As a music addict (listener and producer), I need to make few things clear and I encourage experienced listeners to prove me wrong.
When I was first introduced to music as a kid, it was a guideline for my emotional pallet, so music does actually trigger emotions, whether you like it or not. The emotions can become what music reflects on a subjective manner, meaning that some music that makes me happy could actually make you sad.
So, I used out of the box approach and tried to figure out today's music. Primarily, today's music is focused on establishing three main things:
Shock Value - even though it would make older (deceased) artist start flipping in their graves it is normal today to "lady gaga" your way to success, making your shock value more "valuable" than your music itself as an artform. (and no, don't convince me that putting a "meat dress" on yourself is art) And to be honest Gaga actually has an amazing
voice herself, I just made an example of her implementation of shock value.Recycled material - most of today's mainstream artists, no matter what the genre is, sound similar or should I say recycled. That is the main issue on most part. Mediocre artists make their way to the record deal, combining shock value with recycling other artists expression that is currently trending and bringing money to the market, making it impossible for talented few to establish a plagiarism-free market.
Trustworthiness - Every artist in his/her genre is a self proclaimed Mozart in its own twisted form. So when I hear (for example) Lil Yachty preaching rap knowledge I get all agitated. Not that I have something against that guy personally, but no, he is not the guru of rap. He is just trendy, and that doesn't make him trustworthy, even though kids this days will listen to every word their favorite artist tells them. (kinda like a zombie army, and trust me, it gets more dangerous)
So in order to try to get to the source of it all we first have to investigate; is music industry really collapsing or is it just becoming mediocre?
Some people would say that this question is a highly debatable one, but my honest opinion is that it already became mediocre and is on its way to damnation. And yeah, I know average listeners don't usually like same things, but 9 out of 10 people that include long term listeners, vinyl junkies, academic musicians and highly educated folk would say
that today music is junk. (I highly disagree on that, I just try to point out that great majority of mainstream music is junk)
I would really like you to answer this question from your point of view, as I would like to make it clear on what do other people think. (expanding the horizon)
Regarding my sentence above; that mainstream music is junk, I should also emphasize that on the global scale mainstream music is "the music". (so if mainstream music is music as a whole, then today music is actually junk)
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Let me make things clear for you. If you take one genre, lets say pop, then you have two types of performing artists:
artist a) is totally popular, people love him/her but his/her music is junk
artist b) quality artist with knowledge in music in its all forms but doesn't want to use shock value to succeed
You would certainly hear of person a, and person b would stay of your radar for sure because press doesn't find person b interesting. You see what I mean. If bunch of idiots run pop, that minority of good artists wont even stand a chance.
Wake up people, we have to save music!
So how shall we do it? How to save music?
I don't have a practical idea yet, but salvation of music should probably be done in a similar way as salvation of middle class. There is one word to salvation of the middle class and it is Cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies trapped this fraudulent bankster (bank+gangster) system and easily gained trust of people who then gave it back the best way possible, with sheer pleasure,joy and happiness in life.
So, we need to implement noble ideas that have been used in creation of cryptocurrencies to make a plesarauble system of music distribution, production and in its most creation.
It is widely known that you could easily find amazing artists here on steemit, and actually give them a generous prize for their value and effort. That would be a great start; to give them a push in their careers, and letting them know they are valuable as who they are.
To finish this subject I would like to present you with a simple, yet magnificent quote:
"When you look at what people consider success in the music industry, it's just terrible music."
Conor Oberst (Best songwriter of 2008. - Rolling Stone magazine)
All the photos used are either owned by the author (@rivercityguy) or royalty free!
Interesting post. I'm completely uninformed about music, so I can't give any opinion. But you paint a pretty bleak picture of mainstream music here. What about the indie scene? Is it in better shape? Do indie artists producing quality work manage to break through?
As an active producer and former musician I am totally disappointed in today's mainstream scene. Indie scene has never been stronger, because today you don't need shiny equipment and a huge studio for making a solid indie track. You could settle yourself with budget equipment and a pc.
Indie artists that produce quality work actually do break through but it is a painful process, even though they claim that it is a lot better than being mainstream. You are your own boss when you are independent, that's where the name independent comes from in it's core.
Hi. I am a newbie here at Steemit. I am interested in the music industry and the blockchain technology. I learned so much from reading your post. I will FOLLOW. Have a nice day!