Audio Pervert

Migrated to Substack! Adios Blogspot...

By Audio Pervert - 9/10/2023

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Thousand years of stability!

By Audio Pervert - 6/18/2023

Tikopia is a tiny volcanic island in the south-western stretch of the Pacific Ocean. The P-shaped landmass is part of the Melanesian state (Solomon Islands) yet culturally Polynesian. Tikopians (approximately 1400) inhabit the tiny landmass (5 square kilometers) so far from any neighbors that they were literally forced to become self- sufficient in almost everything. 20 villages nestled within an ecosystem visibly fragile and finite. Tikopia is a remarkable example, nearly 3000 years in the making, of how people micromanage their resources and regulate their population size. So carefully, over time, that their ecosystem is still productive after thousands of years of human occupation. Archeologists and historians argue about when human beings found the island. Some say “first colonized around 900 CE” and others place it around "100 CE". The first Europeans arrived in April 1606 (Spanish expedition of Pedro Fernandes de Queirós). Not so visible to the visiting aliens back then, today Tikopia reveals remarkable lessons for us in real sustainability.

Unlike many island peoples and societies which collapsed from within, or were driven to extinction by European invaders, Tikopia provides two strong and positive references. One, that small societies without centralized power stand a much better chance to combat environmental damage, climate change, population and hostile invaders. Two, by defining their limits all this time, without any particular scientific vigor or formal knowledge, they managed to survive (and thrive) longer than the biggest civilizations, empires and kingdoms.

In his 2005 book Collapse, Jared Diamond extensively studied the ecosystem and the peoples of Tikopia, with the intent to understand how small societies operate and intervene to maintain ‘steady states’. What is a steady state you might ask? Simply put, a finite system with of a constant stock of physical wealth (capital) and a constant population size. Contrary to the fate of island communities of Rapa Nui (Easter Islands), Kirimati, Rarotonga, Marquesas etc which rapidly grew and subsequently collapsed; primarily due to human projects (construction, agriculture, over fishing, deforestation, colonization, plague etc), Tikopia persisted and adapted. These islanders are perhaps plain lucky or at best the winners of “population control”. Not so simple. For eons, the people of Tikopia have maintained a ‘bottom-up approach’ to environmental management. Judiciously consuming what is most precious and always staying within the limits (not too many and not too few). As Jared Diamond explains “Societies occupying a small island or homeland can rapidly intervene, execute new measures when facing an environmental crisis. Because the homeland is small, all of its inhabitants are familiar with the entire island, know that they are affected by developments throughout the island, and share a sense of identity and common interests with other inhabitants.”

Hence on Tikopia everybody realizes that they will benefit from sound environmental measures and regulations (limits). What type of limits? The population density of Tikopia is high, even as the total population remains small. 800 people per square mile of farming land. Indeed a dense population, especially that of a traditional society without modern agricultural or industrial tech. “Tikopians had to produce and store enough surplus food to be able to avoid starvation during the annual dry season of May till July. The region stretching Solomon Islands is prone to cyclones at unpredictable intervals, that destroy gardens, orchards and houses…” wrote Jared, outlining the annual events and challenges that the Tikopians learned to navigate and take preemptive measures over thousands of years. People of Tikopia and the even tinier sister island of Anuta (115kms away) have maintained a peaceful bi-lateral relationship over thousands of years. Trading tools, clothes, boats, livestock and even exchanging young people as prospective marriage partners. Anuta’s population is believed to be less than half of Tikopia’s.

Tikopia is blessed in ways that may have given it an unique advantage that other island societies did not have. One being a combination of high rainfall, moderate latitude and rich volcanic ash fallout (from volcanoes on other islands). Those factors constitute to “geographical good luck”. Funny how the Tikopians do not claim any credit to such favorable conditions and instead give thanks to the “sky and sea gods”. Two, the privilege (and peril) of being isolated. The islanders of Tikopia and Anuta, as Jared Diamond explains juxtapose themselves within a finite horizon, as “the maximum distance from the center of the island to the coast is three-quarters of a mile. The native concept of space bears a distinct relation to this. They find it almost impossible to conceive of any really large land mass. They do not attribute their microcosm against the immensity of the earth.” Small is good!

Tikopians “micromanaged for continuous and sustainable food production” instead of the ‘slash-and-burn agriculture’ which was widely prevalent on many Pacific islands. Almost every plant species on Tikopia is ‘used’ by people in one way or another. “Even grass is used as a mulch in gardens, and wild trees are used as food sources in times of famine” (Collapse - Jared Diamond). Tikopians have enacted population control at every level possible, including their own numbers and of their livestock. Some measures may seem highly problematic, in the modernist perspective.

On rare instances, Tikopians sacrificed hundreds of pigs at a time - not to please the gods, but to maintain an equilibrium or a steady state. Means of birth control, including abortion is widely practiced by the women of Tikopia and Anuta. These islanders are visibly cleverer than us, when it comes to maintaining a balance between capital, demand, production and consumption. Their ‘business as usual’ is about 110+ generations in the making, while our ‘high modernist society’ is just about 10. Little doubt as to which one is in danger and in severe overshoot. Our world is a “vanishing Eden” and not theirs?! No, they don’t spend billions of dollars making “Green New Deals”.

