In the not so distant past, there was a time when people both young and old looked forward to new music and movie releases. People weren’t obsessed with whether or not Paris Hilton wore underwear, or if a star was in rehab. They didn’t care about half-naked women prancing around in booty shorts to raise CD sales, or about the men who have “street cred” in order to prove their masculinity. Crime and half-naked women have always been around, but it is evident that during the time when music was not treated as such a disposable item it wasn’t the main focus as it is today.
Before, quality meant something to people in the music world, and the focus was the music, not all the glam that was in the background. Now the glam makes the artist and the music is the afterthought. The golden age of Elvis, Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, and Billie Holiday are obviously over, and we are left with less—including my pet peeves: Hilary Duff, a failed Disney star who decided overnight she wanted to be a singer, and Project Pat, who currently has a song about text messaging.
It is apparent that the music industry is tanking, and that many music lovers are watching it crash and burn. We are partially to blame for the utter lack of talent and tastelessness in the entertainment industry today. We buy the albums, watch the shows, and rent the movies. Because of this, the suits at the ivory tower get the wrong message..
Yet there is a glimmer of hope and we can save the industry if we want to. The past is the key to our future. Audiences must send a message to those who control what is being played over the airwaves. We want real music from people that actually know what they are doing! While it is hard to boycott some types of popular music, desperate times call for desperate measures. This is not as personal for the industry as it is for music lovers. The truth is that they don’t care about the music; they care about what will make them money. But they are not making money, so they will have to literally change their tune. The industry, for instance, should stop trying to recreate a new Britney Spears and understand that most people want more than a Barbie who lip-syncs to her pitch-altered tracks.
The first step towards a solution is to concentrate on the music. The glitz and glam can still be around as long as music is the top priority. Change should be modeled in earlier times, when artists became legends and not just one-hit wonders. If this happened, I would not be surprised if people stopped illegal downloading and actually thought about purchasing music. Moreover, the music industry has not served much variety to the masses (nor has radio). And who wants to buy an entire CD when there is only one good song on it? Buyers who are music lovers clamor for a legend in the making. One=hit wonders, in the meantime, are not getting us very far.