The importance of daydreaming, a poetry pharmacy, Spotify is killing music, and more
I trawl through the highs and lows of culture and ideas, so you don't have to.
The Saturday Compendium is where I’ll round up a few of the things that have interested me in one way or another this week. Some cool, some not so cool, some that have made me think, some that have inspired me to action, some that have shaken me out of a rut. Some old, some new, all borrowed, some possibly blue. But whatever else, they’re all things I think you might find interesting too
Do you want more? Do join up as a reader-supporter. You’ll get all my posts, past and future, including essays, humour, fiction, behind-the-scenes publishing gossip, and much more. All for about the same price as a monthly cold brew coffee.
NB. A slight change in format going forwards. I want to give my reader-supporters a little extra each week, but I also want free subscribers to be able to comment on Saturday Compendium posts. Which is not possible, if they feature a paywall. To get round this, I’ll be making the standard SC post entirely free, but putting the extra content in a separate ‘Deeper Dive’ post for paying subscribers only.
Let’s see how it goes, shall we?
What I’ve been watching: Patti Smith on the importance of daydreaming
As always, Smith’s take is contrary, nuanced, interesting and insightful. Here she argues that a great many new ideas and creative impulses come through daydreaming, and that while she doesn’t advocate renouncing all social media, too much of it can lead to a kind of tunnel vision that precludes the mind’s natural tendency to meander.
The theory? We only live one life, right. So if we choose one path, rather than another, then that’s the path. We might have a miserable time, and be tempted to believe we should have chosen the other route. But what’s to say that road would have been better? It might’ve been worse, or the same.
I struggle to go with this wholeheartedly. It seems the advice could lead to catastrophe. In The Saturday Compendium - A Deeper Dive, I share a personal story.
But. Perhaps there is something to be said for not worrying quite so much? What do you think?
I once saw an interview with Michael Stipe, and he said, ‘First thought, best thought.’ Which is not to say one shouldn’t interrogate our impulses, but we should also ask ourselves why that’s where our mind went. Is our subconscious trying to tell us something?
This post
In short…
a. Start small
b. Set a timer
c. Make it the only option
d. Use ‘temptation bundling’
e. Change your environment
f. get moving
g. Add accountability
Did you know there was a poetry pharmacy in London?
What I’ve been listening to: Spotify, and therein lies a problem…
Did you know that for the second time in less than a year, Spotify is upping its prices – this time by up to £2 a month.
Did you also know that all tracks with fewer than 1,000 listens are to be demonetised?
This means new and independent artists are going to make even less money than they were before.
But what’s the alternative? Apple? Amazon? They both have their disadvantages. Spotify still dominates.
This quote from music producer James Blake sent chills down my spine…
“Since it’s cheaper to produce fast, synthetic music to drop on streaming every week to capitalise on the strengths of the model, watch how the model is preparing you for AI generated music that pays musicians nothing at all”
But what do we do? What’s the answer?
What I’m reading: Liz Nugent - Strange Sally Diamond
Another book which, so far at least, is more than liiving up to the hype. It’s great.
For my reader-supporters - Deeper Dive has a post about how we need to stop using ‘globe-centric’ language, so that we can be inclusive of ‘flat-earthers’.
How about you? What are you enjoying at the moment?
Don’t forget - my reader-supporters get a little something extra in The Saturday Compendium - A Deeper Dive.