Baffling why the first European visitors labelled all such islanders and their abilities (and practical knowledge) as “primitive” and “weak”. European explorers, naval commanders, missionaries, even historians, scientists and artists viewed the Pacific Ocean islands as “new found paradise”. The pristine islands and innocent islanders framed inside an “Eden on earth” (John Patteson, 1st Archbishop of Melanesia 1833). These islands, numbering thousands would be eventually colonized, robbed, sliced and diced amongst the rival invaders. Rich tourists are still at it, seeking paradise, cruising the same colonial maritime routes. The going price as of now for a visit to Tikopia by sea, on a luxury cruise is about $18,000 (source: superyatchstories.com). Surely the Tikopians are humble and welcoming. They may sing and dance for the millionaires who visit them, but they are not stupid enough to let airports, hotels, cars, beer and toilet-paper roll in! Perhaps all such ‘modern trash’ is not part of their little yet not-so-primitive civilization by construct. A rich Norwegian family of four did manage to peacefully wiggle themselves into the island in 2014, as temporary residents.

In 1936, Raymond Firth wrote ‘We, The Tikopia: A Sociological Study Of Kinship In Primitive Polynesia’. Firth concluded, after a field study which lasted 12 years, that the key to Tikopia’s success as a society was (and still is) it’s kinship system. That every Tikopian places herself / himself next to the natural systems, and not on top or outside. Their kinship, mythology, rituals and ceremonies point to collective loyalty, embracing their fragile ecosystem. Seven decades later, Jared Diamond's Collapse also concurred Tikopia as a “success case” - surviving two millennia as well as sustaining a steady state in terms of population, resources and strength of community. In his essay ‘Overshoot and the population conundrum’ Prof. William Rees drives the point home, outlining what we should learn from the people of Tikopia, vital to our incoming future. “About real sustainability, we have much to learn from the tiny tropical island society of Tikopia. Hardly anyone has ever heard of Tikopia, but its history should be known by everyone who cares about the future of Earth…”.

Lapita people, who first colonized Tikopia and later Anuta were ancestors of the medieval Polynesians. Both Raymond Firth and Jared Diamond posit that the evolution of human life on the tiniest islands (in the Pacific Ocean) is valuable for modern humans in two aspects. One, as exemplary models of survival and sustenance. Second, as deeper ecological philosophy. What can we learn from ecologically sound people and their not-so-grandiose systems? That Tikopians and other island peoples view their world as their ecosphere, and also their limit. For them, an island is an entire planet by itself, passed on from generation to generation. Their kinship and loyalty has remained with the natural world, based on respect, ritual and morality.

Cheering for the peoples of Tikopia and Anuta 🏝👼🏽 👩🏽‍🦱 👨🏽🏝👵🏾🥇🧓🏾👼🏽 the next thousand years…

Children of Tikopia Photo Credit - Sea Gypsy https://sv-fluenta.blogspot.com/2017/07/to-tikopia-in-photos.html

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ambient music

Particles of a cloud

By Audio Pervert - 5/10/2023

"I was born and brought up in Bhopal.. academically a Policy Maker, Communication Designer, and Filmmaker.. studied at NIT Bhopal and the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. For the past 6 years, I have been working as an indie audio-visual composer, academic and writer.. dwelling in film, animation, space design, soundscape ecology and communication design."

A Bhaskar Rao, a.k.a Mustard Lake, is an interdisciplinary artist making music, conceptually based around nature and it's limitless manifestations. Bhaskar has recently released an album titled 'Particles of A Cloud" featuring five compositions. Described by the artist as "being present and being a part of the soundscape being generated, physically." Bhaskar wants to "translate the experience of ‘nature’... rhythm of the natural world through a human perspective... accepting the in-comprehensible, as a legit experience in itself". There are very few artists in India who align their creativity around nature and it's evident breakdown (climate change, global warming, loss of habitat etc). Can music help us create kinship with nature? We feel that it's pertinent to amplify the effort of any such artist, which in consequence encourages other artists, especially from the generation facing the incoming future.

Tell us about your process? How you fulfilled the concept?
A while back I realized that listening in itself is an integral part of composing. That lead me to emulate, experiment, with the limitless expanse of natural and human-made soundscapes. I have always been drawn towards the spatial and tactile aspects of sound. I am particularly interested in making compositions to be heard in 'different spaces'. My production also has been critical, in terms of arriving at the ambient form. Field recordings, acoustic instruments, analog synths and other esoteric instruments form the act of exploration. Is how my sound involves being present and being a part of the soundscape, physically. The ambient form also gives me the freedom to manipulate. To experiment with the legibility. The making of meaning. Call it structure.

For 'Particles Of A Cloud', the first step was listening to Bir, the place itself. Listening to Dhauladhar mountain ranges, the surrounding ecosystem, the people, their lives and livelihoods. Countless elements of nature that exist within the landscape. I wrote about the experience of listening and observing. Poems, phrases, words... To me, writing, just like sound, is a slowed down process. The synthesis of text and sound is something I find exciting. Articulating the compositions. A flux of temporal elements.. Simultaneously I made a lot of field recordings. In order to get thematic flow, the sonic palette eventually is a mix of the above processes, spaces, instruments and aesthetics. A brief audio visual narrative for you at - https://buddhijeev.in/particles-of-a-cloud

What draws you to nature and music?
In essence, I am trying to translate the experience of ‘nature’. As a way to comprehend the pace and rhythm of the natural world, through a human perspective. And more importantly accepting the incomprehensible, as an experience in itself. It was about asking questions,while brutally swaying between a personal outcry and trying to find out the means to resonate with the universal. Nature can be the root source to observe and listen (experience).

