söndag, juni 17, 2007

Back from Småland woods

A brief summary of the Hultsfred festival: Juvelen, Familjen and The Sweptaways shined like crazy diamonds. The PSL Tent had a line up better than the festival itself. Thursday and friday was sunny. Saturday was a rainy hell.
Other things we noticed: the backstage restaurant served very small portions of potatoes to the vegetarian meal, the Rookie scene is still waaaaayy to big to make any concert feel like fun, no matter where you are or how old you are it's still fun getting drunk with your mates, there were less people than last year.
Here are the different theories people had for the lack of visitors:
1. Ozzy, 50 cent, Velvet revolver and Korn sucks.
2. The price for the ticket is too high.
3. The downloading bonanza/decrease in CD sales has affected the festival scene as well. (A vague explanation, the idea is that people used to identify with being interested in music or assiciate with music in a different way than nowadays when it's not so special to get ahold of music. Before you had to spend time and money before to get music and by knowing a lot about music made you kinda popular in some circles. Whereas nowadays anyone can 'get into music' by just downloading some tracks in a week and the point of going to a festival just to increase your identity as a 'music guy/girl' has decreased. Yeah, we know it's pretty vague. But anyways who knows)
4. There are too many festivals.
5. Accelerator and Way out west took all the good bands.
6. Andres Lokko has finally been able to reach out and persuaded 10 000 people to stay at home.
7. Too few Hybris artists.
8. Kids nowadays just plays WoW. Basshunter and Laser should have been booked. Having Red bull sponsoring a dance floor is not enough.
9. By now everybody that is even remotely interested in going to a festival already has been to several festivals several times and they are tired of it.
10. Paris Hilton is in jail wich spoils the party mood.

Here are Hybris tip for upping the ante in 2008 at Hultsfred:
Book Paris Hilton and the Vip party boys. Throw in Captain Ahab and The Cheeseburgers(free mp3s on their site, tip of the day!) and were all set:

Vip Party Boys. Vipper than you.


The Cheeseburgers. Cheesiest.


Paris. More parisian than you.


Captain Ahab. Your Captain.


On another note, we note that the filesharing "debate" has reached the book publishing world. And just like that we are partying like it's 1999! The LEVEL of it all! Sweet god, the LEVEL! Listen to them: "you don't go into Konsum and steal a package with fillet of beef", "Camilla Läckberg, that has lost tens of thousands of crowns to the pirates is supporting legal alternatives".
People, people, people. When are we going to start talking about what is happening? Things are going on RIGHT NOW as we speak. Right now things are happening. Strict laws, believing in DRM or whatever you think of. Forget it. Back in 1993 there might have been a chance to go down that road. It's all too late now. Look at the facts, see what is happening and act accordinatly after it. It's how YOU act, how the 'Biz' acts, that needs change. Not laws, not how 'the people' acts. What kind of changes do you think you are capable of? It's very silly of you going on like you do. It's extremly difficult to change behavior. Ask Greenpeace, Fair Trade or any ecological movement. The change 'anti-pirates'/DRM supporters/whatever are trying to achieve is a monumental task. Sure, social movements have changed the world on occasions. It's just that you guys aren't a social movement. Actually, the social movement here are the pirates wich behaviour you want to change. You can never change their behaviour because their ideas are better than yours. They have all seen that first hand while they discover new ways to experience culture.
Believe us when we say(again): the only way you can control things on the Internet is by having no control. By doing that, if people dig your stuff, people will support you and whatever you do, if it's writing books, doing movies or music. If people are free to choose they might choose you. They wont choose you because the laws says so.

Here is a constructive way forward: Cheaper, faster, funnier. If you want a more detailed plan, we want money for telling it.