Music And The Mentality Of People

[Iron Maiden]

Before you look at this thread and say, "Fuck this, I'm not going to read this, it's too long," remember that this is most likely way beyond your comprehension anyway. This is a thread of enlightenment and discovery. Only intellectual conversation will be held here.


In this thread I'll present an answer to the following question: "Why in our world artists, who make easy, catchy, primitive music are richer, more popular and more respected than those, who have skills and make ambitious art?" It is an obvious fact for me, that that's how it is in the world, so I'll just concentrate on presenting the reason of such situation.

1) Mass medias and communication technologies
a) Manipulation

People just accept things, they see in TV, hear in radio, read somewhere without any reflection and thinking a while if it's true, or it's really good. Remember that you have no proof, that medias tell you the truth. And what's for sure they don't tell the whole truth, which means they don't tell the truth at all... Medias just select what they want to tell.

It is also known, that some people master manipulation and subconsciousness influencing skills. So when you watch TV, you usually aren't fully aware of all facts, that your mind has just accepted.

The purpose of medias, corporations etc. is to earn as much money as possible and control as many people as possible. How does it connect with music? Simply. Some radio or TV station just selects some easy, catchy music style and promote it, tell people that it's good. And they hardly ever play any other music. Effect – people buying records, listening to that station, to all commercials, unaware of the fact that there is many other better music out there.

So mark one thing. If you hear, see something no matter where and from whom, think a while, don't smile blindly to it, otherwise it can turn out, that you've just smiled at shit.

b) Extremely fast information spreading.

Nowadays, you can send information from one place on earth to another in miliseconds time. 5 hundred years ago it could take few months or even a few years...

So why pop artists are so popular and earn so much money? Because everybody hears about them very fast! The power lies in a fact, that everybody support them by just seeing them on TV in a news or in a music clip, or watching some interview, etc. How much money they got form a single person? Practically none. From 1 million people? Very big amount of money. From the whole world? Unimaginable richness...

Of course there were pop artists 5 hundreds years ago and earlier. Why weren't they rich and nobody remembers them? Because a particular artist was know only in maybe 100km circle (if he was good). Rest of the world had no chance to notice him.

Only great composers, who had made immortal masterpieces are remembered in our times.

2) Lazyness of the people
People are to lazy to find and appreciate a good music, that they would like on their own. If I say „lazy”, there must be an effort, that people don't take. This can be split into two parts.

Searching effort. Why search for a music if I can hear it on TV, radio etc. It must be good... WRONG! It needn't be good. The fact, that others tell you something is good, doesn't necessarily mean that it is good. Searching is always an effort, but always an effort has to be made in order to improve yourself...

Appreciation starting effort. What I mean here is that, the more complex, more artistic, better content music doesn't catch your ear as easy and fast as simple music. You must give it a try, listen to it many times before you throw it away. Complex music always has some individual elements, that need to be learned before can be appreciated. It's different from all standard popular music, which has simple rythm, some catchy tune, sometimes mixed sound samples added etc.
Why I got into metal, (which is ambitious and rather not mainstream music) ? It was coincidence. I was at a camp once. I lived there in one room with few metal/rock fans. They played Killers by Iron Maiden non stop. At first listen it was just noise. And after about 5 listens to this album one thought came to my mind: „Wow, this music is great”. Now I think this album is one of the best metal albums ever, if not the best.


So summarizing what's the recipe to become a rich popular music artist?
Step 1) Find a media(s), that would support you and control souls with you.
Step 2) Launch a campaign. Catchy song with catchy, primitive clip. Tell people that your primitive crap is good. They will believe, because you know some manipulation techniques.
Step 3) Spread the information. With modern technologies it's not a problem.
Step 4) The End. You've won, because people are to lazy to try searching for some other music. They don't even know it exists.

Can we reverse the world in a proper way, so that real artists become more respected? I think it's too late for that. We can try to enlighten people, that there are thousands of unknown artists worth listening, but it won't have any major effect, unless the mentality of the people is completely changed. One one side we have mass medias, on the other a couple of idealistic people who see what's going on and try to stop that evil. Very hard task. The mob is already under control.

But the effort must be taken, even if it has small chances of success, because the goal is: better world.

Also another thing, that can be done besides enlightening the people is absolute cease of any support to rubbish music. It means no TV watching, commercial radio hearing, going to clubs where rubbish music is played. I follow this.

[MentaL]

[Iron Maiden]

So does anyone have any thoughts? Or are people not challenged enough to read this? If you can't, then you've already proved my point. Haha.

[NoOxygen]

Most people that come around here don't listen to mainstream music.