The realm is endless, the fabric of nature which embodies lives and livelihoods. Also as a sonic realm, to interpret and understand social, economic, cultural, political, and environmental dynamics around us. A source of query and curiosity also... Grappling with questions like - Can I locate the infinite sphere of nature? Can my thoughts run faster than the tectonic plates? Do I actually chase a sunset? Is it okay to find a forest fire, beautiful? And after all these thoughts stretching the depths of my mind, finding myself overwhelmed by a recurring dream. A dream in which a person I love is always wearing white... Why so?

About Buddhijeev Studios in Bir (Himachal Pradesh)?
The album and it's surrounding project is an outcome of a storytelling residency at
Buddhijeev Studios in Bir. A quaint little valley located in the mid-range of the Himalayas, is also host to monasteries, farmers, an Indo-Tibetan community and a grassroots institution like Buddhijeev. Interdisciplinary in nature, at the crossroads of Indian art, culture and the political landscape, the objective at buddhijeev is lucid. "To create content for the common public through which they can think about and understand the world around them better..."

As an artist, what is your future direction like?
I am currently working on a sound installation project exploring settlements around rivers. It's centered around the river Godavari, in and around the city of Nashik. The place is of tremendous diversity, in terms of it's culture, history, religion and nature.

Moving towards site specific work. Compositions inspired by the environment and respective ecosystems. I wish to study a variety of natural and human ecosystems. I also want to create collaborative platforms for people working along these lines. To materialize future projects, with a bigger projection than what I am currently operating out of...

https://buddhijeev.in/particles-of-a-cloud

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future

Surveillance Capitalism (Colonizing Human Behavior)

By Audio Pervert - 5/01/2023

The collection and analysis of data, has rapidly changed the way economies operate. The emerging order, within this globally connected society based on rapid information exchange, begins to reveal a new form of capitalism - surveillance capitalism. Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft (the big 5) now dominate the majority of the internet. Shoshana Zuboff's book 'Surveillance Capitalism' is a dark and veritable discourse, about the deep colonization of our private lives, our behavior serving the emerging economies, mandated by the super-corporations, who have subverted laws, safety, even democracy, morals and privacy.

Cited by the New Yorker as part of "100 most important books" in 2019, Zuboff's decade long research reveals the making of limitless digital frontiers and the rise of Surveillance Capitalism. The mapping of our daily lives as 'Surplus Behavioral Data'. Zuboff demystifies the lofty initial promises of the internet, which were rapidly sequestered by the Silicon Valley, big corporations, the state and public institutions. That Metaverse, AI, Chat GPT, Smart Homes etc are not just dazzling new frontiers aimed at the public, but contrary, comparable to an "unilateral claiming" (colonization) of private human experience.

Our Surplus - The Behavioral Data
A data scientist commented the other day, “the underlying norm of all software, browsers and apps designed now is data collection...in what way one uses the data depends on the business objectives...”. 'Google Classroom' is just one example, of how systems can be written specifically to target children. New Mexico attorney general filed a class-action suit against Google in 2022, citing its "...various illegal data extraction practices". At the back end of Chrome and Android, an app called Trojan is collecting physical locations, search histories, of children as young as 12 years old. Trojan is grabbing our YouTube viewing habits, contact lists, passwords, indications, voice recordings etc. Yes indeed Google has agreed to set up "a privacy and online safety initiative specifically for children", however it's previous record and interventions have been totally contrary to what it's principle operative is all about - extracting Surplus Behavioral Data (SBD). "It’s common to find all sorts of malware lurking under what seem to be harmless apps on the official Google Play store...there are hundreds of apps, mostly free, which may contain Harly Trojan that scrubs through personal data on mobile phones..." states Kaspersky (leading anti-virus company). Google's big share of revenues, worth around $163 billion in 2022, shows how fundamental SBD is to it's global domination. As every form of colonization is dependent on raw material and a yet to be colonized community, so is the case with SBD. Google serving targeted ads, while constantly amplifying it's search products / services. Hence our SBD is what Google collects and dispenses to advertisers, as qualified traffic. Indeed, it's a bit preposterous to imagine the size of this dragnet, our collective SBD approximately equates to 4.62 billion transactions per day (statista.com 2023)

Similar to General Motors, Ford and Toyota as the "petri dishes" of the new forms of Capitalism in the 20th century, Google is a "humongous progeny of sorts", a century later. The analysis then reveals Google as the limitless, if not eventual repository (of decades and centuries) of scholarly, journalistic, theoretical, experiential, visual, audible etc record of not only humanity, but the entire planet itself. As Zuboff explains "creating an ever-growing supply of raw material (more and more behavioral data) as well as generating more real-estate for this data to be put to use (more and more advertising surfaces)...Google controls both ends of the system, and therefore instituted a systematic approach to making money online: Surveillance Capitalism. In this system, accumulation of data is key! And that accumulation is personalized... it's about each one of us at the generating and receiving end, while the revenues are mandated by external capitalist forces..."

