http://www.docs4you.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=41118&hl=
OK, here's a question that I haven't received an acceptable answer to: Is she extremely popular because the mass public really likes her and idolizes her OR is it because she is shoved down the public's throat by TPTB (the powers that be)? And it's not just her, it's the Jonas Brothers, Lady Antebellum, The Band Perry, etc etc etc. If I were a young, talented but overlooked artist in the music business and I was good (and knew it), I would be so pissed off at TPTB (remember them?) that I would seriously think about quitting. Example: as I type this, I have Shannon Wurst on Winamp right now, and if anyone out there says "who?" you make my point, and I'm going to reach through my computer and smack you upside the head. Maybe it's better this way. The artists I mostly listen to and follow are virtually unknown. I can send emails to them, tell them how much I like their music, buy their CD's personalized to me, etc. Just ask Swiftie here for a signed CD and see how far you get. I leave you now, 'cause it's time for my morning walk and maybe I'll get rid of some of this negative energy. I'll be back!
It's always been that way some great musicians are rarely heard & some untalented ***** are everywhere.
ReplyDeleteAlthough some of the artists that you complain about aren't as bad as some.
The answer to this is simple. The majority of music listeners (especially young ones) have no clue about good music because they have been force-fed horrible pop music from the start and know nothing else. They are too lazy to look any further. You could get a monkey and put it onstage with a guitar and all the kids who watch MTV these days would sway their hands and scream and cheer. They don't know any better.
ReplyDeleteSomeone like Taylor Swift is EXACTLY what TPTB want. She is first and foremost young and cute which is the most important thing. Second she is "hip" and "modern", but also at the same time "safe" so no parents get offended by her music or persona. Lastly Swift can crossover and appeal to both country and pop fans. This all = $$$ and the record company knows it;) The people on the pop charts these days have absolutely nothing to do with music. They are simply a product, nothing else...just like American Idol has very little to do with music or talent and is only a marketing machine. There are two kinds of "pop" music these days: the safe kind (Swift, Jonas Brothers, Hannah Montana ect.), and the slutty category (Gaga, Rhianna, Pink, and on the horizon is Miley Cyrus) where image and looks far surpass the actual music.
I love any music that is REAL. The Secret Sisters, Shelley Green, Lissie, Mary Epworth, The Vespers. ect. Some of my favorite artists right now are people singing in their bedrooms on YouTube!
J.T. - I agree with everything you said in your comment and I salute you. Of course, I knew the answers to my question, I was just in a grumpy mood this morning when I made the post. And I'm going to check out a few of the artists you named that I'm not aware of. Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteI'm 56 years old and grew up listening to groups like The Ohio Express, The 1910 Fruitgum Company, and a variety of some pretty lame music in the late 60's. Considering the degrading of the culture today, our kids could do a lot worse than to be listening to Taylor Swift. I teach junior high kids. I can't tell you how well she speaks to that audience. They love her music, and for good reason: she's writing about what is important to them today. She's got a passable voice, some great studio musicians, and she writes songs that speak to the kids today. I don't begrudge her a nickel of her millions that she makes. My taste in music tends to fall to more of the unknown type artists as well, or to people who aren't even getting a fraction of the kind of success that Taylor Swift gets. But I don't need to try and invalidate others' taste i music to make me feel better about my own. Taylor Swift is popular---TODAY. Let's see if she can hold her audience as they grow up with her. If she can, I'll be impressed (and surprised).....But the musical road is littered with the bodies of a lot of the people I listened to in the 60's and 70's as well. Then there are those that have grown old with me and continued to write music that is still relevant. The jury is still out on Taylor Swift's long-term picture. But it makes about as much sense to rag on her for writing stuff that appeals to her teen crowd now as it would have to insult music from artists we like now that have grown into being good songwriters and performers.
ReplyDeleteJ.T. you saved me a lot of typing: you've said it all! Although I must confess that Lady Antebellum does appeal to me, love the harmonies...
ReplyDeleteHodagg, the jury is still out on Swift so I will give her the benefit of the doubt. To me all the pop stuff on the charts is pretty much product as opposed to being from the heart - that's the problem I have with it. The greatest thing in the history of music is that we don't need record companies or the radio anymore to discover new artists and are no longer at the mercy of record companies. Musicians can make a CD in their bedroom and find a fanbase with the internet now. Thank God for that!! Tucker, I admit I have music guilty pleasures too so I'm not against everything on the charts, just most of it;)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you guys have heard of some of these artists I listed below, but if not check them out because everyone should know them!
The Secret Sisters - They are angels! Blew me away the first time I heard them!
http://www.myspace.com/thesecretsisters
Shelley Green - http://www.myspace.com/shelleygreenmusic
Shelley removed her videos from her YouTube page but you can put "Shelley Green" in the search engine at YouTube and see some of her old covers that fans posted.
Mary Epworth - Two amazingly great songs and videos by Mary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5oOIh211sI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ9JqUqDIHI
Lissie - everything she does is just incredible. Check out her awesome CD "Catching a Tiger".
Here are a few cool covers at YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeEF0W6qaAo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JsrIR3_5DI
I agree with most of what you all and I have to say, not too sure about the quality of Taylor Swifts vocals but thanks for the tips. I had never heard of Mary Epworth and so I had to check her out. Amazing! I gave you a credit for the intro: http://bearlyrambling.blogspot.com/2010/10/mary-epworth-and-jubilee-band.html It's worth a look for the new live video I found from Oct 23, 2010 performing Black Doe and Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
ReplyDeleteStrange thing (or maybe not so strange): the same problem's in every place, in every country. I don't think something's gonna change this situation into a better way. But music was always much more and higher than publicity idols. Personally I don't care about how many people have heard about music I like (my blog is about unknown Crimean bands), and I also think that if a singer plays his (her) songs honestly, then he (she) will do it even if nobody will listen to them. And some day those songs will find their listener. Now it happens even faster through internet. By the way thank you for good music you share!
ReplyDeleteI, personally, like Taylor Swift because she is absolutely gorgeous and so sexy. Not that I like her style of music but I just enjoy seeing her.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping her latest release would show her now, growing up.
ReplyDeleteIMO, she's now and over the hill teenager that needs to get a grip on adulthood.