When everyone is super, no one is...

I just saw a fantastic documentary on Beethoven.  After seeing movies like "Immortal Beloved" and "Copying Beethoven" you get a certain persepective on this giant that may or may not be true.  But you can't argue with the genius and divinely inspired music that flowed from his pen- unless you're Luci Swindoll.  This sister of the great preacher Chuck Swindoll made her thoughts very clear in her book "I Married Adventure."  I guess everyone has different tastes.  (I found out today that a chef friend of mine hates Uno's Pizza in Chicago.  Insanity!)  But getting back to Beethoven...  This documentary included several performances and observations by great musicians.  One musician who sang a baritone lead in Fidelio made this comment, "How can you compare the garbage that anyone can put out on youtube to the greatness of Beethoven's work?"  As a musician who intends to use the internet for my own self promotion, I discovered the answer is:  you can't.  The internet is filled to the breaking point with new performers and their creations.  It has gotten to the point that no one cares about new music, because there is no filter to help weed out the 99% of it that is crapola.  Now with literally thousands of songs being created per day the average listener is overwhelmed.  If Bach, Beethoven, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin or any kind of great musical artist existed today would we know? 

There is a scene in the movie "The Incredibles" where the bad guy named Syndrome tells of his plan to sell super-power-giving inventions to the general public.  He says, "Because when everyone is super, no one is."  I might say, when everyone is heard at the same time, no one is.  The internet has made everyone's voice accessible, but they are not equal.  Should there be a filter?  Who would be qualified to be that filter?  Who would have the time?  Seems like we are stuck with the system we now enjoy- for good or bad.

So with such little hope for a budding musician (or writer, or artist, etc.) who is as super as everyone else, what would be the point of creating?  I've noticed that most material that is worth noting somehow gets discovered at least on a small scale.  There are these small "neighborhoods" within the vastness of the internet, and there are people who search for such neighborhoods.  Someone will take notice if you are good.  But in the end the real purpose is to create for God and yourself because you were made for that purpose.  Ultimately you are creating for an audience of one, and it is amazing how deafeningly loud His applause can be.