Privacy!? What's the big deal?
“Do people care about privacy?” asks Lauren Jackson (NYT 2022). It’s important, but where do we even start? At the beginning of it all, we have allowed Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon, Instagram, Twitter, Tik-Tok etc to build huge asymmetries of knowledge, about our society, about people and about our daily lives. Instead of living in "a golden age of the democratization of knowledge" (Zuboff), the internet has become something none of us expected. The biggest info-tech and social media brands have steadily restructured online business as well as sponsored "the wholesale destruction of privacy"(Zuboff). As experts allover the world hailed the incoming age of "Big Data" they tacitly ignored what data extraction and it's analysis would lead to. As Hal Varian writes "...is what everyone is talking about... big data. That raw material necessary for surveillance capitalism's novel manufacturing processes. Extraction based not on physical materials but on private, social and economic relations. That raw material, call it behavioral surplus, becomes the infrastructure with which the firm asserts authority to achieve economies-of-scale... Terra farming upon our experiences, daily behavior, online navigation, offline mental and physical states, and overall privacy". Makes us wonder, if there is any real privacy, or shelter, when we are online, and what actually makes us connected to it all the time?

Ever new apps and 'smart gadgets' offer new (and perhaps irresistible) ways to waste time. Our time wasted = to their profit and expansion. In cubicles, public spaces, while traveling and inside homes allover the world over, we are bombarded by a relentless stream of notifications, blinking animations, beeps and symbols from various gadgets connected online. Digital distraction is synonymous with information overload. Society in motion, appears as a hyperbole of attention deficient citizens.

Chris Wellisz (IMF) speaks of falling productivity at a global level, contrary to the image created by tech-based educators, exponents of work-from-home, gig-economies and social media. "Employers cited mobile phone use and texting as the biggest time killers, followed by the Internet, office gossip, and social media. Consequences include lower-quality work, reduced morale among workers who must pick up the slack for distracted colleagues, and missed deadlines..." The hype and hoopla of a "digitally connected and secure world" is perhaps being overshadowed by a fall in productivity and the relentlessly expansion of SBD, seen across every human convention that can be mapped yet. The knowledge based economy seems contrary to our personal productivity and not just privacy. What we seemed to have forgotten or worse given up is 'oversight'. Our sight is transfixed somewhere else? The differences in our profile, taste, language, age, sex aside, what predicates eventually is the algorithm, feeding us and occasionally rewarding us. Imagine yourself as a slot machine player, rewarded at random intervals, by a surprise payout (a new message, a comment, likes, hearts, pop-notifications, short news, weather forecasts, discounts, new job offers etc etc. The prospect of another payout (reward) is enough to keep the player pulling the handle - tapping your mobile phone.

Across large and small industry, businesses, private and public institutions, sectors of entertainment, music, arts, hospitality etc the transition is clear. Towards systems mandated by artificial intelligence, installing deeper surveillance and enabling extraction of data which is owned by a small number of but immensely powerful corporations. Being celebrated with bold taglines like "anything is possible when everything is connected" and "data is the new oil" and "the internet of things". The Harvard Business Review reminds us that "Information technology is revolutionizing products. Once composed solely of mechanical and electrical parts, products have become complex systems that combine hardware, sensors, data storage, microprocessors, software, and connectivity in myriad ways..." Welcome to the Internet of Things!

We are now living with conventional gadgets like fridges, coffee-machines, clocks, cameras, speakers, washing machines, thermostats, even doors, windows, cars, lifts, medical equipment, etc etc which can constantly send and receive data. Machines which can monitor and map our daily existence. Indeed the IRobot by Roomba does an amazing job of cleaning. It also maps the house into raw data. It has great sensors, eyes and also ears. But why does a robotized cleaner want to listen to us, via it's internal (hidden) audio-receptors? Never mind as that is a precondition of surveillance and all the private information is collected, disseminated, exploited as raw material. What better than doing actual work, when a robot can sweep the floor, or Alexa can suggest the next tune or a fridge can tell you what to eat!

The loss of privacy and the violation of civil liberties, has been sidelined by millions and millions of people, at multiple levels and perhaps with reason. For example students, scholars, journalists, doctors, scientists and teachers across the world, save huge amounts of time, of tedious research, with instantaneous visual, oral and written information at virtually no cost. Twenty years ago that velocity and quantity of information transfer was something unimaginable. With such exuberance, also comes mass exfoliation, of data, of mapping every movement, phone call, transaction, search, email message etc leaving digital trails, that can be exploited by corporations, business outlets, the police, politicians, even a nosy neighbor, hackers or an all intrusive government. Possibly we cannot block everything (and everyone) nor can we just worship this new info-utopia in the making.

To wrap up the point, surveillance capitalism does not abandon it's earlier capitalist nature. Of extraction, competition, profit maximization, productivity and infinite growth. As Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon and other information based super-corporations bitterly compete for greater global domination, the wars are not based on new continents, ships and soldiers but on the "Discovery of Behavioral Surplus" (Zuboff). Like earlier forms of colonization (geographic, linguistic, cultural etc) SBD also introduces its own distinct laws of motion, of conquest and control. Behavior and response too can be colonized and subverted to serve economies of scale and scope. Our behavioral modification is synonymous with the proliferation of surveillance capitalism and artificial intelligence. A limitless sensor of human behavior or a paradigm shift as to how society operates - that you could decide for yourself. The irony can be summed up by an internal memo of Google, which reads "....based on the recent output, we are less valuable than others' bets on our future behavior..."

