Thoughts on the music industry and state funding of arts programs

After an odd encounter I had recently that involved meeting two members of a band (Which I wont be naming) who are signed to a major label and have toured in Japan, Europe and America, working in a shitty nightclub in the Cambridge town center, I began thinking about the state of the music industry and how it is slowly but surely killing itself off.

Since the widespread use of MP3s and file sharing sites, selling records is no longer a generally viable way to make a living as a musician using a standard royalty based record contract for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, a greater problem than people sharing MP3s etc is how the profits of a release are divided between the artist and the record company. Generally speaking an artist will take about 11% of the profits from his recording, the rest going to the record company, manufacturing and distribution (Although these are not so relevant now that MP3 is the most used music format.) Now when you consider that most albums will not sell more than, say, 10,000 copies in their first few months this doesn't actually come out as a lot of money for the artist, especially when you take into account the fact that they will often have to repay their advance to the label.

This lack of income from record sales and the need to pay the advance back will result in the artist hurrying to make more music, which I believe is one of the reasons that most pop music today sounds stagnant and mediocre.

Another factor is this is the pressure put on artists by major labels to produce a commercial sound, however I reckon that if major labels started signing say, rock or metal bands and pushed them onto the market in the same way pop artists are at the moment, people would listen to it and accept it as the norm.

The combination of these two things: The financial relationship between the label and artist, and the short term focus in the music industry are killing off potential new artists and damaging local scenes. (Cambridge where I live has lost two live music venues in the last two or three years)

This leads on to another issue, which is the idea of state funded arts programs, and music venues etc. America in particular has fallen victim to vicious budget cuts in recent years, that have lead to many schools abandoning creative subjects such as music meaning that only students who can afford private tuition can get music lessons. There is data to show that music programs have led to a decrease in gang violence in various parts of the world, and I personally believe that music is one of the keys to education and resolving problems, and is essential to human life.


All of this taken into account, it appears as if we are driving ourselves to a sort of 'musical suicide'. Record executives and those who control the funding for public arts programs (including venues and museums) must think very carefully in the future about the best direction to take the music industry in a rapidly technologically changing world, a more versatile model is needed that embraces new technology, rather than clinging to defunct old models that are no longer relevant.

The global bullies and those who pull the strings

Its no secret that America often acts in a very bullyish way and intimidates other countries to make them bend to its will, but there is a massive misconception about just how far this goes. It is also widely known that the American government has troops in many countries in the world based on the fact they have large supplies of oil, using excuses such as "suspected WMDs" in Iraq. This is all propaganda, spat out by the mainstream media so people do not get too up in arms about the US occupying such countries.

After some reading and general research I have realised that many of the countries that they occupy are those that refuse to trade oil for US dollars, resulting in the dollar becoming weaker. This is particularly evident with Iraq, who shortly before they were invaded said that they were going to trade oil exclusively in euros - a direct attack on Americas oil monopoly. Months after this America invaded Iraq, claiming that they had WMDs and that it was to protect the people of Iraq's freedom...

Iran is Americas next target, they are one of the last countries who will not trade oil in dollars, and are major suppliers to Russia and China for this reason. As a result of this, if Iran were to be forced to trade oil in dollars like has happened to many other countries the only way Russia and China could prevent being forced into trading with the dollar is by direct military intervention - with potentially disastrous consequences.

This whole scheme is not however controlled by the government - the Federal Reserve is the largest privately owned bank in the world and its influence is greater than that of any governmental body. The Fed Reserve has the power to print the dollar as freely as it likes, so of course it is within their best interests that the dollars value doesn't crash.

Obviously this is not a state of affairs that any of us want to see, but unless something is done it will become reality before long. As long as people are still sitting watching their TVs and believing whatever the state controlled, racist, classist and conservative media are telling them these things will keep happening. An ideological shift needs to occur very soon before the tipping point is reached, and we pass the point of no return.
 

