The Rise & Fall of the Hit

I came across this fascinating article that deals with the death of the so-called blockbuster or hit. I personally have never cared for the one-hit wonders or the mega-blockbuster type of movies (there are some exceptions of course) and have had some similar thoughts about the impact the Internet and other emerging technologies have had on radio, television, music & movies. What the Internet clearly has done has placed the control back in the hands of the consumer. It used to be that whoever had the money to promote a particular movie or album would determine whether or not it would be successful. You create a buzz about something and people through curiosity (and the need to fit in) will buy in. But now buzz comes from us - the average internet-savvy consumer who through exploration finds/discovers music or movies that we like.

I don't like anything that is too trite or simplistic. I don't always want the hero in a movie to survive - especially when the hero escapes what seems to be death inexplainably or unrealistically. The rise of reality television shows (it is debatable about how "real" these shows are) has in part been due to the audience taking back control through voting whether or not we actually like a contestant or not. I am not a big Canadian Idol fan but apparently, the celebrity judging panel were shocked by Canadian fans' choices of who should be eliminated in the most recent episode.

I like the closing comments of the article:

"The mass market is yielding to a million mini markets. Hits will always be with us, but they have lost their monopoly. Blockbusters must now compete with an infinite number of niche offerings, which can be distributed just as easily. Justin Timberlake still makes albums, but today he has thousands of bands on MySpace as rivals. The hierarchy of attention has inverted – credibility now rises from below. MTV and Tower Records no longer decide who will win. You do."

And it is about time!