What Has Become Of Our Music Industry?
Warning! A long rant session ahead.
What Has Become Of Our Music Industry?
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I have finally listened to my favourite band’s new songs which they just released this month (the name of the band I will not mention for they have received too much insults lately, I do not want to add to the degrading of their image, and besides, the band is not the topic of this rant), and it was horrible!
Their lyrics sounded terribly shallow as if they’re trying too hard to sound poetic but failing and in terms of the music, the songs sounded like techno rock but the techno and the rock doesn’t jive together.
And as I see it, they are stooping down to cater mainstream people. It’s all right to stoop down a little to have a larger audience but this time, they have stooped too low.
And it is not just me who doesn’t like their new songs, half of their whole fan base aren’t happy with what they have produced, the other half are dazed with the previous reputation they have created that they do not analyze their new songs well because they are still high with the initial happiness of a new album a band they love has released.
Lately, the mentioned band has been mentioning on interviews that it saddens them that their new songs are being mocked and being compared with a certain sixteen year old or so white Canadian RNB musician. So, as courtesy to them, I would not compare them to that certain musician or any other musician, but rather compare them to themselves. That sounds reasonable to me.
When you compare their new songs to their old albums that I have loved dearly, their new songs were poorly written with its quality lower than the songs they have previously produced. They have failed to put their signature (for every band or musician has a certain signature they consciously or unconsciously put in their songs) on their new songs that it doesn’t sound like them anymore, rather it sounds like they’re trying so hard to sound like someone else, except they’ve tried too hard but did not succeed.
I personally think that they have reached an all-time low and they should use this experience as a learning tool so they don’t produce something such as what they have produced recently, again, for their sakes and the sake of their real fans who are actually critical with their songs, because those who look past the quality of their songs simply because of their looks aren’t real fans at all, they aren’t real fans of music at all.
I believe that it isn’t their fault, though, I believe that (recently they have been signed to a new record label, a major record company) it is their record label’s fault, the record label that produced the album.
I believe a lot of people will agree when I say that usually, it’s the independent musicians that produce songs of quality and essence, after all, they are not connected to a business conglomerate that doesn’t really care about music, but simply cares about the money they earn. Because independent musicians (film makers, writers, and the likes) doesn’t need to live up to the expectations of large companies who only think about their earning charts, because independent media are those who actually care about art, they are the ones who want to produce art and give people art, and they are the ones that get the sense of fulfillment with what they have offered to the people not with how much money they get.
It’s these corporal studios that tend to rush production and make sure the songs will appeal to the masses, never mind the quality, what’s important are the green bills these songs will bring in.
Therefore, in conclusion, I blame all corporal producers for producing such poor songs, albums, books, magazines, films, TV shows, and other forms of media, that are seen everywhere in the market.
Although it is not entirely their fault that our market is filled with shallow products that doesn’t go deeper than entertainment value (although I am not saying entertainment is not important, it is, what I mean to say is that media shouldn’t be merely for entertainment purposes, but it should be substantial as well), it is also the fault of those who demand these things, i.e. the masses.
It is for them that these songs are produced, because they are the ones who have the money, it is their money that companies want, therefore they make sure that the masses are happy so that the masses would make them happy, and what they keep the masses satisfied with are poor products. Yes, the masses are happy with poor meaningless products because they do not think critically and analytically about what is offered to them.
If you don’t notice, the really good songs in our market right now are at the bottom of the charts, and those catchy songs sell well, because they are produced haphazardly for their only purpose is not to enlighten people or show people meaning, but they are created to make sure they play again and again in one’s mind, but if one listens closely, one would realize that these lyrics don’t actually make sense.
But no one actually listens closely anymore except for a handful of people. Because majority of the people never look into the lyrics and reflect and think about them, because the masses today have become lazy people who take in everything, and never criticize.
They don’t see music as an art that is meant to be interpreted and taken in slowly, the way it’s supposed to be enjoyed. They enjoy it in a way fools do. They start listening to a song because it is popular, after all, they don’t want to be left behind on the latest pop culture, and as soon as they listen to it, the song is stuck in their head because of a repeating chorus, and they start singing it, never mind that the lyrics say, “Go f*ck yourself!” or “I love your dick.”, in fact, they don’t even know that’s the lyrics because usually, they don’t listen at all, they just hum or sing whatever they think are the lyrics, doesn’t matter if it’s wrong.
Music is not supposed to be grabbed and gobbled up as if it is junk food that we eat just so we have something to occupy our mouths that find a need to chew; music is like an expensive bar of rich chocolate that we must savor.
Music is an art, it is basically poetry recited with a rhythm and varying pitch, it’s poetry that is accompanied by another beautiful art that cater to our ears. But more than that, it is the voice of our generation; our generation is being reflected by this form of art.