[Iron Maiden]

But do you agree or disagree? And why or why not?

[Rishwin]

Yup i agree with you completely.

I'll be in KFC or my tafe canteen or something and Fallout Boy will be playing... i get home and the song is still stuck in my head so i'll end-up downloading the album >.<

I avoid radio at all costs and only watch TV for NCIS once a week. They alway play the same dam stuff everywhere and people then have urges to buy those songs.

I especially agree with you on the "noise". Yup most of my favourite bands and songs now first sounded like random noises when i first heard them. It wasn't untill the 5th or 6th listening that i was really able to hear the songs properly and fully appreciate them. That is also a major factor why they are not played on radios and shown on TV ect because most people will not get it after one play. Why should they play these complex songs, when instead they could be playing pop and have people hooked after listening to it just once?

And about being lazy... don't even get me started on this subject lol. People are soooo lazy these days its not even funny. "Yea, that guys listening to this band, so it must be good!". Have a few more people with the same mentality, and there you have it; everyone now listens to the same music.

[Bejike]

I some what agree, but not fully. I do agree with the fact that you said mainstream music nowadays, is the music constantly being played on the radio, television, and advertised in commercials and with that, people must think since they are on television, on the radio, ect.. that their shit must be great, which isn't entirely true. I also agree with the part you said about friends telling you that a certain type of music they like, is great music, but it most certainly might not be. Although, some of the major artists we hear today, did work real hard to get where they are, through their passion for the art in which they pursued. So they deserve all the attention they get. But as you said, others are just advertised, and people are manipulated into liking them. But as for those thousands of artists that aren't really known in the music industry, not trying to put them down or anything, but if they really had what it takes, they would have been discovered already. Not to say they suck, but I have a friend named Tiffanny, and she's a beautiful singer, but I don't think she's good enough to make it a career.

I don't agree with the fact that you need to hear a certain music over and over again, before you can say you dislike it. Ever since the first metal song I listened to, I hated it. But one of my best friends loves metal, and when ever I go to his house to chill and what not, he always tries to persuade me into liking it, by playing songs over and over. I've heard many many metal songs, but just can't take it. I personally think it's noise, as you said when you first heard it. But that's my opinion as well, and I still stick to it. But I'm not trying to put metal down or anything. Same goes for Country music, my grandmother, before she passed away ALWAYS listened to Country music,and tried to get me to like it as well. I stayed with her everyday after school, up until like the sixth grade. I had to listen to it day in and day out, and I always hated it. So that's just another example of how you don't need to listen to something again and again to get a different perspective of it.

[aleano]

Damn I hate tv and the radio. Its so true... Artists with no talent gain the attention of these brain dead people who have no minds of their own to decipher if music is good or not. Instead they listen to talentless fake ass abortions that call themselves artists. People are so damn lazy they just listen to anything. Whats funny is, when you see these people out in the world... Listening to complete utter crap. For example the song "This is Why Im Hot" I don't understand how people can fall into this trend of verbal Diarrhea. It seriously is garbage. Most the general population is fake, so they have to listen to fake ass music to make themselves feel more real. What television/other media is showing the people of today is just not right. Promoting whores like Paris, and have you seen that television show called "Bratz". Who in the right mind would want thier children to grow up to be spoiled fake ass princesses like those on the television show. Gah so mad. My post has turned into more of a rant then a reply... Don't you wish you could knock some sense into these people. We cant really do much, its just how our fucked up world runs. You can't change their minds either. Tried to get my own brother to listen to some decent artists instead of his run of the mill timerflake. You can't change peoples mentality on music, if you try... They will automatically hate everything you try to save them with.

[Bejike]

Damn I hate tv and the radio. Its so true... Artists with no talent gain the attention of these brain dead people who have no minds of their own to decipher if music is good or not. Instead they listen to talentless fake ass abortions that call themselves artists. People are so damn lazy they just listen to anything. Whats funny is, when you see these people out in the world... Listening to complete utter crap. For example the song "This is Why Im Hot" I don't understand how people can fall into this trend of verbal Diarrhea. It seriously is garbage. Most the general population is fake, so they have to listen to fake ass music to make themselves feel more real. What television/other media is showing the people of today is just not right. Promoting whores like Paris, and have you seen that television show called "Bratz". Who in the right mind would want thier children to grow up to be spoiled fake ass princesses like those on the television show. Gah so mad. My post has turned into more of a rant then a reply... Don't you wish you could knock some sense into these people. We cant really do much, its just how our fucked up world runs. You can't change their minds either. Tried to get my own brother to listen to some decent artists instead of his run of the mill timerflake. You can't change peoples mentality on music, if you try... They will automatically hate everything you try to save them with.

