Popular Music Isnt Cool Essays - Music Industry, Music, MTV

Popular Music Isn't Cool Pop Culture Isnt Cool From my point of view, Great pop music is an oxymoron. These days people look to the media for the answer to everything, including what music to listen to, or in most cases what music to play in the back round. Im not saying all pop fans are closed minded to the point where they listen to the music genre that is currently trendy in hopes of it helping them position themselves socially. Im also not denying the fact, people like that are out there. In most cases, I think people listen to pop because for some reason theyre not involved in another music scene, so its all they know exists. Record labels systematically chose who they want to sign, and then promote them to the public. Therefore, they have an enormous influence on what music America and many other countries listen to. This is bad news because corporate promoters dont just go out looking for talent to sign to their label regardless of what kind of music it is attached to. Companies use statistics to determine what they think will sell, and sign whoever fits the right criteria. They dont bother looking for artists who arent playing whats hot; they want bands playing the sound they know sells. Labels also want bands with catchy songs, and I dont know about you but I think catchy giggles are for advertisements. Real musicians have to be careful where they put their signature, because any one who takes them self seriously wouldnt stand for a company who censers their art. Also you may have noticed TV is now just as much a source of music as radio, so you better be an attractive conformist if you want to be promoted as an artist in the business of pop music. MTV, without doubt, plays a major role in how generic popular music has become. Obviously the birth of music videos gave big business a chance to sell music to the other four senses. The real opportunity for MTV to cash in on the music industry wasnt just picking up their crumbs. Just luring in those people whose ears are uninterested in music with flashy colors and shiny things is no longer their motive. Quickly MTV figured out eye candy doesnt sell nearly as well as the fantasy life the right image can supply. There is nothing wrong with having an image, everyone portrays an image whether they like it or not. In this case the problem is, MTV uses image to sell a product where image should be considered irrelevant. The effect of doing this is closing the viewers minds; it causes people to listen to music only on the expressional level. This blinds people from the fact that on the purely musical level the product is elementary, and in my opinion more often resembles noise than music. Maybe you already knew all the things I have said thus far, but you disagree with my views on the issue. Then we see things from a different angle, and that ok by me. You might like the things Ive said, but dont totally agree with me because you figure Im problely just a cynical basterd. Ive got no credentials, for all you know I cant back up a single word Ive said. Just to show you Im not the only one who has such distaste for MTV and the other big brothers of the music industry, Ill quote someone with a bit of a longer r?sum? than I do. Jerry Garcia, along with the rest of the Grateful Dead, holds the record for playing the most concerts ever. 30 years of dedicated fans proves Jerry to be knowledgeable in the field of music. Incase Jerrys opinion might be worth more to you than mine, Ill quote something he said once at Dead concert (I have the tape): We were trying to figure out if we were going to sit down or stand up while we were playin, and I think the industry standard is you sit down. Then vary sarcastically he said; You know thats the right way to do it because thats the way they do