Mainstream Innovation

by Chris Sloan

Chris Sloan is an intelligent young fellow with the weight of a dictionary on his mind, a jacket on his back and a hefty slice of cynicism on his lips. He really needs to get that looked at.

Has the Lack of Innovation in Mainstream Music Signalled a Withering of Expectations, the End of Artistic Horizons or a Perversion in Art?

I suppose I should start this off with a twofold apology, for starters I assured Matt I would ramble on his blog for what must be months now, it seems he has underestimated both my lethargy and forgetfulness, silly man. Secondly, I imagine you’re wondering if I could possibly be any more pretentious after witnessing my title. You have no idea.

It seems more than ever that we live in an age of apathy, no longer is popular music something strange and raw, something artistic at its core. Popular musicians are not judged on artistic merit alone, becoming models, public speakers and dancers, working solely to create the catchy, three minute simply structured mainstream friendly piece for ‘easy listening’. We see this reflected in other aspects of culture too. No longer do we stand in awe of the greatest painters, sculptures, poets and philosophers of our times and instead we end up listening to what ‘Soulja Boy’ thinks about foreign policy? Fuck off. Many of these artists (and I use the term loosely) fit into three easy contrived personas; the angry blowhards, the ‘good role models’ who are anything but, and the everyday lads teaching the next generation to excel only in mediocrity.

Does this mean we need uncaring eccentrics on drugs to storm the music industry once again? Probably.

Why the fuck has this happened then?

It seems the gatekeepers of the music business are economically rather than creatively minded, choosing to pour out replicas of earlier models; the skinny blonde pop star singing the same love songs, the mild indie-rockers who sing much without delivering any sort of powerful message, the ridiculous rapper singing about how bad his neighbourhood was whilst threatening to shoot his listeners and slap a ho, is it our fault? Have the public’s standards lowered on what is art deserving of fame and fortune? You bet they have, and the vast majority don’t seem to care enough to create and push their own alternatives (a frightening parallel with our politics).

So my inane little thoughts on the subject come to this: a music industry concerned only on its profit and keeping a conservative standard of expectations in lieu of taking risks and experimenting with new sounds goes against the very nature of art itself. You shouldn’t expect with certainty anything in art, and if you do those expectations should be thrown back in your face, how many of these popular musicians shock us or make us think, or has the industries bastard child failed to do so? We will not run out of new ground to cover so long as earth keeps changing culturally and socially, so why stick to these strict models on what music is?

I know what your thinking, “You haven’t even listed any alternatives in bands or genres here, you pompous elitist prick”, but I have limited space, and would want to recommend in more detail, if I do write any more on the subject. Thanks for bearing with my puffed up artsy ramblings, I’m away for a smoke, X-Box and lasagne.

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