allen86streaks is offline allen86streaks Post #1  October 1,2008, 1:10pm
allen86streak…'s Avatar

is living the dream in Virginia Beach

Quick Study

Joined: Jul 2008

Virginia Beach, VA

Posts: 126

See profile



I am posting this topic because I believe that, as young musicians, in the ever increasingly sexualized and exploitive genere of hip-hop/r&b/rap may not know what they are getting thenselves into. They often enter a music genre that has in more recent times been dominated by Big Music bent more on making profits off of make shift, second hand talent, than actually promoting real talent. Let me define Big Music if you will. Big Music in my opinion are record labels such as Sony, Atlantic Records, Universal Records, Universal Music Group, Virgin Records, Clear Channel. To further explain I am referring to labels that push music down peoples throat with relying more on a persons looks, rather than actual talent.
This is experienced through such "groups" and "singers" as Backstreet Boys, N' Synk, 98 Degrees, Brittney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Lindsey Lohan, Hillary Duff, Jessica Simpson, ect. All of the above listed have, in my opinion, been victims of Big Music. Formed by record labels to rake in huge profits, and when the label is finished leaving them out to dry. For instance N'Synk is no longer around because they have been exposed as having no actual talent and the same can be said about Backstreet Boys. Both "groups" were nothing but pretty faces with no talent to back up the looks. This is the enviornment that Hip/Hop lives in. Hip/Hip is filled with talent-less faces being promoted by Big Music to influencial teens and pre-teen audiences who are for lack of a better term tend to be mindless zombi's who if are convinced that if this music is "cool" will go out in droves to purchase the albums published by Big Music who utilize the profits to further exploit young teens entering the music business. There have been hugely sucessful independent musicians for example Dispatch, O.A.R. (Of A Revolution), Phish, Dave Matthews Band (before they sold out), Grateful Dead to name a few. I will heavily draw on the sucess of Dispatch and O.A.R. in my message post as I believe that these groups have become sucessful in part due because they have relied on a grassroots following of loyal fans. In the case od Dispatch they have become one of the most sucessful independent bands in independent music history (Their last show titled Last Dispatch, which was a FREE concert, drew well over 110,000 fans from all over the world without any major advertisement).
What does this have to do with music? Take, for example Joanna Levesque. I believe that she may become a victum of Big Music. Her single "Too Little Too Late" has been pushed at radio stations to be played on "High Rotation". It would seem more likely to let the audience decide how often it should be played on radio as well as MTV (Although it seems more like Reality TV Network than Music Television), rather than have Big Music force it down our throats. If people liked the music, which many do, then why does Big Music have to force it down our throats? One reason is because it wants to rake in the profits, and once Joanne 'JoJo' Levesque is older, there is the possibility for the label to drop her for a younger talent to victimize. Thus, a viscious cycle ensues where a young singer or musician is blinded by success and money and signs to a big record label only to lose their ability to control how they music is recorded and produced. Dispatch did not want to lose its ability to control their artistic lisence to some CEO fo a record label who did not care about the band, only profits.
It would be a shame to see such a talented young musician fall victim to Big Music. Relying on heavy radio and television rotation instead of forming a grassroots following that, would be there after the record labels drop said musician for another younger musician. A grassroots following would be there with or without a record label becasue a grassroots following allows the fans to judge for themselves whether or not a talent is worth following or not. This allows a musician to be more creative, and true to themself. For example Dispatch was able to become sucessful because they relied on their grassroots following to make a small profit on their music. What is music is there are no fans to listen to it?
Far too often in the music business musicians tend to be more profit-oriented than fan-oriented. Dispatch as well as O.A.R. were able to become sucessfull by creating a solid foundation of grassroots followers to slowly launch their careers. In return these bands have been extremely fan friendly. Avil Lavigne comes to mind as being the least fan friendly musician by stating her fans are stupid for wanting to be like her. I have not had the privlidge of seeing Dispatch live as of yet, I am going to their concert on July 14th at Madison Square Garden. I have however, been fortunate to have seen O.A.R. live multiple times, and I can attest to their performances being very fan-oriented often encouraging fans to activly participate in the show. These bands know that if they lose their grasssroots following they will only be replaces by a changing dynamic of influencial zombi's that buy into whatever Big Music tells them to buy into. Often at Dispatch and O.A.R. shows as well as Dave Matthews, the band entends a song well past its studio version length. Phish was known to play only 4 songs at a concert yet they extended those 4 songs into hour long jam sessions. Jamming allows the band to show the audience how talented they really are. Groups under Big Music control rarely jam on songs rather they stick to the studio length, hardely changing the lyrics to show what talent they hold. Showing how much talent you have does not include being able to reach high notes, or stretch out a single word. Hell anyone can stretch out a single word. It takes talent to be able to jam out for extend periods of time, getting the audience acively involved.
I understand that Joanne 'JoJo' Levesque is 16..17?, and not quite an adult thus she cannot legally make her own decisions and from what I am able to understand about her she has conflicting personalities, often being labeled as "going over the top" for a girl her age. Whatever your opinion of her being I do believe that she may be wasting her talent by entering the wrong genre of music. Honorable as it is that she is able to reach the sucess she has I do believe it is heaviuly inflated due to Big Music forcing it down our throats. How often have you or know someone who said they are sick of a song because its "over played"? More often than not in todays music scene it seems.
I believe that JoJo, as well as the other multiple "artists" in the pop culture, would have more sucess if they turned inwards and wrote about their feelings and opinions on topics as opposed to the ever re-occuring break-ups, gang banging, and other such filth that pollutes the airwaves now and corrupts out yout. Perhaps take a look at Dispatch, who rapped, rocked, reggea, folk they did every imaginable genre. Maybe these artists should experiment in different styles of music to find that grassroots following. If and when they find that grassroots following they are bound to reach they're true success.

