I appreciate passes away, but it feels like this one will last for a bit longer.

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#202

Post by gargravarr » Mon, Jan 11, 2016, 2:55 PM UTC

So shocked to see Bowie passed this morning. Although I wasn only a casual fan, I appreciated his musical talent and most of the musicians in my favourites list were influenced by him. Without any doubt, the 1980s wouldn't have been the same without him. A household name for 50 years, still making music right to the end. I don't think anyone could ask for more.

RIP Ziggy Stardust.

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#203

Post by jokoon » Mon, Jan 11, 2016, 2:55 PM UTC

Is it me, or there are too many articles about celebrities dying?

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#204

Post by mikeash » Mon, Jan 11, 2016, 2:59 PM UTC

gbog wrote: post #85

Do we all have to share this culture of mourning and condoleances? I have listened to some music made by David Bowie, but I kind of feel not that much about his death. Am I heartless? Or just honest? I mean, listening to some guy's music do not make it a close relative, is it? (If so, then well we all have too many "close relatives" for this mean anything anymore). Or should I just shut up and let the people weep unt…

No, of course you don't have to share it. If you don't care about him, it's fine. About 150,000 other people will die today, none of them inherently less worthy than this one.

However, if you don't care about this particular death, don't barge into a comment thread and humblebrag about it. Ignore it and move on. It's not heartless if you don't care, but it's pretty rude to come in and post a comment like this.

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#205

Post by mootothemax » Mon, Jan 11, 2016, 3:02 PM UTC

sjclemmy wrote: post #160

braythwayt wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don’t even know why I would want to be on a label in a few years, > because I don’t think it’s going to work by labels and by distribution > systems in the same way. > > --David Bowie, 2002 Something to think about in music that also happens in startups and software: These are social activities. People don’t judge music solely by some kind of independent metric of appeal. They also judge whether the music is popu…

I think Bowie was the antithesis of this. If you'll forgive the hyperbole, he is the archetypal outsider, the patron saint of the dispossessed. So for all those who don't feel that they belong, Bowie's activities provided a message - 'It's OK to be an outsider', and, curiously, through that message provided a sense of belonging - I'm going to get all metaphysical and say that that is alchemical / transformative in a…

>he is the archetypal outsider

While that may have been one of his target markets, make no mistake: Bowie worked his socks off to find a market that worked for him - in addition to quite an incredible musical talent - and it took years and years of hard, often unrecognised work, for his success to come.

I mean - his first hit was a novelty song about garden gnomes, his second was (admittedly, possibly slightly unfair to argue it) cashing in on the space race, and it took a further couple of years for him to figure out his marketing and reach consistent success.

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#206

Post by agumonkey » Mon, Jan 11, 2016, 3:04 PM UTC

lmm wrote: post #194

agumonkey wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair point. But in West's case, it's not even marketing, his running into Swift to rage about Knowles award loss was him entirely. Unless it was his PR team that gave him the idea. I'll keep your idea in mind though.

My conspiracy theory would be that Swift (or her people) put him up to it. Sympathy sells, and a whole lot of people heard of her as a result. And she has shown herself to be extremely savvy.

How would that work ? She teased him to the point of him rage-invading the stage ?

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#207

Post by hammock » Mon, Jan 11, 2016, 3:05 PM UTC

cageface wrote: post #44

synthmeat wrote: post #21

I don’t even know why I would want to be on a label in a few years, because I don’t think it’s going to work by labels and by distribution systems in the same way. The absolute transformation of everything that we ever thought about music will take place within 10 years, and nothing is going to be able to stop it. I see absolutely no point in pretending that it’s not going to happen. I’m fully confident that copyrigh…

If anything labels are more important than ever and music sales are driven by the kind of marketing campaigns that only big records labels can afford. There's a ton of interesting music being made outside their domain but most people will never hear any of it.

Music sales /= music (although there's an interesting debate to be had on that)

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#208

Post by cageface » Mon, Jan 11, 2016, 3:06 PM UTC

matwood wrote: post #197

cageface wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been traveling all over the world and all I hear everywhere I go is crap American top 40 pop music. Like I said there's a ton of interesting stuff going on outside their purview but they control the conversation right now.

So your premise is that if it is music that you do not want to hear, it must be the labels pushing it? In no way could that music be on the radio because it is actually popular?

It's popular in the same way McDonald's or Coca Cola are popular. It's a product of no substance riding massive marketing budgets.

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#209

Post by codingdave » Mon, Jan 11, 2016, 3:06 PM UTC

braythwayt wrote: post #78

synthmeat wrote: post #21

I don’t even know why I would want to be on a label in a few years, because I don’t think it’s going to work by labels and by distribution systems in the same way. The absolute transformation of everything that we ever thought about music will take place within 10 years, and nothing is going to be able to stop it. I see absolutely no point in pretending that it’s not going to happen. I’m fully confident that copyrigh…

> I don’t even know why I would want to be on a label in a few years, > because I don’t think it’s going to work by labels and by distribution > systems in the same way. > > --David Bowie, 2002 Something to think about in music that also happens in startups and software: These are social activities. People don’t judge music solely by some kind of independent metric of appeal. They also judge whether the music is popu…

This seems like a youthful way to approach music. At some point in your adult life, you have enough of a self-identity that most of this no longer applies... in music, technology choices, or anything. To me, you are just describing how people first learn to engage with the world, not how older folk actually live it.

I guess that does parallel tech, though - the youth follow the trends, while labels/VCs drive certain cherry picked groups to success, while at the same time, us older folk live in quieter places, create our own works, do our own thing, and live satisfying lives, not really being impacted by whatever the tribes currently label as "mainstream".

Re: David Bowie Has Died

#210

Post by agumonkey » Mon, Jan 11, 2016, 3:08 PM UTC

petercooper wrote: post #186

paganel wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we have Kanye West For what it's worth Kanye West is still regarded like a sort of a joke in most of Europe, at least for people like me, who are over 30. > and we have Jack White At first I said to myself "who's that?", then I saw that he used to sing for the White Stripes. It's a so-and-so band, at least one of their songs got pretty popular among the football ultras, as did the Pet Shop Boys' "Go West!" back in…

For what it's worth Kanye West is still regarded like a sort of a joke in most of Europe, at least for people like me, who are over 30. I'm not sure old people were known for being massive Bowie or Stones fans in the 60s either.

I wasn't born and always assumed they weren't just pop star of the moment. As a kid later, even without knowing anything, I felt these song were infectious. When I criticize today's mainstream it's that this quality isn't there anymore. I could say the same about movie score too.