The decentralized web
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Over the last couple of years there has been a lot of talk about decentralization of the web. I seem to think we already had a decentralized web - back in the early 00s. Before the rise of centralization, everyone had their own little corner of the web. Blogs/spaces/forums were common and even if you didn’t own the domain name, no one was trying* to run a business off of content you provided (Matmice, anyone?). A “private” place on the web, that people owned, that allowed and encouraged everyone to put themselves out there and share their personalities online. This soon changed with the rise of social networks like Orkut, Hi5, MySpace and Facebook, which meant people no longer owned the spaces where they were sharing themselves, leading to eventual centralization and monopolies preventing competition**.
In a throwback to that forgotten time, here’s a small compilation (by me!) of songs, and artists that put themselves out there, and… were quickly forgotten.
| Views | Subs | Song | Band | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.9K | 237 | Gilt complex | Sons And Daughters | I also like Iodine |
| 53K | N/A | I am an Indian | Noble Savages | It’s so hard to get a hold of this band that Vir Das had to appeal to Twitter. Let me know if you can find the lyrics online. |
| 61K | 10.8K | Little Numbers | BOY | |
| 124K | 1.66M | A Little More For Little You | The Hives | |
| 217K | N/A | Muzika Dlya Fil’ma | Persephone’s Bees | Live version @ 32:49 with a Theremin! This is from the FIFA07 soundtrack, one of the best OSTs out there. |
| 277K | 787 | Welcome to India | MC Vikram ft. Ludakrishna | A parody of Ludacris’ “Welcome to Atlanta” that I’m particularly partial to as it is introduces a very easy way to songwriting for most of us: simply re-write the words to tell a different story :) |
| 308K | N/A | Brave bulging buoyant clairvoyants | Wild Beasts | A very unique track with the most prominent use of a woodblock I’ve ever heard. Also, here’s a busking version that showcases the band’s talent. |
| 566K | N/A | Love-ology | Shaan | An upbeat song from the 90s but one many may not know? |
| 3.1M | 17.4K | Violent & Funky | Infectious Grooves | A rare song in the “funk metal” genre. Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo’s former band, which probably explains the high view count |
| 25M | 1.66M | The Adults Are Talking | The Strokes | A moderately popular band |
| 198M | 51.2M | Safe and Sound | Taylor Swift feat. The Civil Wars | Very popular artist, but likely one of her lesser-known songs? |
N/A = not an official channel
*: Or possibly hadn’t figured out how to
**: Topic for another day