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Spencer Critchley
Aug. 21, 2005 04:01 PM
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URL: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4808779...

Technology always affects art, and search technology is no exception. Listening to an NPR profile today of a band called Tilly And The Wall, I wondered if, consciously or not, their style might have been influenced by search-engine optimization. This after all is a band that features a glockenspiel player and a tap dancer.

In the networked world of hyper-abundant music choices, we get ultra-differentiation in marketing. How else to get noticed when Google reports "Results... of about 2,310,000 for 'two guitars bass drums'"?

Although the universe of hyper-targeted fans may not be huge. According to Google: "Results... of about 22 for 'glockenspiel NEAR 'tap dancer'".

So maybe instead we'll also see more bands rushing to stake out searches linking music and more mass-interest items. With porn, it's of course already too late. (With porn, the human brain can't think nearly fast enough for it not to have already been done.) But how about an indie band called, say, The Barbecue Mitts? Featuring a drummer who plays, say, a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker and a Ranch Kettle:

Google says: "Results... of about 701 for 'barbecue grill AND "pop band"'".
Now that seems like a sweet spot--

Wait. Good lord, I should have known. They've already thought of it. The top-ranked result for 'barbecue grill AND "pop band"' is mega-selling country act Lonestar, as profiled in Country Music Today:

http://www.cmt.com/countrymusictoday/magazine/pages/archive02.htm

People, we have no chance. I for one welcome our new Marketing Department masters.

Spencer Critchley is an award-winning producer, writer and composer with experience in digital media, film, broadcasting and the music business.

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