I have spent so much of my life exposed to music and art in general. From a very young age, I was listening to classical piano, playing music of my own on many different instruments, and learning about music and the people who created the things I heard. My dad taught me all of this, he’s the music teacher at the Corry Intermediate school and he’s been instilling his love and knowledge of music since the day I could hear. Through this, I have been molded to love music very, very much. While he started my musical journey, he didn’t finish it. I’m still evolving and shaping the music that I love. My childhood isn’t the only thing that influences my taste for sound, but also the musical education I’m receiving, and the culture I live in. That’s what I would like to discuss the most: the culture, the generation. I won’t be trying to sway you one way or another, these are just my thoughts. With great love for something also comes the resentment of it when you know it isn’t done right.
When I say things like “the culture” and “the generation,” I don’t mean to sound like some grumpy old fool who can’t accept change in the world. I’m not going to sit around and squawk at you about the past and “the good old days” either, I don’t subscribe to things like that. Music is and will always be in a state of evolution, it’s brilliant. People always have new ideas and it’s entirely up to the listener to decide if something suits their fancy, especially in the age of streaming where anyone can access anything at any time.
How do so many millions of people enjoy a single artist’s sound so much? Are these A-list superstar giants of music really the greatest the world has to offer, or are people just told they have to obsess over them? Obviously there are some outstanding, gleaming examples of actual unmatched talent in popular artists, but I fail to see how they can amass such a following with sound alone. It’s because it’s not just sound alone. That really turns what I’m saying from a gripe about music to a gripe about celebrity brands in general. The real vigor and talent of an individual is sucked away by a name, a face, an image, a falsified personal relationship. That’s what sells I guess.
The popular music industry pushes artists to do things they don’t want to do all of the time. Those things do rake in millions of dollars, but that’s besides the point. Music that is leveraged for monetary gain alone lacks heart. Heart, that’s the feeling I’m looking for. I feel loads of popular music lacks heart. Maybe I’m not listening to the right stuff, but what I hear on the radio, in restaurants and stores, from some of the world’s biggest artists’ pages on Spotify, lacks heart.
When discussing this, those who support these artists will say something along the lines of, “well clearly you’ve never heard their song ___ before because that song is so underrated and shows how good of an artist they really can be.” I’ve heard something like this many times. What I have a problem with is not the artist themselves. I am not questioning the talent of any individual, rather, I am questioning the sound I hear, and the overwhelming worship of artists who create music that lacks heart.
Perhaps I just don’t hear what others hear, maybe there really is something great that I am blind to. I think that in some cases, the influence of an artist trumps the technical sound of their music and their songs are played because of the name on the record instead of its groove. Someone should do an experiment to see if this is the case. You could take music that has just been released, give it a day or two, maybe a week, see what people think of it, then have the artist do something terrible or say something mean. It would be interesting to see if people would shoot down their praise of a record based on a controversy with its creator. I’m sure this has probably already occurred somewhat recently.
I’m looking at this whole picture from a musical standpoint because that’s what I understand, but the topics of artist not art, brand not style, player not performance, etc., are very persistent issues I have with the culture I am surrounded by. I could just be saying these things to justify my dislike of the sound of popular music, but I think a lot of what I’m saying is based in reason, don’t you? Maybe you don’t and that’s okay, this is just a rant that I commend you for being focused enough to reach the end of. Listen to whatever music you truly love, don’t let anyone steal your joy.
