Does Commercialism Kill music?

[ShaneRory]

So does gross commercialism kill music? Discuss, how does music become comodified, does this have to do with hype? What about branding, packaging, and third party arts management does this make music a product? What is the difference between a product and something that is made for other reasons?

Discuss?

[Homatek]

Yes and No.

Will explain later.:cool:

[Homatek]

Yes and No.

Will explain later.:cool:

[Homatek]

Yes and No.

Will explain later.:cool:

[Homatek]

Yes and No.

Will explain later.:cool:

[Homatek]

Yes and No.

Will explain later.:cool:

[pretylc]

No.

[quickster]

turtles.

[B_tech]

Commercialism only shifts trends.

[pretylc]

We is ex-perts

[ShaneRory]

Originally posted by B_tech
Commercialism only shifts trends.

I would argue that trends are the result of marketing and that the trends shift when the money runs out and it seems the money usually runs out when commercialism has ruined what is real about something.

[B_tech]

... but what you said basically supports me contention, no?

[Andromeda.]

honestly, no.

commercialism may bring about a certain kind of death to the style it's trying to represent, but exploitation always brings backlash.

commercialism ultimately brings life through underground rejuvenation.

[N8Trak]

Originally posted by andromeda_68
honestly, no.

commercialism may bring about a certain kind of death to the style it's trying to represent, but exploitation always brings backlash.

commercialism ultimately brings life through underground rejuvenation.

I agree. I think that the commercialism of certain types of music only make the artists that are true to that genre work even harder at making it legit. Unfortunately, the music that's getting the most exposure is the music with the most financial backing, which isn't always the best representation.

Stay true to the underground and it will never let you down.

[Headphones Dude]

It can really just depend on what people are willing to accept as far as taste in music, and can enough people get that to be marketable to a commercial way?

Nirvana for instance. Probably before "Smells like Teen Spirit", barely anybody in our state had heard of them for they once were "Underground".. But they had a sound, a video, a album that people found cool, heavy, ass kicking, whatever, and Nirvana rose through the charts, and EVERYBODY loved them. Because there was demand for them, you bet that they got a bit commercialized by having them played all the time on the radio, merchandise available by them (T-shirts, posters, etc) and enough copy cat bands to make all major labels and radio stations take notice that it wasn't a fluke. Then Kurt kills himself, and Nirvana as a band grounds to a hault, yet their commercialism lives on every time somebody buys something from them.

Take a band that's huge in one country, but unknown in the rest of the world. This can be because the rest of the world isn't ready for them, or isn't ever going to be into them (except maybe a few cult listeners), and for whatever reason, they remain huge in their native country, but considered underground elsewhere.

Take any pop artist who can sound sugar coated and sweet, and get played to death, yet if it weren't for the fact that C89 is playing their song, you wouldn't even have known they even existed. You probably won't find their cd if you look, and even if you did buy it, you'd be too embarassed to admit you did.

Does it kill music? It really depends on music trends. I can think of a few music styles that just ran their course. New wave, Britpop, Grunge, Nu Metal that more or less just ran their course, or they had to make way for a pedulum swing of the opposite sound that everybody was into. Perhaps commecialism is to blame for "killing" these scenes, and perhaps they were doomed to extinction from fans boredom anyway. It was kind of like the Blink 182/Greenday pop Punk stuff. I was so sick of it I was ready for it to go away. But emo replaced it, and I'm sick of that even more!!! But if people aren't embracing it at all, is the music too far in the underground to matter? It can be like a tree falling in a forest. If nobody heard it, who would bother to notice? If the band can't sell a new cd, or tour to support it, then is the Internet going to get the band exposure they are desperate for? If they get it, but too many people notice them, have they sold out to be commercial?

There really are more questions to ask then you will get answers for.

[wingnut]

lack of electricity does!

hehe but then that's when you pick up a guitar and start strumming out a sad emo tune about how electronic music dumped you. I guess nothing kills music!! :D

[Homatek]

Why did my shit post like 4 times.

hmmmm...weird.

[Andromeda.]

opposites in balance

[MrMiyagi]

It can create a greater acceptance from a broader range of people and get rid of "scenes"...

[schwyn.dr]

i dunno what you mean by kill music, as in like kill sales, or the quality ? because both have suffered. ringtones/downloading is killin it. souljaboy's are killin it. if you come up w/some stupid beat, w/an equally stupid dance you're song can be # 1. the quality is out there, it's just not getting marketed, and hiding behind mounds of crap that the kids that actually pay for music will buy.

[Tronic]

"I'm bringing sexy back"

It is a new digital era, where most music is available for free if you look hard enough. Fewer and fewer people can make a living just by selling their music, so getting royalties from commercials, movie soundtracks, TV, video games etc. is a great way for musicians to try and make a living doing what they love.

I think it can be a give and take relationship, and will state that quality music will always be produced, it is just not necessarily what the "mainstream" wants to hear.

