PBS is doing a special on the state of the music industry. An interesting interview with David Crosby sheds some light on the issue of popular music. I hold many of the same opinions: popular music is more about the look than the music.
I used to be quite elitist when it came to music. I proclaimed certain bands to be trash, while uplifting others. Before, my excuses were based upon their music, and how certain bands “keep it real” and make more interesting music. Now, I’ve come to the conclusion that this isn’t the fundamental issue. The issue with popular bands is that they’ve been filtered by the music industry. The industry wants beautiful people who are eye candy to the camera. It’s no longer based on musical abilities (although, there are a few gems out there.. Norah Jones was mentioned in the article). As soon as the performance measure is not based on music, the whole system becomes “fake”, as many people would would say.
I always railed on the artist’s not being original and being “too popular sounding” (whatever that means). But now I must retract this. How can they possibly be original with the music industry pressuring their jobs? If they were original, then they would be forever banished into the indie universe. These people are playing the game, and yes, they have sacrificed the music to do this (with those few exceptions noted).