Category Archives: Thinking About Media

Introducing University of Space Recording Company

After years of threatening to do so, I quietly launched a record label in early 2023. I say “record label” colloquially. More accurately, it’s a cassette and digital label. It’s called the University of Space Recording Company, and it’s the … Continue reading

Posted in Arts and Culture, Thinking About Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On Staying Out of the Comments in 2023

I’m taking a few seconds right now to consider how my social media habits have changed over this past year. Of course they’ve changed, because the discourse on pretty much all of the major social platforms has been changing. You … Continue reading

Posted in The Internet, Thinking About Media | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Quick Layman’s Explainer of Specifically How Elon Musk Is Actively Tanking Twitter’s Business Model Right Now

Author’s note, added Apr. 2025: I’ve noticed this post has been getting a fair amount of traffic recently, and I want to point out that this post is from Nov. 2022, which means that at the moment I’m writing this … Continue reading

Posted in Social Issues, The Internet, Thinking About Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why Cassettes Rule if You’re in a Band

Out here in 2022, we’re about 15 years into the ostensible Cassette Revolution* – well past the point where it could reasonably be considered a “revolution.” Tapes are just part of what we’re doing now, as a culture, or whatever. … Continue reading

Posted in Arts and Culture, The Internet, Thinking About Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bad Advice Musicians Hear, Part 5: Does “Getting Signed” Change Everything?

It’s a slow Thursday night at your neighborhood rock club, and you’ve just stepped offstage after an admittedly killer set by your Promising Local Band. You’re trying to suss whether that’s just your ego talking or if you’ve actually managed … Continue reading

Posted in Arts and Culture, Bad Advice Musicians Hear, Thinking About Media | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Bad Advice Musicians Hear, Part 3: Can a PR Rep Fast-Track You to Fame?

Today, we’re going to get into this not-so-great piece of advice: If you hire a PR rep, you’ll fast-track your band’s rise through the ranks. When I was about 21, I asked an acquaintance of mine who was already in … Continue reading

Posted in Arts and Culture, Bad Advice Musicians Hear, Thinking About Media | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Thing About the Mountain Analogy

I spent my late teens and half of my 20s as a serial monomaniac. I wanted to be a professional musician. I wanted to publish books of fiction and poetry. Basically, I wanted to be an “artist,” and I really … Continue reading

Posted in Arts and Culture, Thinking About Media | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Why I Don’t Click Article Links on Facebook (or Post Them Either)

As easy as it would be to start this post with “Facebook is in the news…,” it wouldn’t be a terribly helpful intro. Facebook is always in the news. And almost everything Facebook is in the news for is bad. … Continue reading

Posted in The Internet, Thinking About Media | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

It’s Brian LaRue, the Blog: The Relaunch

All right, so I took a six-year break from this blog, but now I’m back.  Man, a lot can happen in six years. In mid-2015, I was living in a converted warehouse, throwing rock shows. I hadn’t met my partner … Continue reading

Posted in The Internet, Thinking About Media | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Three Alt-Weeklies, My Own Salad Days and One Long Goodbye to Them All

This morning, the final editions of the three alt-weekly newspapers that serve Connecticut — the New Haven Advocate, Hartford Advocate and Fairfield County Weekly — all hit newsstands. The Hartford Advocate, which I discovered on the floor of my high … Continue reading

Posted in Arts and Culture, The Internet, Thinking About Media, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments