GodlessMotherFucker -- rants -- GodlessMotherFucker

Music Industry Hell

Two words that shouldn't fit together: Music Industry

Ever wonder why the Foo Fighters sound just (almost) like Nirvana when that x-Nirvana drummer wasn't even with the band and didn't really much write songs when he did? Answer: it paid to write songs like Nirvana. Or, more specifically, the record company paid the FF's to sound just like Nirvana knowing that's what would sell to the stupid shit kids out there riding along on yesterday's pop-cool-whatever.

I can just see some record company execs schmoozin' that drummer and telling him that he could still have a fine future in the industry if he could just write songs like no-more-head-Kurt did: "Would you be interested in forming a new band like Nirvana, drummer?" Reply, "Well, ya. Uh, I could try… How much would you pay us?" "We could make it VERY worth your while if it sounds like Nirvana and the kids see you as the band reborn."

Some jack-off from that 90's Clash wanna-be band whatever-they're-called was defending himself recently about "the state of punk in the 90's" sort of thing in Alternative Press and saying that it can be about money and getting down on people who are giving him trouble for being commercially successful. Well, I say fuck these fair weather pop-punk bands pretending to be rebels and acting like they're breaking new ground. I mean, I have a 9-5 job at an ISP in Salt Lake City, Utah and I have pink hair and although my boss is liberal and customers make comments sometimes, most everybody likes it like it's fun, which it is. I bring up this example to simply point out that pink hair 20 years ago would be a statement and likely cause trouble and now slack, somehow-I-keep-a-job types like myself can have pink hair and keep a job-obviously things have changed. Hell, even extremists like Marilyn Manson hardly cause a stir outside of places like Utah and Florida.

I'm applauding this lack of concern for appearance and simply want to point out that punk music is not rebellion anymore-some of it is still damn good, but it is music and not some fucking costume party for pseudo rebels.

Back to my RANT that making music into an "industry" is not a good thing overall-one mostly gets copy-cat bands like the Foo Fighters and all those Epitaph bands, on a good day but more likely Alanis Mourisette female-singer -with-heart-on-shoulder pop radio hell.

This is not to say that one can blame record companies when I just heard on the news this morning that the most popular radio station in NYC is playing 80's disco music!!!! Nietzsche's notion of the masses as cattle clambering along seems quite fitting at moments like this. But anyway, what are people buying when they pay for an album? What do they hope to get from some LL Cool J song?

This idea of "music-as-industry" really gets me bad because I have to listen to this shit when I'm in someone's car or flipping through the radio station's in my honey's car since her tape player doesn't work. This is hellish. Where is the surprise in any of this shit? Where is the soul in it? how can anyone feel any emotion besides hatred when listening to this? I'm no Rocket Scientist *sob* but why can't music have some soul again? Are people so brainless and exhausted that most anything will do? Are people so lazy that they'll let radio and record producers choose what they will like and hear?

I see people gobbling up the feces over and over again and then see stacks of some "big" band's music at the used music store less than a year later. So many bands are liked and hip for no apparent reason-take Rocket From the Crypt. Their music is boring and lame and lifeless and unoriginal and yet Sympathy For the Record Industry (cool name) bothers to waste cool record art and vinyl on these San Diego kitch bitches. I keep hearing people talk about their wearing bowling shirts on stage like that's a good reason to buy and enjoy their albums and concerts. What am I missing here? And then Blacktop comes to town a year ago and less than a dozen people are out to see them.

Now I'm thinking about films and getting pissed about that too. Ever hear of "quote-whores"? I'll RANT about it sometime.

If you agree, don't be getting too full of yourselves too quickly. Most of you liked disco in the late 70's/early 80's--or would have if you had been around and old enough.

--chupa