DOWNLOAD PDF Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff

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Audio Pervert

Viva Vaddo Festival (Goa)

By Audio Pervert - 4/19/2023

Since 2013, The Blackout Festival [xprmntl subcultr] has featured a wide spectrum of emerging subcultures. Oscillating between India and Switzerland, over time Blackout Festival transformed into a multifaceted affair, yet always embodying openness, spontaneity and opportunity - for all the stakeholders. Shazeb Sheik is one of the few Indian curators who can defy (subvert) the trappings of profit, visibility and corporate coercion. Instead creating temporary spaces, where artists of varying disciplines exhibit, learn and collaborate. The 2020 pandemic struck a severe blow on the production of all such experimental arts, music, events etc. The unfolding flight based on uncertainty, the dislocation of urban artists and a general collapse lead to the need for change in direction. A similar trajectory was in the making for Blackout festival, of relocation, reorientation and decentralization.

In it's new environment (Goa), the Blackout Festival transformed into 'Viva Vaddo' (hail the neighborhood in Konkani). The introduction to the festival states "The pandemic triggered an exodus of people from all walks of life and parts of India, to these sleepy villages of Goa. This incredible cultural phenomenon that we are living in ... we can start getting to know each other...". A distributed experience, of various disciplines, instead of a centrally located event. Viva Vaddo as a series of events, was 'local' in terms of curation, based around the land, the people, the artists and set within modest and beautiful locations. Far from the density and noise of EDM festivals and the parts of Goa ravaged by tourism and real estate, the organizers and hosts opted for small, viable and distinct experiences. Places lesser known or temporal...

27th Jan - 5th Feb. Viva Vaddo stretched over 9 day stacking 30+ events, dotted inside an enclave of Bardez (North Goa) within villages such as Moira, Nachinola, Aldona and Bastora to name a few. They call it "hyper-local". Neighborhood Learning, DIY Workshops, Sound Art, Cuisine, Coding, Photography, Gardening, Storytelling, Menstrual Hygiene, Creative Writing, Ecology, Self-Defense and lots of "hidden" parties marked a 'chockablock' roster of events.

The festival could have been amplified better in terms of outreach and footfall, however in it's first version, the potential is more about setting an example, creating new paths. The "original locals", "settlers", artists and practitioners, the newly arrived and those just in transit, could all assimilate and participate, perhaps because certain parts of Goa still enable openness and diversity. Look forward to Viva Vaddo 2024!

Photos by Nupur D'Souza
Viva Vaddo Festival Website

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bollywood

'Prime time of exposure, abuse and scam'

By Audio Pervert - 4/10/2023

Good singers and even super talented ones are voted out of Indian Idol every episode. The same happens on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Dil Hai Hindustani, Super Singer etc etc. The economy of big-budget entertainment based on competing talent, suspense, hopes, sacrifice, tears and awe is humongous! Across mainstream media, online and social media, these massively popular shows indeed generate winners, even few lucky ones that make it to the ranks of Bollywood. Wow! Yet what about the losers? What about the thousands of teenage girls and boys, young women and men, who go back home, with dashed hopes or at best a pat on the back? What really kept them from becoming “super singers” or was their ‘Sa Re Ga Ma’ (Do Re Mi Fa…) not perfect enough?

These questions open a Pandora’s box of problems, revealing dirty manipulative practices, sometimes traumatic, at times social and personal, yet all of them with their tails pointing towards the entertainment industry. Winners or losers, the entertainment industry is source of premature exposure, manipulation, trauma, voyeurism and even depression. The size of the economy, makes sure that such toxic disturbing aspects are carefully edited out, much less revealed by the participants, judges, fans, parents and less understood by the cheering audience.

What stops us speaking about the impact of such talent shows on aspiring teenagers, talented girls and boys, makes for a story of disempowerment, abuse and moral denigration. Central to our argument, is an overview of the manipulation, unforeseen exposure, psychological trauma behind this “winner takes it all” culture. What risks do the young and the naive face when entering such manipulative environments?

“I felt like ‘the biggest loser’ in the middle of the final round... knowing that millions of people, all my friends and family, could see that I would not win in spite of having a good voice and making it through the rounds... because we (contestants) knew well deep inside, what the directors of the show had planned... but for a while I felt like I was actually winning because of my voice... I had conveniently forgotten what they had told me during the rehearsals... ‘Hey, you still look fat .. and your weight issue can become a public downer...“ (runners up Indian Idol 2019 with 18% vote share - name withheld)

“Indian Idol 13 judges have finalized the top 15 contestants of the show. Indian Idol 13 is a scam, fake show - participants and viewers knew why...” SIASAT Indian Idol Story.

