“I am no musician but the pain has been instrumental…” – Saul Williams
This is not an attack on Pop music. No insults will thrown at current pop royalty. As much as it is fun to shit on Katy Perry, LMFAO, Lady Gaga, or Drake, let them sit at their respective thrones. What I realized is that our music industry is built upon the same foundations of every major industry known to us, and in the case of music, it’s to make this form of media profitable for everyone. We download stuff off of ITunes, and we’re happy because we have the song we’ve wanted in our computers and the ones in charge are happy because these songs that they banked on have become profitable; it seems like a win-win situation. Save for a few acts like the Beatles and Radiohead, however, and it is apparent that pop music and its artists eventually become disposable; they’re only as good as the next big thing.
Staying relevant in popular consciousness (especially with Facebook, Twitter and Blackberry all playing a part in making our worlds as small as possible) is about as easy as building a house with your bare hands (and no tools). We shoot videos from our cellphones, read books on digital tablets, and download music onto our computers. Everything is at our disposal; wait a few minutes, then press play. The process of production is done at light speed, and has produced mixed results.
It wasn’t always like this, though. Continue reading
New Perspectives 