I think the mainstream US Record Industry (all 4 labels - bleh) has it's collective head up it's ass, and has moved too slow to adapt to changing times / media formats. Sure they are all on Itunes and doing ringtones now, but with the way the internet and social networking / social media sites are now, the playing field has been leveled and it may be only a matter of time before some of the bigger labels collapse. Not entirely, since they are all part of mega-conglomerates, but we could see even more downsizing in the industry as the economy continues to tank.

[Dj Conspiracy]

but not necessarily the genre. Hip hop is dead to me because of lack of ingenuitive beats . Plenty of good rhymes but boring ass beats. There are a few artists/producers but not many (compared to the ratio of #1 genre )

[quickster]

It doesnt kill the music, but promoting music to the masses, brings in all the good in with the bad to the shows, it takes the freshness away and strips it from its adolesance and it also temps known artists to be bias towards making music for the masses, rather than something thats entirely form the heart/mind/soul, which is how music should be! it also leaves room for al the chumps and biters to ride the wave of the ones that worked hard for it to be so known in the 1st place.

[Channel Smurfer]

"Brands" become bigger than "artists" thats the sad part.


Like Tiesto (not much of a fan) is a brand so much more than he is an artist anymore. And with his level of success, you sense a lack of drive. Altho, there'are "brands" that deliver every-fucking-time.

[sumkidzdad]

Music like all art can not be killed. It may die of neglect.
It's up to the individual which is good, important or whatever.
As long as it is heard or performed or just stuck in your head it still lives.
Commercialism may make it appear bigger than life, but it is still just a painting of a soup can or whatever.

[Andromeda.]

Originally posted by quickster
it also leaves room for al the chumps and biters to ride the wave of the ones that worked hard for it to be so known in the 1st place.

worrrrrd.

even though commercialism does wonders for bringing out a bigger drive in independent artists and flourishing art as a result, this is still the single most frustrating thing to have to watch happen...

it's not fair but that's just how it works. the masses are idiots, and they have to listen to something...

did i mention i fucking hate lil wayne / lil mama / ciara / brittney spears / et al?

[fatuity]

great topic. id call in functional obsolescence..... more of a product of the system and some of it bloated elements...

[Ewan]

Without commericalized muzak, sheeple would never listen to anything to used to be cool. Some people have to be told what to listen to, and they're usually going to listen to whatever is heavily marketed (just because of the reach & availability). Same deal with parties, if you don't promote nobody will show up because they don't know they're supposed to.

People who are especially passionate about music will not usually have trouble finding sounds they like -- it's people who don't give 2 shits to whom commercialized music appeals. Music snobs will seek out music they deem interesting & they do not need something well-promoted. Especially in these days of the internet it is quite easy to find nearly all works by even obscure musicians if you really take the time to do so.

Also you have a lot of musicians who do virtually nothing original, who merely emulate other musicians or styles they have heard. These people aren't necessarily commercial artists (although they certainly may choose this path for the money), but I would argue they contribute little/nothing to the progress of sound art. It can be frustrating to realize that very few artists have anything particularly original or groundbreaking to say. It becomes a matter of aesthetic.

Or, you could also argue that most everything fundamental that can be done with music already has been achieved, and what we are seeing now is recycling and remixing and refining of past shit. You don't hear a lot of music that introduces genuinely new forms or ideas. A lot of artists introduced a lot of genuinely new musical concepts in the 20th century, but these days who can you say really does that?

So I guess what I look for is musicians who distinguish themselves with their talent or skills, or intensity, etc. It's all very subjective. And of course I am drawn to particular styles and aesthetics.

[Headphones Dude]

Doesn't it reach a point, where it loses some credibility by it being over commercialised, and it has zero to do with the art of music, but 110% to see how much money they can rake in? Menudo, New Kids On The Block, Backstreet Boys, Nsync, and the rest of the teen market has been a no brainer to corporate music biz people. Make the merchandise, and they will buy it. Stay in the spotlight for as long as possible, for it won't last forever. Even bands that didn't start off with all the merchandise kind of drew so many people that in their own way, I'd figure they reached a point where they saw the need to sell out. The Grateful Dead might fall into this category. All that tie dyed t-shirts, deadhead stickers, Ben & Jerrys Ice Cream, and whatever else they made for them to sell to hippies, got sold because either themselves, or somebody knew there was money to be made, so they cashed in.

Music does this in it's own way if you think about it. Why do Yanni, Celine Dion, Phil Collins, Michael Bolton, John Tesh, and countless other lame artists stay in the record sales and charts? Because record companies know there's always a market for people with no imagination in their musical tastes, and will pretty much go along with what their local easy listening station tells them to listen to. I'm sure there's people out there that love those artists, and there is better music out there, but they're not discovering it, are they?

It is true though, music does need some sort of promotion to survive, and often that's going to do with profit. Even the rave scene grew, not so much from word of mouth (although I won't deny that this did help fan the flames), but by all the money a dj or promoter could make if enough people showed up. I'm sure plenty of dealers decided to get out of their house to make it to past events to sell their stashes, where if there wasn't a rave scene to sell it in, they probably wouldn't either be in the drug biz. All I'm saying is there's causes and effects if you follow a money trail.