America’s Got Talent Is Fake! by Nicky Swift

...and welcome to the Idol Factory!
A bit of history for a global context? Reality TV entails many forms, based on demographic and national nuances. The global emergence of this genre has been studied as “media based voyeurism” or “mediatized observation”. Accessible to public, one can view it as a game, contest, duel, test, peep-show etc televised for capsule sized entertainment. The earliest example of such shows goes back to 1950s, in the United States. ‘Candid Camera’ (launched in 1949) is still cited as America’s pioneer “reality based shows” extending for almost 30 years. Eurovision being the current world #1 in terms of outreach, participation and revenue generation (approx. 430M worldwide viewers). Reality TV shows account for at least 1+ billion viewers globally. Also 47% of the viewers consider them as “guilty pleasures.” The gamification of these shows is now predicated by widespread public participation via online voting. Virtually unknown teenagers become overnight celebrities, the majority of whom momentarily peak the given charts, usually followed by a quick die off (virtually speaking). Imagine a steep bell-curve of fame!

As Indian mainstream entertainment often replicates the West (with a given delay), similar is the case with talent shows on Indian prime time. A volatile world where teenagers and young people plucked from obscurity, are offered a chance to become stars. But that teenage girl from Bihar or young man from Kerala, with lots of naive talent is up for big scam in essence!

Singing contests create specific conditions, where a viewer can vicariously identify with the protagonist (the contestant) without knowing anything objectively about the given person. These shows ‘bridge our desire’ to blend talent with glory, competition with fate, the winners and all the losers, together symbolize the validation of meritocracy. We are ‘made to feel’ that the ‘best person is winning’. The sensationalism, drama, manipulation, tears, speculative judgement and hyper real appearances makes the experience ever more engaging (addictive). The conversion of raw talent into battle-size entertainment in HD. The economic success of these talent shows, extends itself pan-society, to exploit children as young as 9 years old (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs). The parents, audience, production gurus and team implicitly responsible for exposing these children to “values based solely on appearance” and “unrealistic prospects of success” plus other negative implications (IPL Academic Research Base)

“The addiction to this genre is spreading at a steady pace. Why? Because watching the psychological journey of extreme emotions is hypnotic and addictive. Then it hardly matters, if the journey is about singing or dancing or performing unusual acts or romance, heartbreak, anxiety, rage etc etc. The experience entails vicarious thrills sustained by negative cultural feedback for the viewers, and more so when we know that we are sitting snuggled in the comforts of our homes...” Puja Khatri / Yukti Ahuja (Presence and impact of voyeurism in the Indian media environment) . The rise of talent shows is linked to ‘Social Learning’ (observe and imitate others) which was widely used by Viacom, Foxx, BBC, NBC, MTV (early 1990s) and later in India by Zee, StarPlus, Sony, Channel V, Sun TV, Colors etc. In simple terms, it is a form of social engineering executed via televised entertainment. A “scripted process” that uses group dynamics to train social and personal emotions (to coexist).

“A large part of sponsored media, cherrypicks stereotypical beautiful (thin people) as ‘ideal’. Underweight and/or slim but curvy models, teenagers and even children acting out in millions of adverts. The regime of perfection is tacit, and it impacts us all. Even as woke advertising pundits include Africans, Chinese, Indians, Chubby etc, the regime of perfection plays out as is. The exposure to all pervasive visual propaganda has the strongest (negative) effect on teenagers and children, in certain cases as young as 4 to 5 years old... the exposure effect disempowers them over time and making them vulnerable to media based manipulation, at a mental and physical level...” from a new article by A. Morin (psychologist, writer). Similar to Reality TV (Big Brother, MTV Splitsvilla, Nach Baliye etc), the distraction lies in distortion, emotional fakery and big doses of exaggeration. One which takes the viewer and the aspiring talent away from the supposed objective - about how good is one’s voice? How hard have they worked to reach this alter of national prestige? What doesn’t happen naturally often is added by the producers, script writers and editors. Because regardless of all the hype and hoopla, there are no real standards or means to value (judge) any two (or more) competing voices. That too under 3 minutes, even if it’s voted in or out by millions of people.

The bitter aspects of this culture, most often escapes the eyes of a fan, who tends to forget (or filter out) the cultural backdrop that she or he belongs to. India, a society which still has deep issues with the individuality of girls, women and queer. Where golden hits of Bollywood are sung by teenage boys and girls almost like hymns, on the alter of high- entertainment. What we hear on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Dil Se Hindustani, Super Singer, Indian Idol etc equates to a carousel of about 40 to 50 Bollywood hits (past and present), sung over and over again by ever new aspiring talent from various parts of India. Yet India is a country rich in diversity in terms of folk music, songs, dialects, narratives and local aesthetics.

That diversity is mostly absent from all such contests. An overwhelming majority of the winners and judges are male (Wikipedia Indian Idol Winners 2004-2021 = 78% male). Of the 970 Talent Shows aired during 2013-2019, female contestants accounted for 22% [SKCF Indian Women In Media 2021]. Similar gender inequality is visible across the entire spectrum of media activities, such as current affairs, sports, Bollywood news etc. In practice these contests give little importance to diversity or talent, even less about individual expression. Instead the emphasis remains on the assembly line production of spectacles, very similar as they look and sound years on, produced by an industry, perhaps regurgitating forever. In case you are a talented singer (female, queer or male) looking for a sustainable rewarding career, why would you want to go down such a prefabricated path? Places where singers behave more like junior gladiators?! Just for that 3 and a half minutes of fame and glory?! Think again please.

