# Roots

**Published by:** [Syd Sidney](https://paragraph.com/@sydmusic/)
**Published on:** 2022-03-08
**URL:** https://paragraph.com/@sydmusic/roots

## Content

Echo Magic was Scott’s cover, his sanctuary from his everyday name as he learned the craft of music engineering. Those words found us. Those words became this. I can relate to that. Syd is the name I used as a way to imagine myself as someone other than Erin. My first screen names are irrelevant. They were random names generated by AOL on a PowerBook 150 connected to the internet on a phone line that ran down a dirt road named after my step mother. But when I posted my first music at mp3.com/syd - that act of becoming online was an act of creation that pulled me out of my rural isolation and helped me imagine myself making CDs, touring, meeting fans and making it. Which I did, using those tools. The early 2000s were a **time **to be forging a career in music. We had our complaints. But people bought CDs and independent tools existed to empower us to connect with fans and each other like never before. Some of my best friends I met on MySpace and some of my best money was made selling little plastic discs. It was astonishingly non-trivial to be able to sell CDs. Those were only made by Record Labels™ and They were not signing us. So, to make CDs and get a box of them and sell them or give them away - just to have them was a badge of honor. We wore that proudly. We wore it just as proudly when our music was being sold for $0.99 on iTunes. Anytime you could get in the door and feel like you were a part of the same world that Record Labels™ used to own, getting paid your due, that was a win. But then one day we found ourselves chasing something else. Little blue checkmarks. More zeros at the end of the streaming numbers. Too many zeros on the wrong side of the decimal in our royalty checks. Attention and engagement. The red {fill-color} of a heart glyph. In the offline world, we have made our peace and forged our path. The shows we put on connect us to our communities. The recording sessions are true alchemy. The friendships are as deep as family. But out here? On the edge of the world where our digital current meets the shores of your home, your car, your headphones? It’s time to see what’s next. -Syd

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