CodyB's comments
My first post was not properly done in format, so here is what i can remember that i said from the first try
1) Why would an "artist" care about how much money he or she is making.
A real artist would not. Notice i never used the word artist to describe these mass-production "musicians". There are a few types of musicians, those who are artists do it for the cause of great art, and another type who thinks it is a good way to make money, and yet one more dominant type who started with group A then jumped ships to group B. Instead of focusing their time and energy on how to improve art, group B focuses on maximizing profit. Like i mentioned, today what we have is money-incentive driven music, where if you produced music that isn't targeting issues or audiences who are among the norm of the society thinking guidelines, you won't sell music, and consequently, you are out. True artists can not find a holding ground in the music industry. Previously in history, great artists who produced paintings or music or whatever didn't paint what everyone expects, they produced some of the most controversial and enjoyable pieces. Liszt was condemned for producing music that is considered "Evil" or "Devlish" at his time, Beethoven broke all the previous conceptions held about how music should be molded and started a whole new era in classical music. Today however, you are muted as soon as you start to speak differently, and many musicians can't sustain a living in a society where he doesn't earn money doing what he loves.
2) You say it's great for someone to spend $100 on a ticket, but there is something wrong with downloading a song? Why do great artists "have" to be paid large sums of money?
You mis-interpreted my idea. I never mentioned there is something wrong with downloading songs. The problem isn't in downloading and free access of music. It's the situation that you have two choices, either pay for music at about 20 dollars an album with tax, or pay nothing per album. How many times have you been faced with the situation where you can either pay for a car, or get one for free and practically legal. This situation only arises because the value of the albums isn't worth 20 dollars by general public consideration. I don't think most music for sale today is worth anything close to that. Like i said, most of today's musicians belong to group A, and in group A, you don't focus on improving art for artisticality or dig deeper into music theory, you focus on how to sell your brand, or image of yourself. For music that really isn't meant to be enjoyed actively (meaning you listen to music and do nothing else) but rather passively (like drive while you listen, work while you listen, or whatever) people won't pay for it. And also did you know that CD's literally costs pennies to produce ? as well that the musicians who sign up with big record companies also only get paid pennies per record they sell ? Which goes back to my point originally, for great, serious entertainment, people will pay good money for it.
3) A True Artist, produces music or whatever there art may be, because they simply have to. It's something deep down and they have to get it out.
This is what i said, yes.
4) You say "Miles Davis, Elton John, Glenn Gould", great musicians indeed, but with them come an incredible slew of bands from that time period that are not remembered, groups that were pop sensations but died over time, much like what we have today.
What i said about pop sensations of today, applies as well to the past few decades. This is by definition popular music, is that it only appeals to one or at most two generations because the way we think and are conditioned. Today we concern about body image, perfectionism, and normalism (this one has been for a while), etc. You are not surprised to find the pop sensations today with great clear faces, fit-alike-looking bodies, and that they resemble your typical calvin clone Ads. This is one reason why previous pop sensations fade away, things that people care about in each generation simply change. So the only people who transcends through time as generations pass by are the great legends who didn't care about what was the popular thing to do at the time and played music to their hearts desire, it may not be profitable. Miles Davis brough us Jazz music which is nolonger popular today, but still enjoys good record sales such that you will find his records in almost any CD store. Glenn Gould, a superb pianist and classical music interpreter is exactly the same, with records contantly being sold on Amazon or eBay or your local HMV.
4) Why do you complain about main-stream music, when there is so much more to choose from.
In actuality, there are about as many types of music you can choose from as there are choices of president for the Americans (there are two). There is really only one type of music you'll see in the stores in North America, and that is corporately-approved types. You won't find anything that goes against capitalism, you won't find any songs on records dedicated to the death and suffering in Iraq, you won't find any records devoted to the sweat-shop workers in China or Indonesia who work themselves to death so a few shareholders here in North America can own a BMW at the same time donating 1/100000th of the profit to charities for public reputation. When you find information completely uncensored, you will have true selections of art.
5) The Music Cycle has stayed pretty much the same, the only difference is more people have access to much more music for much less. Sounds like an improvement to me, and if anything will produce a more competitive market place, where great artists will emerge.
If you think that just because that music today is cheaper and there is more to choose from and hence it is better, then you are the type who screams "yes" whenever a local politican says tax cuts if elected. You neglect the unseen side of things. Taxes are collected non-linearly in the sense that the richer you are, the more taxes you pay. Cutting the tax means the richer gets the breaks. The taxes are then put forth toward a slew of community programs such as health care. Think about where your health care went next time when you make a judgement when most of the world's first world nations/countries has it and are ranked consistently above the US. In the same way, quantity of music have increased, but the quality have tumbled down the hill like a fat man fed on McDonald's diet.
There is no such thing as a music cycle, it is another myth. There is simply no cycle in the sense that there is no predictable period (of the cycle) when music will be good, and when it will be bad. But what has changed is the way that a typical teenager now grows up to CD-buying age exposed to ten times more advertising and indoctornation about what is great music. What little chance the younger ones had before to think freely is further muted by a society that manufactures consent. And remember, competitive market place is just a fable, it doesn't exist by definition. Afterall, competitive market is what kept Microshaft in the loop.
6) Names of Great Bands/Musicians in the Modern Music World:
The White Stripes, The Strokes, Weezer, Radiohead, Pixies, Outkast, Aesop Rock, The Avalanches, Björk, Cake, The Moops,
I have no comment on your personal choice of music.
