History of Earth Music, Monday afternoon
Lucas was flopped down in his chair as usual, his hands folded in front of his chest. The backroom of Empire looked about as it usually did, only . . . cleaner. The television on top of the stereo system had microphone on top of it, and Lucas patiently waited for all the students to arrive.
"So, this is our last workshop together. And my last workshop in Fandom, period. I'm afraid I'm relocating on Wednesday. I'm doing my best to try to keep Empire open for you all, though.
"Right, as I said last week, for our last workshop, we're going to focus on what the future of music might be. But to help me explain some of the things that might be coming, I've brought in two guest lecturers. These guys are veterans of MTV, singers and songwriters themselves, and definitely know a thing or two about music. Please welcome Sifl and Olly."
A dark green sock puppet with yellow eyes and leafy tufts on his head popped up behind the stereo system along with a white sock puppet with a tiny bit of yellow fabric on his head. There was nothing obvious that might be manipulating them.
The white sock puppet grinned toothlessly at the students. "Hello everybody! Welcome to ‘It's Almost the End of the Workshop!'"
The green sock puppet shook his head. "Dude, I told you not to say that. That's dumb."
"Dude, no it's not. It's clever. Like we used to do on the show with ‘it's almost the end of the show' only with a workshop."
"It really isn't."
"Whatever, let's just do this so we can collect our check."
"We're not getting paid, Olly, we're doing this pro bono."
"No way, U2 is coming?"
The green sock puppet shook his head. "Right. I'm Sifl--"
"--and I'm Olly--"
"And we're here to talk about the future of music."
Olly nodded. "That's right. This is something we used to get lots of questions about when we were doing our show on MTV. We used to think the future of music was Mexican Radio."
"But then we realized that was dumb."
"There are, in fact, many directions that music could go, with the internets to help. Now if you're like me, you've got lots of worries about the record companys going after your mp3 collection."
"You know what kind of problems I've been having with record companies,"
"You've got serious ass record company problems, Sifl."
"I do."
"But never fear, students, because Sifl and Olly have the solution for you. No more do you need to live in fear of Metallica and the record executives knocking on your door! For the future of music does not lie in Mexican radio, or even robots or cloning! The future of music is homegrown, self-produced mega hits that you yourself can make and post for free on the internets!"
"There are many great sites out there for sharing your crappy, synthesizered tracks with the whole world! Sites like My Space, and blogging tools are only the begining!"
"Don't believe us? We're the kings of self produced music! And we have some samples here for you today!"
Sifl nodded to Lucas, who pushed a button on his remote.
"We have autobiographical rock ballads, like Dude's House!"
"It's ironic, because it's true!"
"Not only that, though, friends. Like Lincoln Park? Well, we've done the metal/hip-hop blend one better, and blended goth rock and happy indie pop in Cindy's the Hostess!"
"And you, too, can create your own music and music videos like these to share with the unsuspecting public."
"Stuck for ideas? Take your inspiration from your every day life. Just like we did when a wounded bus driver needed our help to find the Llama School."
"So next time you're whining that there's nothing good on the radio any more, just remember--"
"Radio is dead."
"The internets are our future!"
Sifl and Olly posed dramatically for a moment, then leaned into the microphone again.
"Now's the time in the workshop where we take questions from our studio audience. Anything you like to know, kids, we're the pros!"
[ooc: links are to YouTube and are generally safe for public locations.]
"So, this is our last workshop together. And my last workshop in Fandom, period. I'm afraid I'm relocating on Wednesday. I'm doing my best to try to keep Empire open for you all, though.
"Right, as I said last week, for our last workshop, we're going to focus on what the future of music might be. But to help me explain some of the things that might be coming, I've brought in two guest lecturers. These guys are veterans of MTV, singers and songwriters themselves, and definitely know a thing or two about music. Please welcome Sifl and Olly."
A dark green sock puppet with yellow eyes and leafy tufts on his head popped up behind the stereo system along with a white sock puppet with a tiny bit of yellow fabric on his head. There was nothing obvious that might be manipulating them.
The white sock puppet grinned toothlessly at the students. "Hello everybody! Welcome to ‘It's Almost the End of the Workshop!'"
The green sock puppet shook his head. "Dude, I told you not to say that. That's dumb."
"Dude, no it's not. It's clever. Like we used to do on the show with ‘it's almost the end of the show' only with a workshop."
"It really isn't."
"Whatever, let's just do this so we can collect our check."
"We're not getting paid, Olly, we're doing this pro bono."
"No way, U2 is coming?"
The green sock puppet shook his head. "Right. I'm Sifl--"
"--and I'm Olly--"
"And we're here to talk about the future of music."
Olly nodded. "That's right. This is something we used to get lots of questions about when we were doing our show on MTV. We used to think the future of music was Mexican Radio."
"But then we realized that was dumb."
"There are, in fact, many directions that music could go, with the internets to help. Now if you're like me, you've got lots of worries about the record companys going after your mp3 collection."
"You know what kind of problems I've been having with record companies,"
"You've got serious ass record company problems, Sifl."
"I do."
"But never fear, students, because Sifl and Olly have the solution for you. No more do you need to live in fear of Metallica and the record executives knocking on your door! For the future of music does not lie in Mexican radio, or even robots or cloning! The future of music is homegrown, self-produced mega hits that you yourself can make and post for free on the internets!"
"There are many great sites out there for sharing your crappy, synthesizered tracks with the whole world! Sites like My Space, and blogging tools are only the begining!"
"Don't believe us? We're the kings of self produced music! And we have some samples here for you today!"
Sifl nodded to Lucas, who pushed a button on his remote.
"We have autobiographical rock ballads, like Dude's House!"
"It's ironic, because it's true!"
"Not only that, though, friends. Like Lincoln Park? Well, we've done the metal/hip-hop blend one better, and blended goth rock and happy indie pop in Cindy's the Hostess!"
"And you, too, can create your own music and music videos like these to share with the unsuspecting public."
"Stuck for ideas? Take your inspiration from your every day life. Just like we did when a wounded bus driver needed our help to find the Llama School."
"So next time you're whining that there's nothing good on the radio any more, just remember--"
"Radio is dead."
"The internets are our future!"
Sifl and Olly posed dramatically for a moment, then leaned into the microphone again.
"Now's the time in the workshop where we take questions from our studio audience. Anything you like to know, kids, we're the pros!"
[ooc: links are to YouTube and are generally safe for public locations.]