I had an epiphany while listening to Led Zeppelin. Now, don’t ask me how the Internet came to my mind during a Led Zeppelin song, but it did. Being a bit of a rock and roll trivia nerd, I am well aware of Led Zeppelin’s liberal use of old blues songs and riffs in their music. In their early days, Led Zeppelin would nearly copy a riff note for note or a lyric word for word. The band was essentially re-purposing old content, making it sound more awesome and start what would be a booming rock scene in the 1970s. Later on, the band became more experimental and expansive in their writing (just take a listen to Kashmir, for example). Indeed, Led Zeppelin were the pioneers of the hard rock sound that would influence countless bands and are still highly regarded today.
Thinking about Led Zeppelin’s past reminded me of a particular website that is gaining a bigger foothold in today’s digital universe: Buzzfeed. The website has seen explosive traffic due to its viral content. It is a rising star in reporting political and technology news. However, the most contagious content are usually re purposed items found from Reddit and other social news pages. The Atlantic has an article explaining Buzzfeed’s methods of aggregation and how Gawker uses the traffic from its most viral content to help fund its more ambitious projects.
Do you see the similarities?
- Led Zeppelin borrows from old blues songs, Buzzfeed borrows from Reddit and other sources.
- Led Zeppelin adds its own arrangements and interpretation, Buzzfeed provides context and structure.
- Led Zeppelin goes on to write more experimental and original music; Buzzfeed goes into political and long-form reporting.
Am I making sense or is this all a big stretch? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
