Dylan Brody Talks About Social Networking vs. Talent

A strong education in the arts, a love of the English language, the true joy I take in performing, have left me ill-prepared for a career in a world in which “likes” and “follows” are plural nouns and “friend” is a verb.

I just heard this segment of a podcast from KPPC's Off Ramp today, and thought I'd share it. Alan Brody, Dylan Brody's father, taught him that talent and persistence were all you needed to succeed. That is what I grew up believing as well, but the nature of success has changed profoundly. Social media is indeed the new main way success is measured.

At least in music, competence, mixed with luck, social skills, and location, can get you some of the small amount of playing work that still exists. As much as we complain and fret about the problems we have trying to carve out a living playing and writing music (the "classical kind"), the role social media plays when trying to have success in other fields of entertainment is much greater.