New year, new tricks! I hope
anyway... Well the holidays came and went and to be honest with you,
I'm glad. I like the festivities, but these days it just seems to
last too long, with Christmas adds out in October. I always liked
January, I know... I 'm odd that way. It's just that it feels like
new chapter and everything is possible. With the new year I think
most of us do some soul searching and plans for the new year, or new
years resolutions. Anyway that's not what I want to get in to know.
Over the holidays I was exposed to a
lot off what in my mind is bad music. And It got me thinking a bit,
always a dangerous thing... For most musicians I have talked to over
the years, it seems the music charts in most countries is mostly
crap. I lost interest in the charts long time ago. Partly because lot
of the music really is not to my taste, partly because the more I
learned about music business the more I realized how they work. But I
think the biggest reason is just a practical one, I don't listen to
mainstream radio, or any music TV channel. I don't drive a car, I
work from home and my commute to gigs is either 5 mins. When I am on
tour, we don't really listen to much music in car. If I listen to
music on the road it's from my iPhone and I am in charge of the play
list. And when at home, I listen to Cd's on my Hifi, (yeah, call me
old fashioned). I also do listen to lot of music on YouTube while I
work, in fact this is where I find most of new music. I listen to
songs, or even whole albums several times before I actually purchase
a CD (that's just for any one in major label office who thinks that
sharing music online is bad for sales :-D). If I go out to pubs, I
usually choose them either based on the kind of music they play.
Still when I do get exposed to the chart music, usually in shops
funny enough, often I find my self wondering how the hell did that
load of crap got there and again I am sure I am not on my own
thinking this.
But lets just stop for a second here
and think. Even though to days charts are very much a manipulated
system that works on the advantage of the major labels, which then
gets fed on to the radio, or very often the other way around, there
still need to be substantial numbers of records or downloads shifted
by the public. So are we musicians and dedicated music lovers so
arrogant as to think most of the music consuming audience is wrong?
That what they listen to is shit and we and only we can see the true
gems? Obviously if you dedicate your time to learn an instrument,
play years in a band, you do get certain understanding of structures,
rhythms, chord progressions etc. And I might even dare to say you
would have more educated ears. But does this still mean most of
people are wrong and we right? Well, in my opinion yes and no. But to
really understand this, lets look at some major label tactics.
When a major label, puts out an
album, single and video they pump what would seem like a crazy amount
of money on the promotion. The idea is that if you invest enough on
getting the music to the public audience, eventually the scale tips
over and people start buying the downloads and Cds and the record labels investment is payed and they are in profit. If the artist
does well, the record company gets to multiply their investment
several times. The thinking behind a major label is always to please
as many people as possible with the music they invest in. This is why
very often for us this seems like very middle of the road music. Also
it is very accessible, in sense that it is every where! I mean, if
you walk around the town, you will hear it in the stores, you will
hear it in the main stream clubs on every weekend, you can buy it at
the major record shops right at the door, you can even buy it at
Tesco and get club card points! And I think this is a big thing for
lot of people. They go for it as it is there, they like it as it is
catchy and they have heard it already about fifty times over as back
ground music. And guess what, they like it.
Should this be changed? Well I can
promise you that major labels will fight to the last living bone to
hold on to their market. If they were to loose, I'm sure some one
else would take their place and continue pretty much the same way.
They are major corporations on the top of their industry, that's just
the way it is. But what I do think is needed is some alternative to
the old chart system to recognize the immense amount of talent out
there. I am not talking about a free ticket to fame, but an
opportunity for the independents to expose their music to the greater
public. Especially in Ireland where we have such a great underground
music scene. But until then, we just need to get out and go to a live
shows, or surf on the YouTube for something bit more “interesting
music”
Happy new year to you all. May this be a year full of music:-)
J.P.
