Turn on the radio nowadays and you're bound to hear the latest, trendy, new songs of a variety of different genres. You may think it sounds great, or maybe it's awful, but it is on the radio, so it must be popular for a reason right?
Well, regardless of whether it is or not, can you say it made you think of something in a different way? Did it present some new idea? Some complex analysis of the human condition, or maybe the human mind? Chances are it was probably about how much money someone makes, some relationship they've lost, or maybe their favorite day of the week. Sure, I guess you could say it is music. It has a beat, a melody, maybe even a catchy hook, but is this all music should consist of?
Music is supposed to be an art right? Art is something that tries to make a point of something of importance, or insight new thought or maybe a new perspective. The mass of mainstream music, and even a large majority of the underground or undiscovered music scene, is plagued by the absence of anything that should be considered art. Sure, I get that music is meant to express yourself. Believe me, as a songwriter I know that music is a release, to say whatever is on your mind. The issue with music today, and for some while in the past, many musicians are on a one track mind. Maybe they write a song about some significant other. That's all well and good, but is it necessary to make that the entire theme of your album, and than your next, and than the next... you get my drift. This has been the case for music for a long time, ever since music on the radio and the invention of records. Now at the time of those innovations the music industry was still innocent, so it is true a lot of the bands in those days were playing music their way, with feeling and thought. As the music industry grew, combined with the exponential growth of music technology, music artists became more well known throughout the world. And thus began the corruption of music, and its slow death as an art.
As unfortunate as it is to say, we as humans are greedy. Maybe you haven't noticed, or just wish to deny it, but it's a very real fact. A majority of music artists are no different. Now before you completely ignore everything in your annoyed disagreement with that, there are a lot of honest musicians. I know that, and that's my point. With mainstream music being popular by definition, it has set the tone for what the mass society deems as "good" music. To make it in the industry today, you have to be either very good at being unique and very determined, or you have to cop out and follow the mainstream trend. It seems that in today's music many choose the latter.
Even the musicians who begin as unique, playing the music they want and expressing the ideas they want, end up turning to the mainstream trends to reach a broader audience or to gain the funding of a record label. And that is the ultimate goal of being a music artist right? Well, maybe it shouldn't be if it leads to the loss of self in music. The music industry only takes in those which can be mass marketed to society, and the other ones who may be too different are left in the dust. This is why even those bands with the opportunity to be something new and unique are lost. They either don't have the money to continue to be a band, or the conform to continue making music. Music was supposed to be made for one's self right? Well if that's true than following the mainstream is a destruction of music. The loss of innovation, of thought.
So we come back to the question, is the majority of music really art? If you believe art is rehashing the same idea over and over for 20 years, a music style which fluctuates to whatever people think is cool, lyrics which contain maybe a few witty metaphors but a larger amount of sexual references or hate, well maybe it is art. If you think music should stand for something other than who is superior to who, or how many different ways someone can say they love or hate someone, than I think you'll agree with me when I say that music is dieing as a product of society and music itself. The goal of music in general (to gain more fans and possibly more fame/ money) is the cause of the loss of this creativity. The music industry is in a paradoxical downward spiral of the industry's or artists greed and the desire to be heard. Maybe if there were more songs about the flaws of humanity's greed and desires instead of the performance of these, maybe more could see the true purpose of music. But in this digital fast paced world, it doesn't seem like that is likely to happen. If you want to slow this fall, support bands that haven't changed for anyone other than themselves, and that are trying to make a point with their music. Those are the true musicians which should be mainstream, the ones who defy the mainstream. Maybe people could learn something about the vast artistic expanses of music.
