Why Mystery Matters In Music

The web has changed the way that music is created, promoted, shared, purchased and consumed. In fact, there's virtually no aspect of the creative or commercial music process that has not been transformed in the last 15 years.
When I was a young rocker buying my beautiful vinyl at The Spinning Disc in Sunderland in the wet UK, the lure of some Roger Dean or Hipgnosis artwork, a mention in "Sounds" magazine and the recommendation of a drugged out sales guy was more than enough for me to dip into my "milk round money".

We had three weekly music papers - The NME, Melody Maker and Sounds - to keep us up to date with what was happening. News was reported as a serious aspect rather than as the contrived marketing ploys of today. Live reviews went into detail about the atmosphere, the crowd, the lights and the songs. And the bulk of the content was interviews - not so much about the lives of the musicians, but about the songs' meanings, inspirations and homages. Songs were taken seriously, and we wanted to know why, how, where and when they were written and what was going through the head of the artist at the time (in addition to the Red Leb).
The point is that there was a huge sense of mystery surrounding artists and their craft. Whether it was Jimmy Page's fascination with Alistair Crowley, Rush's Ayn Rand inspirations or Peter Gabriel's Albion meets abstract lyrics, the fog of mystery was created naturally and genuinely, and it made us sit intently in front of the speakers to try to unravel the work of our heroes.

Today, we are at the exact opposite point. Everything a musician, label or manager can think of exposing is exposed in an effort to have that all-important "dialogue" with the fan. It's a relationship goldrush that every act is now expected to be part of. There have always been obsessive fans who want it all, and always will be. But in this age of music industry freefall, we are adding fuel to the fire, as even the diehards have to question the frequency and value of the communication from their idols. Let's face it, I wanted to know about Jimmy's interest in black magic, but didn't want to know whether he'd had sprouts for lunch. Not only because it meant little (even though I love sprouts), but because it actively destroyed the myth of him being a mysterious being from a higher plain.

Too much inane "dialogue" only makes the fan tire of the artist at a quicker rate. And so we see artist's commercial lifetime come to an end much faster than in the pre-web days. Often after just one "lead track" (we can't say "single" these days). And they don't realize that they are doing it to themselves. Sure, Twittering from the tour bus is cool, but it's also of no value if it's total drivel and destroys the allure of the act.
Social media has effectively taken the place of the NME and Sounds, but there needs to be a quality level attached just as there was back in the day. This has to come from the artists. Let's help them to rebuild the level of integrity, artistry and mystery around music's future heroes. Only through doing this can legends be created whose level of intrigue and talent will enable their music to be sold for decades, rather than days.