A few separate topics:
The increased use of social media networks in noise\industrial and society overall is certainly a problem, and as helpful as the internet has been, it's been largely corrosive. I don't disagree with a lot of the complaints and resistance against platforms like facebook and instagram being used to promote music or art. It's also nothing new, I remember seeing noise labels and artists making myspace pages as early as 2004. Even labels like true force pain electronics used tumblr as a website replacement. The same concerns and complaints should be raised towards platforms like paypal, google\gmail\chrome, mailchimp, discogs, bigcartel, soundcloud, bandcamp, apple products etc.. in regards to data-mining and fast-food style consumption practices. Whether information like "people interested in noise and industrial music" may seem useless to major corporations, the data IS being used maliciously to raise capital for facebook, and others. I don't personally have any solution on how to move forward without all these platforms, other than returning to the old system of sending cash or money orders via mail only, or only using darknet marketplaces and crypto-currency. Neither of these are practical or desirable personally, and in the end, photos of these records and tapes will end up getting posted on instagram anyway, since probably 75%+ of people creating and collecting this stuff use these platforms. There's certainly lost magic looking back to days when you would send in email orders from distro lists, or having no samples to listen to, and blindly buying or trading for batches of releases based on descriptions or faith in the label alone. The same can be said for the brick and mortar record store that supports industrial and noise, something which isn't that common anymore. A lot of these locations rely on using these platforms to appeal to a wider audience to sell records and survive. It's true that it's possible to exist without using instagram, facebook, etc. but as was mentioned earlier- it often requires some sort of existing fanbase, network or social capital to do this. I personally use all of these platforms along with mailorder newsletters, physical flyer mailouts with orders, prioritizing copies going to brick and mortar record stores, ads in magazines, widespread distro, etc., in part because I think it's important to disseminate releases to as wide and disparate an audience as possible. Most social media platforms have become significantly worse over the last few years, and watching things degrade I've often regretted the amount that I use them. In the end things aren't black and white, and as mentioned there are ways to use them without completely giving up. There is a HUGE difference though between labels who exclusively use social media as a place to exist, tapes with garbage art limited 10 selling out in minutes to an audience of thousands who certainly don't seek out or support noise from other venues, or at all asides from a like. There's also not to be named raw black metal label posting LP pre-orders 6 months in advance, listing in terms and conditions that all emails would be ignored and senders banned, updates on pre-ordered records only via instagram. This I completely don't understand.
On the subject of print magazines becoming less and less common, let me rephrase that I don't think "it is what it is", ultimately I think it's a real tragic shift. I try to get 25-50 copies of each new issue of Noise Receptor and Special Interests in, and it takes ages to move them all, despite being most popular current zines. Newer zines are increasingly rare and are either in super low runs, have price points closer to books, or only pop out every few years. There's a a few new ones that have popped up in the last years (Nefarious Activities, Untitled) and I'm interested to see how these develop. Larger journals like ALAP were fantastic, and it's really unfortunate that the second issue never materialized. There should be more print documents of active noise and industrial culture, I encourage people to take initiative in starting them. I will say that facebook group "Noise Now Playing" is a refreshing new source of discourse, frequent posting of heavy hitting titles with discussion ranging from casual to deep, a lot of knowledgeable contributors with intense collections. Special Interests is currently the most active forum for noise activities, and unfortunately I doubt that there will be another one that will pop up, since user base of forums has been fading for years. Whenever new ones pop up, something happens after some time like admin forgets to pay fees and the whole thing gets deleted, or it just fades out and becomes useless or only full of spam posts. Troniks forum was obviously a fantastic resource, and I would love for something like that to exist again.
Redbull music academy and things like this- I don't think there is anything wrong with accepting money from these sources. I have had plenty of debates with friends about it, know some people who will scream bloody murder about how evil it is, sellout, etc.. A lot of these wailers in the end are unhappy they are not successful enough to be approached for this sort of opportunity, and declining it just gives someone else the chance to take it. For people who work endlessly dedicating their lives towards music and art, it's fine to take some occasional misguided corporate payout and actually make decent money for once. Is Redbull an evil company? personally I think almost certainly. But this weird advertising campaign can't be super successful or they wouldn't have discontinued it. I feel the same way towards government grants, residencies and state sponsored music festivals. It depends on your goals, if you want to be subversive, take whatever resources or weapons you have available to you.
