Media, Less Mediated

Prototyping a Human-Curated Global Music Discovery System

Happy Equinox, Subscribers!

I celebrated in Cheyenne, WY, where the precise moment of axial inversion co-occurred with civil twilight, meaning I could literally watch the sun rise into the autumn. It felt auspicious!

As mentioned in my vernal equinox post, the equinox serves as a symbol in that it is day where the light is distributed nearly evenly across the world’s population, and part of the mission of this substack is to drive toward a more egalitarian media environment. And as such, I spent this weekend finishing up a prototype I’d been developing during my 2021-23 sabbatical: Mic Check Media!

I built this to help myself explore music in a more holistic and human way. Algorithms have displaced curators, making media discovery literally inhuman. Informal social communities often cannot represent the broader media environment. Enter: a site the draws on voices across all continents and hemispheres, distilling their recommendations into a simple weekly playlist.

The name draws on a technique I observed at Occupy Wall Street in 2011, which Wikipedia tells me is called “Human Microphone”. Essentially, the speaker shouts “Mic Check!” and the crowd responds “One, Two!” And from there, the crowd will just repeat the words of the speaker so those further away can hear. In a similar fashion, Mic Check Media’s daily survey allows people to amplify each other, elevating the voices of artists that are meaningful to them.

Check out the site, and let me know what you think! I’d be interested in operating a carpool-style survey model where others can chip in for sample and I can add questions that interest them, so let me know if that sounds interesting to you. Also, though, I’m open to really any ideas and feedback! As you can tell from the site, it’s a simple prototype and there are lots of ways it can grow!

I have a broader newsletter outline introducing why I think elevating global media is beneficial for not just society-at-large but also individuals, but I spent more time on the actual website than I’d planned — so this “beta launch announcement” is all I’m sending today/tonight! But I for one am glad I’ll have a fresh people-powered playlist to enjoy each week from now on, and maybe a few of you will dig it too.

Enjoy your first week of astrological autumn!

Harry