Today my mom told me that I hold music and artists to too high of standards. She also said that "just because you like it doesn't mean it's better than what other people like."
This was after me telling my sister that buying a copy of the song "I Whip My Hair Back and Forth" is supporting a capitalist system that is devoid of passion and originality. I'd say this is an accurate statement, the last part can be argued to an extent... I guess.
This got the ball rolling in my head, why does profit have to be the only thing that drives people? Why can't we have more small bands that are in it for passion? Shouldn't we have more Tim Barry's and less Ke$ha's?
The dollar sign in her name kind of proves my point. Ke$ha is a Lady Gaga/Britney Spears-esque hybrid, marketed at naive young adult and teenagers who are easily targeted to with the use of auto-tune and sex-appeal. She earns incredible amounts of money and lives a life of great luxury all due to unwarranted fame.
On the other hand, Tim Barry is a man from Richmond, Virginia who lives in a shack with his dog, no plumming and no electricity. He lives an existential life of simplicity. He lives for music (he's good), it's all that keeps him alive. Constantly on tour, he spends most of his time on the road playing shows all over America. As you can probably guess he makes so little money that despite this meager life he is still in debt.
Why is it that this can happen, that we reward people for selling out and punish people for living out their meek dreams and aspirations? The answer is YOU.
You and I are the problem. We buy their overproduced garbage, we don't share new music with each other, we don't make a push to get these small musicians known.
We must spread music that most people would have never heard of before! I want people making CD's for each other, uploading it to youtube, sharing iPods, anything to spread unconventional music! It's the best way to dodge the major label crap that we are fed everyday by the radio.
With that I'll leave you with my favorite song of all time. I hope you listen to it and if you like it, tell a friend.
Meh, not the best post I've made, pretty rambly and disjointed. Oh well.
-Schleg!
