Doesn't mean as much as it used to.

I remember growing up, going to the Yankee game, we told our friends we would be there, to look out for us on TV. To be on TV was the thrill of a lifetime. Just to be seen, never mind heard.

But today, being on television is no big deal. Hell, what is a television appearance even worth? You're on a basic cable show, or a news show, and fewer than 100,000 people see you...furthermore, you're competing with zillions of other messages.

That used to be the goal, to become rich and famous.

But we knew almost no one could reach the brass ring. The barrier to entry was just too high. But today, the barrier to entry is nonexistent, such that everybody's trying to become rich and famous. And there's only so much money to go around, as for fame... The Oxford dictionary definition is:

"the state of being known or talked about by many people, especially on account of notable achievements "

1. Being known... Are you known if you have a Facebook page with attendant friends? Or a YouTube presence with viewers? Or an Instagram or TikTok feed? Known used to be being the president of your high school. There was a great gulf between that and being truly famous, on television, known by many. As for how many people know you... I point you to this story:

"Influencers are royalty at this college, and the turf war is vicious - The University of Miami has embraced influencer culture, but the dean had to break up a TikTok spat last month"

Free link: https://wapo.st/47VHXD2

What we've got here is a war between a micro-influencer with 24,000 followers and another who has ten times that amount. The former was pissed that she wasn't on the cover of the school newspaper featuring the school's biggest influencers. The woman with the larger count put her down for being upset and the kerfuffle...

That's exactly what it was, a minor scuffle. Who even knew that influencers were such a big deal at the University of Miami? And if they are, they must be a big deal on scores of other campuses and...how do you keep score?

Micro-influencers can get paid by companies who want a cheap way to reach a target audience... Have you seen any of the sites of these people who get free gear? They think they've made it all the way to the top! They've arrived!

2. Notable achievements... Today, even people with hit records don't have such notable achievements. Oftentimes they're just the face of a production, and it's rare for many of these people to have continued success.

So what is success? There are people bitching that they can't get paid on 1,000 streams.

Everybody's trying to be famous and fame has ben devalued!

But it's even worse, fame used to imply a distance, a gulf between the famous and the hoi polloi. But in a world where even the president tweets, that's no longer the case. The world has been flattened, everybody's fair game. If you post we know who you really are, and if you don't post we judge you negatively for it, and anybody who cares is out to reveal your warts online anyway.

So if you're in it for fame...

That's now a phony goal. It doesn't mean much. And even if you are famous...to how many people, where? In a nation where many have never even heard of the number one act, never mind their music.

Fame is an empty construct.

As for rich... There are more ways to make money. And you might be making bank but still not be famous in terms of the old construct.

So, at the end of the day you can fool yourself, reach artificial goals and say you're rich and famous or...

You can know those are antique measuring sticks.

Today it's solely about you and your audience. Those outside your audience may be completely unaware of you. May never be aware of you. Your clip can go viral on TikTok...and not only do you never go viral again, most of those who saw said clip don't become followers and don't see and aren't interested in what you do thereafter.

So you have to be satisfied just doing the work.

But that's not enough for most people. They're after that elusive goal.

Maybe they want to be Kim Kardashian...

But you can't even do that anymore. The Kardashians became famous via a cable TV show. They leveraged that into business opportunities. But today, if the basic cable channel still exists, almost no one is watching it. You can't become a Kardashian, the lane is closed. Just like Coldplay and the Dave Matthews Band became ubiquitous via VH1 airplay...there's no outlet that everybody watches anymore, meaning more people are aware of and know the music of the old acts than the new, before the infrastructure of yore collapsed.

And it's not only the players who abhor this, but the media, which likes things clear and coherent. What kind of world do we live in where the Top Ten isn't representative of overall listening habits? Sure, the Top Ten might be listened to more than other songs, but in the aggregate, those other songs triumph.

So if you're shooting for the moon...

Don't.

There is no there there. There's rarely any context. Look at social media, where there is no chart, everybody's in it for themselves, building their own audience, and it rarely cross-pollinates.

Fame is no longer the goal. You want followers, you want superfans, but they may just be a tiny fraction of the overall populace. You're famous in your niche, that's it. And chances are you won't grow from there...

Everybody's trying to grow their fanbase. But in a world where you can pull the specific thing you want... Most people are not interested in what you're doing, they're interested in something else. And if you bland your product out, trying to reach more people, you'll end up nowhere, because it's the edges that hook people, that connect people.

So why are you in it? Why are you doing it?

Now in truth most people give up the dream, they get into their twenties, are sick of spinning their wheels and being broke and give up.

But the world is still clogged-up by the up and comers/newbies.

And you end up with those saying they're famous but not rich...look at their follower counts!

And those with any followers at all who think they're famous, complaining that they're not rich.

And those who are truly rich and famous who think they dominate the culture but do not. I mean I'm at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony and people kept asking who some of the youngsters on stage paying tribute were. It's easy to say those out of the loop are old...but maybe those new acts are just not that big...AND NEVER WILL BE! This is not a put-down of their talent, of the fact that they've got followers, but the concept that if you're in "People" or on TV you've crossed a threshold and are now part of an insider club above the rest.

No, you're just someone who had the benefit of some exposure. That most people didn't see and those who did might shrug at...not even remembering your appearance soon after it ends.

Like at the University of Miami, seemingly everybody thinks they're famous and entitled to the trappings/benefits thereof. God, talk to a retailer/restaurant...they're constantly dunned for free items for the exposure of an influencer. And now most of the retailers/restaurants say no, because they know said exposure is meaningless.

So the metrics...

Are all personal. Do you have enough followers for you? Are you making enough money for you? If you are, kudos. But don't believe anyone else cares, or ever will.

It's not a matter of everybody being famous for fifteen minutes, rather everybody is famous 24/7, and that begs the question...WHAT IS FAME WORTH?

In most cases, not much.


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