Look at how MTV, and the mass media of todays news have promoted these artists who, sing about exploiting, disrespecting women and girls yet at these "award" shows thank the almighty God for helping them create such piles of excrement that Big Music then passes off as "cool" and "hip" to today's youth.
Thank you for your time.





Your thoughts? Agree/disagree and why? I'm open for discussion...I can't really "prove" my Big Music theory all I can go by is what I see in pop culture and in the music business...Another question to consider is:
Rumor has it they still exist...
the bands that don't live for the fame, the money, or the entourage. And if they do exist, can they survive in a business driven by corporate culture and greed without selling out?
 
  Reply With Quote
allen86streaks is offline allen86streaks Post #2  October 2,2008, 2:55pm
allen86streak…'s Avatar

is living the dream in Virginia Beach

Quick Study

Joined: Jul 2008

Virginia Beach, VA

Posts: 126

See profile



No one agrees?


No one disagrees?


Is everyone else just a mindless zombie?
 
  Reply With Quote
Reply


« Neko Case | Music | Fan of Electronica »
Topic Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new topics
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off

Looking for a Great Relationship?

Get started now. Fill out this form and take the questionnaire to receive your matches.

First Name:

I'm a:
seeking

Postal Code:

Country:

Email:

Confirm Email:

Password:


How did you hear about us?


Latest on our Dating Advice Discussion Boards

“It's important to understand the way a site works. Rigidly assuming / insisting that eH works likes all the others you're used to isn't utilizing the site functions to your best advantage. No.... ... ” –  Wiseman2

Join the “First contact on eHarmony, smile, questions, email?” discussion

“ If you have yet to meet, you don't know him or whether you two will form a connection. Connections formed over e-mail tend to be fantasies. You will see this echoed over and over by experienced ... ” –  shapeShifter79

Join the “How do i recoonect with him again?” discussion

“ Then it's a bit premature to worry about being friend-zoned. The first step is to go out on dates! What specific steps did you try? How many women did you ask out in person? Did you buy a ... ” –  shapeShifter79

Join the “For women to answer: How to avoid the friend zone” discussion

“ This is an old thread. She asked this in 2010. By now they are likely very exclusive or very over. ” –  shapeShifter79

Join the “is there a reason to ask if we're exclusive?” discussion

“ I'm sure he wouldn't get that. And I can't be sure that was the actual message. But it sems kind of likely to me.” –  boomer_gal

Join the “Why am I not successful?” discussion

“Hi eccemuliere and welcome to eHA.On an internet forum like eHA, you're going to get a wide variety of responses; some you'll like and some you won't. It's best to focus on the ones that speak to ... ” –  Sassafras54

Join the “Being blown off, or something else?” discussion

“ Although I have ignored my gut at times, in hindsight it's always been right, in terms of recognizing bad choices. QUOTE] But once we realize our past mistakes, we can use our reason to clue us ... ” –  eccemuliere

Join the “Is Your Gut Leading - or Misleading You?” discussion



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 3:47pm.

Discussion Boards Archive

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2012, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0