There is a whole new category of technology appearing—video games like Guitar Hero, apps from Glee and Taylor Swift—that make you look and sound incredibly good without requiring practice or talent. For several years I've been trying to make the case that true fulfillment comes from embracing difficult and demanding practices over time. But it may well be that the technology of creating ersatz experiences of skill is improving so fast that most people will gladly settle for "pop-star fantasy fulfillment." In the new consumer culture, it's not just your consuming that is the target of marketing and sales, but your creativity as well.

re: copying, creation and cultivation, pop culture, remixes

Andy:

The [Glee iPhone app] uses a special, gentle version of auto-tune, the recording effect that rounds off your notes to the nearest correct pitch. (Most pop singers today are, in fact, routinely auto-tuned during the recording process.) You’re also given generous reverb and other effects; it’s the high-tech version of singing in the shower.

But the app also somehow multiplies you, duplicates your own vocal line and assigns your clones to other notes. Now you’re singing in lush four-part harmony with yourself, with absolutely zero effort. If you can carry a tune, you can turn off the processing and go it alone.

The result — professional backup band, you processed to sound gorgeous and perfect — is exhilarating, no matter how rotten a singer you are. It’s pop-star fantasy fulfillment for a buck, and everyone who tries it goes nuts. . . .

What both apps teach you along the way is that to sound like a pop star, technical singing talent is not necessarily a prerequisite. (This is especially apparent when, ahem, you isolate Taylor Swift’s vocal track in her app.) With these apps, you now have the same support structure the pros do. You get all the benefits of state-of-the-art vocal processing — and even a taste of the public adoration — that comes with being a star.