About Me

My name is Tobias Hess and I am a Brooklyn-based writer, researcher and music producer. Recently, I was an Experimental Humanities and music student at Bard College. There, I mainly studied vibes: that is the ways that technology and algorithms mediate our experiences of the world. My main research topic was Spotify’s recommendation algorithm, which I believe is an aesthetic force in our culture. This is also the crucial subject of my newsletter.

But I don’t just write about music and technology: (pop) culture informs all I do. Be it the Real Housewives (who I spend considerable time thinking about for my rave series dedicated to them), the politics of micro-scenes, or the aesthetic offerings of 90s queer cinema, it’s culture which most fascinates me. At the end of the day, I want to know: how can we make cultural meaning despite (not because of) our current technological moment.

In addition to my work here, my writing has appeared in PAPER, Dirt, Crybaby Press and Amor Mundi.

Socials

Please stay connected with me on instagram (@tobiasfornow), Tik Tok (@tobiasfornow) and twitter (@tobiasfornow)

Selected Work

Terri Joe Isn't Iconic, She's Psyiconic - My PAPER profile of TikTok superstar Terri Jo.

It’s Blizzy Season - My PAPER profile on Blizzy McGuire, the creative mind behind Christian Girl Autumn and other seminal internet moments

Music’s Mass Cringing - My analysis of the role of TikTok in today’s current music industry and its role in degrading the relative “cool” status of musician’s writ large.

Sad Girl Indie - An exploration of how Mitsuki’s music is used to express mood on TikTok

Hipster Revival Now! - The deep underpinnings of the “indie sleaze” revival

Bunny Is A Haunting - A rumination on Spotify’s autoplay system and an inquiry into the soft homophobia of Spotify constantly queuing “Bunny is a Rider” by Caroline Polachek without my consent

Subscribe to Gen Zero

Thoughts on music, politics and algorithmic culture in an era governed by vibes.

People

Writing on algorithms, the vibe economy, pop music and aesthetics in the attention economy @tobiasfornow on ALL platforms ! but also tobiehess@gmail.com