Introduction
For my BCM325 Digital Artefact, we were required to frame our topic with consideration to the future in the next 5, 10, 25 or 50 years. I wanted to create something of value for me following my graduation at the end of 2021. As I’ve already begun working in the Australian music industry, I decided to craft a five-year career plan that considered the short and long-term implications and the changing landscape of the Australian music industry.
I used Twitter to promote my articles and Canva to format the two YouTube videos that were embedded in Episode 1 and 2. The multi-media element added to both these episodes didn’t regurgitate the information in my blog but instead added an alternative angle to the topic. Due to time constraints, I wasn’t able to include a video for the third episode, but here’s a brief overview of the three WordPress blog posts:
- Blog Post 1 used the SMART method of career planning to map out my future at AUD’$ as a music journalist.
- Blog Post 2 ideated what role my clothing brand Moriboys will play in my career and investigated the relationship between streetwear fashion and Hip-hop.
- Blog Post 3 examined the future technologies and trends in the Australian music industry.
Background Research
For the background research, I studied some of the work of my peers within the field including Ben Madden and Parry Tritsiniotis. These are two creatives in the industry whose work has demonstrated a strong public utility and who I think, are key players in elevating the Australian music industry through their journalistic work. In addition to examining my peers and their approaches, I also found three of the subject materials to be particularly useful for my project.
After the Singularity: A Talk with Ray Kurzweil (2002)
In Ray Kurzweil’s Singularity, he describes a new era of society that is a “merger between human intelligence and machine intelligence that is going to create something bigger than itself.” Although my DA doesn’t directly focus on this thought, there is a quote in his reflection of Singularity where he states, “We’re kind of like the pattern that water makes in a stream; you put a rock in there and you’ll see a little pattern. The water is changing every few milliseconds; if you come a second later, it’s completely different water molecules, but the pattern persists. Patterns are what have resonance. Ideas are patterns, technology is patterns. Even our basic existence as people is nothing but a pattern. Pattern recognition is the heart of human intelligence. Ninety-nine percent of our intelligence is our ability to recognise patterns.”
The notion of pattern recognition was incredibly useful to my DA that focused on Australian Hip-hop and career plans. By understanding the patterns of Hip-hop’s development in other countries, I was able to make educated predictions on the future of the scene. Similarly, it led me to research the SMART method of goal planning that followed a structured pattern in accomplishing my ideal career.
The Ecstasy of Communication – Jean Baudrillard (1987)
Jean Baudrillard’s The Ecstasy of Communication argues that society’s gaze is changing into an ecstasy of promiscuity, from the world of the object to the start of the hyper-reality, described as “the space of simulation.” Though my DA focuses on the medium-range future, I also detailed plans for both the short and long term. This paper, in particular, allowed me to reflect on the content that I produce for my career and how I should be aiming to create an immersive experience with my work. By doing so, my short-range future will benefit from consistent and quality content, my medium-range goals will hopefully be achieved quicker and the long-range future will feature a hyper-realistic niche of Hip-hop in Australia with a more active and international fanbase.
Making People Responsible – Wendell Bell (1997)
Wendell Bell’s Making People Responsible challenged the opinion I gained from After the Singularity and gave an important perspective on futurists’ roles and responsibilities. Although my DA is a career plan, it also attempted to predict the future of Hip-hop in Australia and its growing appeal to global audiences. Bell states, “futurists not only study images of the future held by various people in an effort to understand and explain their behaviour, they also investigate the process of image-making itself, encourage people to rigorously explore alternative images of the future, and construct images of the future themselves. In so doing, futurists aim to help people become more competent, effective, and responsible actors, both in their personal lives and in their organisational and societal roles.”
This resonated strongly and provided me with a stronger public utility as I began the DA to better understand my career trajectory in order to make more educated predictions on the future of the industry. By embodying Bell’s perception of a futurist, I hope to, for lack of a better phrase, ‘stay ahead of the competition’ and play a key role in the globalisation of Australian Hip-hop music.
Public Utility
Reflecting on my production timeline, I was able to accurately follow the actions accordingly. If I had the chance to re-do this DA, I would have created a more comprehensive production timeline with details on additional content that I should have made. This could’ve included Instagram, Reddit and Twitter posts related to my DA that would’ve increased my engagement and provided me with a stronger public utility.
The public utility of my DA is unfortunately one of its biggest weaknesses. Reflecting on my work, I limited myself to my WordPress, YouTube and Twitter audience that mainly consists of other UOW students. While they are included in my target audience, I recognise that I was somewhat unable to create a strong public utility for a larger audience. The primary utility that my DA holds is to myself, future employers and fans of Hip-hop in Australia, typically aged between 15-25 years old. While my engagement was less than ideal, I did find that my DA delivered on its public utility to myself and future employers as it provided me with a convincing career plan to follow in the final months of university and post-graduation. I recently applied to a PR/Management company in Sydney and managed to secure an interview as well. Though I’m waiting to hear back, my DA provided me with confidence and clarity heading into my application.
Despite the lack of engagement, the peer feedback loop from my pitch and beta helped me ideate new approaches to my DA. In particular, Rachel, who also focused her DA on her clothing brand, recommended some marketing articles that while were directly useful to Moriboys, also became applicable to the public persona side of my career as a music journalist. It was also suggested by another user to utilise Twitter more which is something I did for my third episode.
Conclusion
BCM325 has been extremely beneficial to my life after graduation as it has given me confidence in my aspirations and abilities, and my career plan is something I will frequently revise throughout my life. I will be entering my field with a concise career plan, a renewed perception of the future and an understanding of my responsibility as a futurist and the potential technologies and trends that will play a future in the Australian music industry.
Frank Tremain.
Frank Tremain 
Sent from my iPhone
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