[quote]overstand wrote:
@ DBCooper so we don’t get a half page long broken quote going:
I don’t think album sales are an indication of the strength of a genre so much as a reflection of what people value in their music. People want entertainment, not art. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. We all know the guy/girl who shits all over mainstream music and only listens to obscure groups “you’ve probably never heard of”. You just have to take Lil Wayne and whoever else for what they are, pure mindless entertainment.
The Tools of our generation will get their due respect when we look back in 20-30 years, and they will always have their own subcultures where the music is alive and well. It sucks that these guys can’t make a ton of money, but that’s been the plight of the artist for the entire history of mankind. I think as long as talented people continue to make thoughtful, passionate music, they will have an audience. [/quote]
I think what people value in their music is intrinsically connected to the quality of a music genre. Part of the quality of a genre is its overall willingness to buck trends and not placate the mindless masses.
It’s one thing to create music that is intended to sell well and that plays on whatever trends and so forth are big at the time AND then sell a lot of albums and singles as a result. It’s a whole other beast when an artist can reject current trends and easy attempts at commercial success and yet they still HAVE that success based solely on the strength of their music. It just seems to me that most mainstream music TRIES to be mainstream. And that effort is tied to many things; record companies, fans, the musician him/herself, etc. But when a genre is dominated by people trying to capitalize on commercialism instead of letting the music speak for itself, it dies out.
I mean, people forget why things like Napster and torrenting and all these other forms of illegal downloading got so popular in the first place. Bands began making albums that fucking sucked, aside from one or two good songs. So people got sick of buying a whole album when 10 of the 12 songs on it were unlistenable and they started getting their hands on the songs that they liked. And if you can do it for free, why not do it for free instead of dropping cash on a single?
Also, art IS entertainment. They aren’t mutually exclusive. I am not entertained by Lady Gaga or Lil’ Wayne, but I AM entertained by Miles Davis. The same thing with movies. I was not in the least bit entertained by The Expendables, but I find Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? entertaining even after having seen it 100x. What’s disappointing is that rappers in particular and music in general have sought to exploit the mindless entertainment crowd for their own benefit.
Think about it: who buys most rap music out there? Whites, not blacks. So where has the lyrical content gone toward in rap? It’s headed toward materialism and extravagant lifestyles, something whites can (regrettably) relate to much more than blacks can. Back when rap was in its prime is when the lyrical content was geared toward subject matters that were shocking and “non-mainstream” and didn’t necessarily relate well to the people (whites) who were primarily buying their music. Once mainstream rappers started tailoring their lyrics toward things that whites wanted to hear, rap sales took off. Rap is a MUCH larger share of the overall music sales each year than it was in the early to mid 90’s.
And what happened then? The rappers whose lyrics addressed real shit, like life in the streets or philosophy or simply were focused on rhyming ingenuity went underground and the new groups stayed underground. So I indict musicians who pander to the lowest common denominator. Good music can be as popular as commercialized drivel, but it has to be really good to be that popular, and there just doesn’t seem to be that much legitimately good music that’s popular anymore. This has roots in illegal downloads AND this incessant need for material wealth, a diseases that has permeated every facet of American culture.