Ready for War? But Smile Please!
Talent must pass many tests, ordeals, unexpected twists and turns, the approval of celebrity judges and the approval of the audience. Following preliminary auditions, past all the screen tests, background checks, weight, height and skin-color approvals, the select bunch of aspiring young singers make it to the esteemed alter, the audition. Congratulations you made it! Never mind those who did not and even less as to why! Now starts the combat, oh pardon! the contest. Sing your heart out (less it explodes later with anxiety). Still alive? Welcome to the Finale! This is your moment buddy! Lights, Camera, Action! Average performance time 3 minutes 15 seconds.... the music fades, the verdict follows and it’s over! Too bad, someone else won. But now it’s time to smile, shed a tear or two, say adieu and depart .

A few words of hope by the lovely host, as the celebrity judges wave you out, to oblivion. In brief, this experience (or call it step wise manipulation and torture) is laid out for everyone entering the game. On what basis is one valued as talented or not-so-talented is never clear, and worse when we hear the celebrity judges justify the ongoing scam. The word ‘talent’ itself begins to stink up the whole show!

Shankar Mahadevan, one of the highest paid judges and an icon of Bollywood music, insists that “musical elements are present in the DNA of everyone, including both my sons, but it’s up to them to nurture it, go through training, work very hard and find their way up ..it’s the same for any good singer...” [NDTV Interview with Rajdeep Sardesai 2019]. Fact is, that there is nothing in anyone’s DNA related to art or music, however Shankar Mahadevan as an artist relates to a lineage, a class of privilege, which works wonders in the music industry of India. Mahadevan, like every beacon of Bollywood does not have the capacity to express any real sentiments, for the thousands of girls and boys who didn’t make it. Who went back home with their dreams and expectations trashed. Such unfortunate outcomes, that never ever happened in the virtuosos life!

A tacit hierarchy of privilege, ensures such unfair and disempowering incidents don’t occur with folks like Shankar Mahadevan. So, was there something wrong in their DNA Shanker Ji? And will your sons also participate in a contest given all the “training and nurture” ? For decades, mainstream culture in India has been orchestrated by a tiny ruling elite. That exclusivity is a barrier in creating inclusivity, as vast number of Indians, especially those underprivileged, rural, Dalits, tribal, gay and queer, disabled etc are effectively excluded from participation. Yes a token or exceptional appearance happens from time to time, to maintain a ‘faux image of inclusivity’. Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Tamil speaking folks also watch similar contests in their languages, yet again hosted by a tiny cabal of Bollywood celebs, popular singers, cricket players, fashion models etc. The majority of the young girls and boys who aspire to compete and win, are from tier 2 or 3 towns of India, while the judges are most often upper class Indians, living in the tier 1 mega cities.

Take the case of Monica Dogra (Bollywood starlet, born in Maryland, US) in “What It Takes To Be The Master Of Your Own Material” (sponsored by Grazia “a distinctive 'Easy Chic' philosophy”). Role models born of wealth and privilege (and their given beauty) may have “waited tables and worked as a bartender in New York”, yet any self-serving personality is eventually validated by mass media and public response, and not by her or his inherent virtues or talent. Monica Dogra, while peddling hoodwink mantras to public like “be the master of your own material” implicitly negates how Bollywood, Fashion and Advertising as interlinked industries tacitly favor class, beauty, skin color, height, accent etc etc. Inconsequential “master or easy chic” - be it Heidi Klum (America’s got Talent) or Monica Dogra (The Stage) who in construct are mascots of a given brand or the prime time television industry. “Masters” of what we may never know…

The Exposure Effect!
Celebrity cult worship (and obsession) with Bollywood stars is an intergenerational affair in India. Through decades, Indians from all sections of society, have grown up consuming the ‘star studded blitzkrieg’ of Bollywood. The Indian scene also mirrors disturbing social patterns which exist in the U.S. viz-a-viz Hollywood. “The obsession to be on TV, mimic celebrities which leads to the development of combative skills, to gain more attention is very similar to addiction of drugs, alcohol and pornography...” states Miami based psychologist Dr. Jamie Huysman. “It’s a symptom of a much deeper emotional problem, and the sufferer’s malaise in many cases infects the entire family…” How does ‘obsession’ spill over into the contests that we are talking about? Defined as the ‘Exposure Effect’, studies based on Eurovision and American Idol speak of “a two sided impact, on viewers and contestants”. The effect is perhaps the key factor, to ensure maximum participation from both ends. Orchestrated by the directors, producers, celebrity judges and eventually by the franchised format, the spectacle has very little to do with the index of talent or a fair game. Instead a fair amount of orchestrated conflict and humiliation takes precedence.

No one tells these young people that most of the natural footage will be left out, not just to fit the edit but to manipulate “character development”. Character defects may be exaggerated simply by editing down the good qualities. Or even amplified depending on the incoming votes. Knowing this, the judges often use misleading words or verdicts to make the contestant think they are going home, just before revealing that they are actually moving up, maybe on their way to win the competition.

