Epic Quest: The Musical

"The problem with quotes on the Internet is that you can never be certain whether they are authentic." - Abraham Lincoln


I am currently in the midst of a quest to expand my music library (it's going rather well, but if any of you want to leave a couple of your favorite bands/favorite songs by said bands in the comments, go right ahead.)


The problem hasn't really been that I only like YouTube-based music. It's been that the only music I've been exposed to up until recently has been YouTube-based and the pop on the radio, and that up until recently I hadn't bothered seeking out anything else.


I've found some stuff that I really like, but today I realized a big difference between YouTube music and "normal" music. In my interview with Alan Lastufka, I asked him what marketing techniques he/DFTBA Records used, and he said he didn't have to do any marketing outside of a weekly newsletter and Twitter because the musicians did all of that themselves through vlogs. 


And let me tell you, vlogging is an incredibly-effective marketing technique. Your viewers feel like they know you--like you're their friend--and so they don't mind giving you some of their money every now and then. You share part of your life with them in addition to just your music, but you end up with a much tighter fan-base.


"Normal" music doesn't have that same connection. That doesn't make YouTube music any better/worse, and I'm not saying that said musicians are vlogging solely for the manipulative effect on their viewers (they all started posting music just for fun, and started making money later on).


The "normal" musicians are just voices in my earbuds, rather than people living in my computer screen (who I sometimes get to meet in real life). And that's weird. (It's also weird that I find it so weird.)


(Yes. Rejoice, for I am emerging from my musical cocoon.)


Hmm...Someone should really write Epic Quest: The Musical. And no, Spamalot does not count. It's making fun of Arthurian themes. Now that I think about it...I want the Tough Guide To Fantasyland in musical form. Is that terribly geeky of me? (Yes. Yes it is. Very, very much so.)