Bruce Warila

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The Flat Earth Conundrum

Published in 2010

Do you believe crowds of humans will ever (or do now) sway as much control over the rate and depth of media dissemination as the established media machine does now?

It’s easier than ever to make studio-quality songs and great looking videos.

You can easily distribute your music and creations worldwide.

Through promotion tools and strategies, you can continually increase the rate and depth in which your media spreads throughout the world.

However, just as there‘s always someone that’s stronger, faster, smarter or wealthier than any one of us, will there always be entities that can push media faster and deeper into the marketplace than ALL of us (humans) networked together?

My answer to the question above is:  The media world is flattening, but it will be years before networks of humans can consistently push media and messages faster and deeper than most media entities can now.  However, due to the shrinking fortunes of most media businesses, the gatekeepers that control mass-media exposure opportunities are looking for artists that are flat-earth savvy (capable of mitigating risk by excelling at self-promotion) and/or content that has flat-earth appeal (the potential to go viral).

It’s a conundrum.  You currently can’t match their speed and depth (of dissemination) on your own, but they can no longer afford to feature you unless you can obtain speed and depth on your own.