The Exposure Effect is meant to psychologically impact contestants. Teenage girls and boys are susceptible, especially those who aspire (sometimes too deeply) to become Bollywood singers one day. That ‘one day’ dream-come-true is what all these contests are pointing to, whoever exaggerated, full of fakery, personal risks and mental health issues. The irony, that the spectacle literally lasts for ‘one day’ for a vast majority of the aspiring talent. “The probability of exposure to stress, anxiety, psychological and bodily harm is high, during the entire timeline of a given contests. Many disturbing or objectionable details are edited out. The producers, script writers, judges et all are pushing a bunch introverts to become extroverts. The rapid and unforeseen transition creates psychological impacts. It also leads to long term negative effects. Recent studies reveal that the producers of the biggest singing contests do not account for these risks - further deny the occurrence of psychological trauma, bullying, that some contestants have experienced and reported...” a recent study by Frontiers In Psychology.

A similar field study in India would be valuable, especially when we are told that approximately 280M Indians watch Top 7 song based contests every week. 71% of that audience is aged 8 to 45 years. In 2022, approx. 513M mobile broadband users watched prime time entertainment shows (nearly half of India’s population)

The performance of celebrity judges as ‘high priests of merit’ also reveals certain abject if not hilarious aspects of these shows. The most obvious part comes across in the commenting behaviors of judges, because that too is scripted, manipulative in nature, full of grandiose fakery and intermittent nuggets of drama. These highly adored public figures, also develop a preference only for things that they are familiar with. Their artistic sensibilities actually bound inside very conventional standards. As a consequence, the act of evaluation has already been outsourced to external factors, which ensure the popularity, participation and continuity of the given show. A majority of the Bollywood icons who judge these talent shows are often past their career prime, and essentially are actors, made to heap effusive praise or pointless criticism, rather than any objective evaluation or real tutorship. Dare I say, that most of them are double-standard personas.

Off camera, most of the Bollywood super-singers and music directors who appear on such talent shows, use (or are totally depend on) Antares AutoTune (a pitch correction software for voice), while in front of the camera they are judging young naive singers about their pitch, accuracy, range, depth, richness, yada yada! “Your voice is so divine… I could almost feel the presence of the almighty…” Anu Malik Indian Idol 2017. In 2019, Anu Malik was accused for sexual harassment and violence by several Bollywood singers and actresses. The big words aside, do these industry stalwarts actually foster new talent or even share new opportunities? Do they create real access? The general answer is no. After all, it’s an overrated spectacle and not how the industry works in reality.

Conclusion

Some say, that it’s OK to languish in five-minutes of fame. If you have your head on your shoulders and feet on the ground, then why not go for it? What’s the harm? I say that is ‘bullsh*t! We seem to ignore that any ambition needs dedication, to achieve credible goals over time. Nothing happens in 5 minutes. The prime time shows make us believe that anyone can ‘make it’ as long as they have ‘talent’. However everyone is talented, in one way or another, without having to measure or compete. We are told again and again, that we cannot be winners unless we contain the drive, determination, long hours and sacrifices made by those at the top. The ones at the top, as seen for decades now, are mostly a bunch of mediocre, self-serving industry approved elites. Enablers of prime time business models, of mediocrity, of exposure, abuse and scam. New talent and new songs need a loving audience and an open stage to begin with, instead of an industry mandated slaughter of voices, that we are used to...

published earlier on Substack( May 2023)

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autonomy

SEED Version 2

By Audio Pervert - 3/25/2023

SEED version 2
Stepping into the "experience and transition". Founded in 2022, SEED is a new direction that combines ecology, music and autonomy, for young artists and innovators from India. Pragmatic, open-source learning and knowledge. Intergenerational and poly-cultural, planting seeds and new ideas, for a "prepared future".

Modular in nature, choose one or all disciplines, the learning curve is based on your curiosity, imagination and capacity. Enrich your future one way or another!

Ecology - Children, teenagers and youth are increasingly aware of the grave risks posed by global warming, climate change and the industrial civilization itself. Yet, they are also the first to face the challenges and opportunities of the near future. Ecology is a form of universal justice. Ready to invest?

Music - That embodies relationships, experiences, communities. Music is the host for commonly shared cultures. As a practice and experience, music contains tremendous social, psychological, emotional and technological value. Beyond the mainstream, we delve into new experiences and roles based on music.

Autonomy - Our capacity to make informed, uncoerced decisions. As individuals and as members of a given society, we strive for greater independence and self-governing systems. Practices, philosophy and technology of autonomous states. Systems thinking and evolution of the self...

Why Ecology, Music and Autonomy? These three disciplines are interconnected. Each discipline impacts our ability to lead better and richer lives. Also as diverse practices and careers. Weaving together as a living system, which is sustainable, rewarding and commonly shared. Sign up and join the growing community at SEED.

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The content is generated by a group of scientists, practitioners, artists and professionals, engaged in Ecology, Music and Autonomy. Foundations of open-source learning include multiple sources of assimilation. Peer reviewed information include United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Earth System Governance Project, Stanford Online, Club Of Rome (Canada), Deep Green Resistance, Jem Bendell (Deep Adaptation), Carbon Brief, Blockchain-Council, Code Opinion, Polis, MIT Music Labs, Music Radar, Ableton Live, ResearchGate, DailyCoin, TechBoomer, The Wire etc. We also compile existing content by experts and innovators engaged in the above three disciplines. Website (About SEED)
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