This time of year is dominated by ‘best of’- lists, which is unfortunate and hugely annoying, but NPR’s list of songs in 2013 actually reminded me of one thing I really enjoyed this year: Jay-Z’s video shoot at Pace Gallery. I know, I know, it wasn’t something that you were supposed to like; not obscure enough to actually like it and not pop culture enough to ironically like it. Jerry Saltz got a lot of shit for enjoying it, too. But instead of fretting about the commercialization of art and whether or not this was an exclusive event designed to flatter the “A-listers” of the art world (which just makes you sound butthurt for not getting an invitation, anyways), you could also just admit that it’s pretty fun to watch. Of course, in Germany, with its anachronistic views of ‘high art’ and ‘low art’, an event like this could never happen.
And if you actually don’t like the music – or the politics for that matter – one thing is still impressive: Jay-Z, much like his wife Beyoncé, has figured out how to still sell music in the current music industry. The surprise album that Beyoncé released two days ago “made the Internet explode” and sold 80 000 copies in three hours. Releasing only ‘previews‘ of 30 seconds and selling the whole ‘visual album’ on iTunes was a pretty smart move. It reminds me of the success that Netflix had with releasing the first TV-Show (House of Cards) in bulk. Apparently, people like to binge on pop culture.