Has the internet really helped us?

Its incredible to look at how the internet has changed the world. 30 years ago if you were to say that you owned a device which you kept in your pocket with which you could recall virtually any bit of information in human history in a matter of minutes you would have been considered insane, however it is now seen as common, and almost expected to own a smartphone or tablet or similar product today.

The way I see it the internet has changed us for better and for worse - there is no denying that it has made our lives a lot easier - for example we can now just email or Facebook someone in another country where as before we would have to have either sent a letter which could have taken weeks, or spent lots of money on an international phone call. An arguably even greater benefit of this is the masses of information available at our fingertips, which, with good judgement makes things like research easier than ever. Another great benefit is that it is now easier than ever for musicians and artists to spread their material to a wider audience, and allows for other things such as collaborations between musicians who have never even met before.

So while it does have its obvious benefits, it isn't without its problems. One issue that is evident that I have seen in a whole number of cases in the last few years is that online shopping has led to the closure of many small independent businesses, damaging communities and local economies. This leads on to another, much more deeply rooted issue - it seems that even though we are more connected to the rest of the world than we have been at any other time in history, we somehow seem to feel more isolated and alone than ever before. Could this perhaps be seen as similar to when people who live in large cities claim to feel isolated and lonely despite having a thriving city with everything one could ask for all around them? Perhaps it is because the internet is so vast that people subconsciously realise how insignificant their online presence really is, coupled with the fact that we live in a society that essentially teaches that those who shout the loudest will get what they want, leads to an elitism in which only a few will succeed, and even those that succeed will not feel truly accomplished or at peace.

This isolation has led to insecurity on a massive scale, caused not only by adverts and media outlets taking advantage of the internet (lets face it, what else would be expect them to do?) but by the very people being expolited by the media then bragging about it, leading to further insecurity among their peers.

Now i'm not sure whether these ideas or the general consensus, or just the views of an angsty, over cynical teenager, but I am sure it would be naive to say that the internet hasn't harmed us at all?

Englands Attitude Towards the Disabled

People attitudes towards the physically and mentally handicapped are a very personal issue to me, and my view is that many people should be ashamed of their attitudes on the topic. My mother is disabled and has been since I was about 12, and whilst i'm not claiming to be her soul guardian or anything - i'm lucky enough to have a very supporting family - there is still definitely an element of being a carer that many people my age will not experience.

There is an element of frustration to it that I think is not often picked up on by most people, and the reason for that is that it is caused by most people. My essential point in this post is that peoples attitudes to disability in this country are disgusting. It appears to be one of the few minorities that it is still largely acceptable to make jokes about - this is evident on a daily basis, at my college for example I frequently see people taking the piss out of a kid with learning difficulties who is sitting on his own or with his support teacher and am still fairly shocked every time when no one even raises a finger about it.

This horrible attitude does not only seem to be allowed, but even encouraged by the government in some cases. This is visible recently in the use of ATOS to assess disabled people on whether they are capable of working, with cases of people in comas being seen as fit for work and having their benefits rates stopped as a result. There has also been a massive increase in the suicide of disabled people, presumably as a result of this treatment by the government creating too much stress for them to be able to continue their already difficult lives.

I don't want this to be a long piece so I will finish by saying this: There needs to be a dramatic shift in peoples attitudes towards disabled. There seems to be a hysterical phobia towards those with mental and physical handicaps that can be compared with racism and homophobia, and needs to stop.

The "LAD" culture and sexism in England

Its very common to hear someone being called a LAD among people my age and slightly older. It seems to be the new trend among middle class male teenagers, and is often used to justify sexist and misogynistic behavior. It is a prime example of how the UK is still rife with sexism and homophobia, among other forms of discrimination.

One source in particular comes from the Facebook page "The Lad Bible", which while it contains some material that is purely satirical, a large proportion of it actively encourages the objectifying and discrimination of women. While scrolling through their website here are some examples I found...

