Some info for my updated talk on authority.

I know that the Arcade Fire Wayne Coyne feud is sort of old news dot com, but today I found this old Rolling Stone blog post where I think the whole thing started. Here is a clip from the post which opens with a quote from Wayne Coyne speaking very openly about The Arcade Fire…

“I’m a fan of them on one level, but on another level I get really tired of their pompousness,” says Coyne. “We’ve played some shows with them and they really treat people like shit. Whenever I’ve been around them, I’ve found that they not only treated their crew like shit, they treated the audience like shit. They treated everybody in their vicinity like shit. I thought, ‘Who do they think they are?’ I don’t know why people put up with it. I wouldn’t put up with it. I don’t care if it’s Arcade Fire or Brian Eno. If either of them walked into a room and treated people like shit I’d be like, ‘Fuck you, get outta here.’

He continues, “People treat Arcade Fire like they’re the greatest thing ever and they get away with it. Those sort of opinions change my view of their music. They have good tunes, but they’re pricks, so fuck ‘em. Who does Arcade Fire think they are? I’ve been around groups. I’ve been around the Edge from U2 and he’s the fucking sweetest guy ever. I was around Justin Timberlake when he was young and he was just a normal, nice, kind person. Anyone can be polite and kind and people who have the privilege and money and attention should understand that. If they don’t, then fuck ‘em.”

In short: I agree. Word! Preach on Wayne.

In addition: Not that long ago I gave a talk about authority in new media at PAB2009. I’ve continued to work on this talk because I want to make it better. I plan to include this little bit of info into future versions of the talk.

The point I want to make is that the New Media superstars should always work hard to make sure that no one says about them what Wayne Coyne says about the Arcade Fire. i.e. they might very well be damn good at creating New Media that matters to lots of people, but that does not mean that they can act like they are dickhead rock stars.

(Please note — This post is NOT some sort of passive aggressive dig at any one in the New Media community. I’m just sayin…)