And the only thing it is reflecting is a generation that lacks the capacity to criticize, they don’t properly analyze what they want and what they don’t want, what’s beautiful and what’s kitsch, causing most people to not stay true to themselves. They don’t stand their ground of who they really are and what they really believe in, instead, they let the flow of the popular culture carry them away, they do, wear, listen, read, watch, what’s in and not what actually appeals to their persons.
Like for instance, in the literary industry, there is a certain national bestseller in the United States about vampires and love. Why is it a national bestseller? I believe it’s because it’s about teenage love (after all, who doesn’t want to be loved) and that it’s very easy to comprehend.
It is poorly written in a half-assed manner as if all the author wants is to let the fan girl inside her grab a pen and narrate her daydreams and release it to public so she could earn some bucks for it.
No. Literature isn’t supposed to be that way, literature is supposed to be written properly! But sometimes, people do not know what is written properly and what is written improperly.
I expound on this by the following examples.
Book A says, “It was an afternoon in December and she swung back and forth in a swing of an empty playground, something was definitely wrong.”
Book B says, “A cold winter chill ran up her back as she swung back and forth on an icy seat. The chains that suspended the seat creaked in the silence. She looked around her, no one was using the slides, no one was making sand castles in the sand box, no one was screaming, laughing, and shouting as they ran around the park, when the place was supposed to be crawling with children.”
Most of the time, people would buy Book A just because it’s popular and it’s easy to understand and they would ignore Book B, because they prefer the easy life, when obviously, Book B was the catch between the two.
Most of the time, people don’t realize which between the two is the real catch because they don’t compare and analyze what’s written (or produced in other cases) well and what’s written (or produced) poorly.
If they only compared and stopped to think for a while and not just took in what is right in front of them, people would improve intellectually.
Another example would be Ke$ha, a musician I actually admire. All her popular songs are about drugs and partying all night long and being drunk and high, but the thing is, she has better underappreciated songs like Hungover, Animal, Blind, and Dancing With Tears In My Eyes.
These songs are actually showing emotion and sincerity, though they’re not that deep like songs advocating peace or stopping racism or saving the hungry children of Africa, but these songs make sense and are written better than her other more popular songs.
For those who do not know these songs, Hungover is about a girl who feels devastated because her boyfriend that she really loves left her and she misses him so much that no matter how hard she tries to forget him, she can’t and she’s basically saying she’s “hungover” him.
Animal is nicely written as well, it’s not the greatest of poems that would prove one day be a legend but still nicely written, as shown by these few song excerpts, “I am in love with what we are//Not what we should be” and “This is our last chance//Give me your hands//’Cause our world is spinning at the speed of light//The night is fading//Heart is racing//Now just come and love me like we’re gonna die”
Blind, like Animal, has beautiful lines as well. “I think you’ve got the best of me//You’re sleeping with the enemy” and “I’m sick and tired of the mess you made me//You’re never gonna catch me cry”
“I’m dancing with tears in my eyes//Just fighting to get through the night” are two of the lines from Dancing With Tears In My Eyes.
These songs are underappreciated, instead, the popular ones are those with a catchy tune and with lyrics such as, “I don’t really care where you live at//Just turn around boy, let me hit that//Don’t be a little bitch with your chit chat//Just show me where your dick’s at”
Why is it that these are the songs that are popular and are becoming more popular every minute? It’s because people are blinded by the shallowness. They think that all there is to Ke$ha is getting drunk and sleazy, but no! If only they looked pass that they would find meaning, but people rarely do, because they don’t look for meaning, they’re satisfied with what’s in their faces and most of the time, what’s right in their faces are those that aren’t of importance because what’s truly essential isn’t something that can be found easily, after all, essence won’t be essential if one doesn’t work hard for it.
It’s such a shame that most musicians aren’t being encouraged to produce more songs that are actually of good quality. Maybe it’s because our music industry has turned into a commercial revenue and is slowly becoming less of an art all because of how society works at the moment. It is a monster that swallows individuality and personality (as my good friend whom I will not mention for security purposes puts it). People seem to think that the only thing that matters in this world are money and the will of the majority and everybody’s too shallow minded to notice, to those that have ignore it because they have become too lazy that they don’t even try to change it, because somehow, the monster had consumed them up halfway, that they feel it is too late to escape the grip of the monster, when in reality, it is never too late, if only people exerted a little effort, they would be able to break away.
And because of this monster, people has forgotten that entertainment should be enlightening as well as entertaining, and that an active mind is more fulfilling than being hedonistic, constantly searching for what is easier by submitting to idleness and laziness causing us to waste time, becoming more and more nihilists as the days progress.
We shouldn’t allow that to happen. All of us believe that we aren’t nihilists, let us fight for this belief and beat the monster that has devoured our world, then maybe we could change what our music industry (and all other aspects of our society) has become and change it for the betterment of our generation.