"Thou shall never watch such programs as 'The Only Way Is Essex' or 'Made In Chelsea', as those programs are made for our wenches."

"Thou shall host FIFA tournaments with the LADpack, while thy WENCH makes sandwiches and gets the beers from the fridge"

 "Thou must never enter the kitchen, as this is the women's resting place."

You get the idea...

While this may seem like a bit of harmless fun or "banter" to some, it is this sort of misogyny that leads to harassment of women and women feeling like they ought to submit and allow this sort of thing to go on without questioning it. It is exactly this sort of thing that leads to much worse things such as victim blaming in rape cases, as has been demonstrated even by senior judges in court in recent days.

It is evident that many people think that sexism is no longer a problem in western culture, however these issues highlight as being just as big a problem as ever, and while legislation may be in place to try and prevent these things it will not achieve anything while people attitudes remain the same. The Amanda Todd case is a good example of this, with people saying a girl who committed suicide was better of dead because she was a slut etc. I was shocked at how many people I know and consider to be a part of the cause i'm arguing for took place in this "slut shaming", showing the problem is even more widespread than many perceive.

Another aspect of this issue I find baffling is how from such a young age children are exposed to this sort of stereotyping in the media, in everything from TV adverts for soft drinks to in music videos marketed towards 13 and 14 year old children. The female body is used to sell pretty much everything now. This clip from Bill Hicks sums it up quite nicely

This objectifying works in two ways. It not only ends up with men believing it is alright to objectify women, but also leads to women objectifying themselves and subjecting themselves to this sort of treatment, and feeling like they have an obligation to please men and to look and act a certain way, whether they are doing it consciously or not.

This is a problem that no amount of legislation will be able to change. The only way to stop this discrimination is by changing people attitudes, which it seems, is much harder than it ought to be...

Music in Context and Musical Development

The context in which music is written is something that it appears many people overlook when they are deciding whether they can appreciate it or not. I often hear people dismissing music from bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain or Sonic Youth all the way through to death metal bands such as Morbid Angel, by saying it is "just noise" or similar such remarks.

I think to appreciate certain types of music it is necessary to look at the social context in which it was conceived. For example the music of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, particularly their first album is dismissed by some people as nothing but abrasive noise. Yes the music may be noisy, however when one looks at Kurt's home life and the way in which he grew up, its no surprise that's how his music turned out! I think one of the problems caused by modern pop music, is that it is made purely for the purposes of people dancing to in shitty clubs, and for record labels to make money from and in this, the whole purpose of making music has been lost.

I see music as any sort of sound that has been created as a form of self expression, to convey an emotion or atmosphere to the listener. It seems the vast majority of pop music doesn't achieve this well, with the industry recycling the same sound over and over because people will, for some reason buy it. Now the emotions Cobain was feeling when he wrote Nirvana's first album certainly were not contempt and joyfulness, and so its no surprise his music came out sounding the way it did; full of white noise, feedback and teenage angst.

Music is also inevitably going to be a progression of what has come before it, with the new artists trying to push the boundaries of what has been done before (Another reason I think our current music industry sucks. There has been no noticeable progression in the general sound of pop music since the invention of digital recording and auto-tune.) This progression is very noticeable in rock music, where ever since the late 50s bands have been looking for new ways to re-invent the genre, by taking certain aspects and pushing them to extremes, and eventually forming new genres out of it. A particularly notable case of this is the "shoegaze" bands of the late 80s and early 90s. Bands like My Bloody Valentine surprised people by taking the standard arrangement of a rock band (Drums, Guitars, Voice and Bass) and creating an almost entirely new sound out of it.

When combined, these two factors can lead to sounds that people are not used to, and will often reject for a variety of reasons, but it is important to take music at more than face value and look at what an artist it trying to achieve in their music, rather than whether it sounds nice to your ears. I think when people start doing this more, it will lead to a great progression in sound and generally create a better surrounding for new artists.