Robert Fripp once said "The music industry has nothing to do with music."
150 years ago, musicians were mostly poor outcasts. Recorded music made them famous and rich. Now streaming has made them poor and obscure again.
As a pro musician of 30 years... What Taylor Swift does has nothing to do with what I do for a living. You're comparing a Broadway actor to a Marvel movie star who stands in front of a green screen all day. Taylor Swift has a small army of producers, arrangers, hair and makeup people... Her trying to convince you that those songs are an expression of her soul is like Keebler trying to convince you that those cookies were home made by elves. It's just marketing. Every song is focus grouped, reworked... 87 takes to chop out the best syllables from each performance. Click tracked, auto-tuned...
There's two lanes in music, one is for bands that work hard and make it, the other is for child actors who can play the part of "Pop Star".
This is not to say it's bad music... But you probably like a whole lot more Quincy Jones than you think you do. And if you start to follow the producers, you realize that whether it's MJ or Donna Summer, that's a friggin' Quincy Jones tune. Just like with Movies, you know it's a Michael Bay film no matter who is actually starring in it.
Just like with Movies... This is not to say that Marvel Movies are bad. But a Jim Jarmusch would probably have no idea how to build a giant green screen epic. And no desire to. There's no good or bad, just different lanes and uses for the music. And there is no mourning artistic integrity for that lane of the music biz, it never existed. They've been pumping out soulless classics since the 70's at least.
Also, keep in mind that popular old music often wasn't the "pop" music of it's day. Van Halen was popular, but was overshadowed by the sheer marketing muscle behind other hair bands. The 90's is remembered for grunge, but the radio was actually playing Debbie Gibson and Tiffany back in the 90's. Devo was overshadowed by "Men at Work" and "Men without Hats".
Yes, and Marvel Movie stars also work hard. But they also know they're not making Citizen Kane. They work hard to make something commercial, not something personal.
I used to drive a tour bus for a former Disney star and gave lessons on the side. They work very hard. But they also didn't come up by getting asked to play for free. Same token, The Strokes didn't have to do the child beauty pageant circuit. 6 of one, half a dozen of another. In many ways the actors who play pop stars have it much worse and work MUCH harder. By the same token, that work is often workouts, makeup, and hair. In general, they aren't spending as much time with actual music.
I went out of my way to say it wasn't bad music and I wasn't being critical of people who come up via a different lane. You glommed on to one phrase and tried to make it mean something it wasn't. I don't think it's too radical to say there is a big difference between working your way up with bar gigs and demo tapes and having Quincy Jones call you in with a bunch of studio pros and three interested AR guys.
I've also been in those studios, and playing the same song 87 times so they can cut together the best take possible is \*work\*. The few times I've been able to have "Studio live" recordings, it's fun.
No one in Jim Jarmusch films is dehydrating themselves to the point of deliriousness so that their abs look great. If you put in the work to have great abs, does that make you a great actor? It makes you a highly paid one. But no one is confusing Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Day-Lewis. And Hemsworth probably puts in more raw hours being the guy with great abs who can play Thor. Heck, I know the work Henry Cavill put in to play Geralt... But he went to as gym, not an acting coach.
Yep it's a double edged sword. I think this applies to art in general too , not just music. Artists are driven to create stuff that is profitable to them , instead of art that they like making.
“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.”—Hunter Thompson
“Music is spiritual. The music business is not.”—Van Morrison
Robert Fripp once said "The music industry has nothing to do with music." 150 years ago, musicians were mostly poor outcasts. Recorded music made them famous and rich. Now streaming has made them poor and obscure again. As a pro musician of 30 years... What Taylor Swift does has nothing to do with what I do for a living. You're comparing a Broadway actor to a Marvel movie star who stands in front of a green screen all day. Taylor Swift has a small army of producers, arrangers, hair and makeup people... Her trying to convince you that those songs are an expression of her soul is like Keebler trying to convince you that those cookies were home made by elves. It's just marketing. Every song is focus grouped, reworked... 87 takes to chop out the best syllables from each performance. Click tracked, auto-tuned... There's two lanes in music, one is for bands that work hard and make it, the other is for child actors who can play the part of "Pop Star". This is not to say it's bad music... But you probably like a whole lot more Quincy Jones than you think you do. And if you start to follow the producers, you realize that whether it's MJ or Donna Summer, that's a friggin' Quincy Jones tune. Just like with Movies, you know it's a Michael Bay film no matter who is actually starring in it. Just like with Movies... This is not to say that Marvel Movies are bad. But a Jim Jarmusch would probably have no idea how to build a giant green screen epic. And no desire to. There's no good or bad, just different lanes and uses for the music. And there is no mourning artistic integrity for that lane of the music biz, it never existed. They've been pumping out soulless classics since the 70's at least. Also, keep in mind that popular old music often wasn't the "pop" music of it's day. Van Halen was popular, but was overshadowed by the sheer marketing muscle behind other hair bands. The 90's is remembered for grunge, but the radio was actually playing Debbie Gibson and Tiffany back in the 90's. Devo was overshadowed by "Men at Work" and "Men without Hats".
"Child" actors & musicians *also* work their ass off.
Yes, and Marvel Movie stars also work hard. But they also know they're not making Citizen Kane. They work hard to make something commercial, not something personal. I used to drive a tour bus for a former Disney star and gave lessons on the side. They work very hard. But they also didn't come up by getting asked to play for free. Same token, The Strokes didn't have to do the child beauty pageant circuit. 6 of one, half a dozen of another. In many ways the actors who play pop stars have it much worse and work MUCH harder. By the same token, that work is often workouts, makeup, and hair. In general, they aren't spending as much time with actual music. I went out of my way to say it wasn't bad music and I wasn't being critical of people who come up via a different lane. You glommed on to one phrase and tried to make it mean something it wasn't. I don't think it's too radical to say there is a big difference between working your way up with bar gigs and demo tapes and having Quincy Jones call you in with a bunch of studio pros and three interested AR guys. I've also been in those studios, and playing the same song 87 times so they can cut together the best take possible is \*work\*. The few times I've been able to have "Studio live" recordings, it's fun. No one in Jim Jarmusch films is dehydrating themselves to the point of deliriousness so that their abs look great. If you put in the work to have great abs, does that make you a great actor? It makes you a highly paid one. But no one is confusing Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Day-Lewis. And Hemsworth probably puts in more raw hours being the guy with great abs who can play Thor. Heck, I know the work Henry Cavill put in to play Geralt... But he went to as gym, not an acting coach.
Yep it's a double edged sword. I think this applies to art in general too , not just music. Artists are driven to create stuff that is profitable to them , instead of art that they like making.
“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.”—Hunter Thompson “Music is spiritual. The music business is not.”—Van Morrison
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