That isn't true. It's Southside music. I'm from NYC and I liked the song, but obviously if you don't like rap or hip-hop, you're going to think that song sucks. Now I'm pretty sure over 85% of RaGEZONE dislikes rap, and that's fine, I could care less. But I would just like to state, I'm white and like rap and hip-hop, but it's just where I grew up, I was raised around that kind of music. I also like some rock, but not a lot. From growing up in the Bronx, I also listen to Spanish music, but I don't understand over half the shit their saying. Also, in my opinion, where you grew up, and the environment that's around you while you were growing up, does have effect on what types of genre's of music you listen to now. Although, I'm old enough to explore other types of music, I tend to choose not to, because I'm fine with what I'm listening to now. Although, most of you may think what I listen to is shit, but you just don't understand like I do.

On the other hand, what you said about the show Bratz, is very true. I'm not that wealthy of a kid, and if I were in my mothers position, and had a daughter with her income, and wanted to be a spoiled little bitch like on that show, would not fly with me. I haven't exactly seen the show, but my little cousin, collects the little doll things from the Bratz series, and those dolls are like 40-50 bucks a pop. Never would my kid get a 40-50 dollar doll, just to open it, play with it a few times, and never touch it again. But that's just me. Parents who spoil their kids, it isn't good, because when the kid finally grows up, and need to depend on himself, he wont have the responsibility to do shit on his own, because he was never taught responsibility as an adolescent.

[DaCheat]

I'm on my lunch break, and don't have time to read it now...but I will when I off of work in about 5 hours.

[thefalling]

"People are to lazy to find and appreciate a good music"

That is where i stopped reading. If people enjoy the music they listen too, then wtf is the problem? Of course people are influenced by their surroundings, its been that way since the beginning. How can you measure a musicians "skillz" when there are so many different genres of music? Music is so opinionated you cant even answer that.

[Iron Maiden]

"People are to lazy to find and appreciate a good music"

That is where i stopped reading. If people enjoy the music they listen too, then wtf is the problem? Of course people are influenced by their surroundings, its been that way since the beginning. How can you measure a musicians "skillz" when there are so many different genres of music? Music is so opinionated you cant even answer that.

It's a problem because my whole point is that people think it is good because they are told so and led to believe it is good and then it becomes the only kind of music they listen to. They won't broaden their knowledge, they just accept everything that is told to them by others instead of finding out on their own. They are too lazy to get out and spend maybe 5-10 minutes each day or even longer listening to internet radio like last.fm or Pandora. They just listen to music on the radio which is censored and murdered by critics and the media.

And yes you can measure skill. Do you even play a musical instrument? Do you know how much practice it takes to play guitar smoothly enough to where the notes don't just sound like loud noices? Do you know how to link scales and measure them in harmonic tones? Most pop artists don't even play instruments, they just sing. Sure, people have really wonderful voices and are very talented. But, most don't even write their own lyrics, and the lyrics they do write, are always about the same god damn thing and usually don't make any sense. So yes, you can measure skill and talent.

[Bejike]

You don't have anything to say about my response? =\ I was looking forward to seeing what you had to say..

[Iron Maiden]

You don't have anything to say about my response? =\ I was looking forward to seeing what you had to say..

I could frankly care less about the rap/hip-hop scene because to me it isn't music at all. It's poetry put to a simple beat. Nothing special there. Too primitive for me.

To me, Metal offers the most in music, with intelligent compositions and interesting lyrics. As it is a non-mainstream genre, and is often classified as

[DaCheat]

Nice article there Ryan pretty much hit the nail on the head. You also have to add in the generation effect. Most people to day (in their 20's ish.. and younger) hate the "Golden Oldies," because that is what their parents listen to. And parents now days hate the music we listen to, just because they're not used to it.

I don't agree with the fact that you need to hear a certain music over and over again, before you can say you dislike it.

I basically agree. For me it's almost the opposite. Before I started really getting into music, (taking theory classes, taking lessons with performers and what not.) I only listened to punk...yes I said it, i was a punk bitch. But the more I learned about music, and the more I understood it, the more genres I started listening to. I used to hate Classical, Jazz, and Metal, but now that I fully understand music, these are now the top 3 genres of choice. Jazz as number 1.

If anybody can find 1 genre of music that has more theory involved then Jazz, that'll be the day that hell freezes over.

How can you measure a musicians "skillz" when there are so many different genres of music? Music is so opinionated you cant even answer that.

I'm sorry but you have no clue what so ever to what you are talking about. Unless you were trying to mean something different...But take most shitty ass drummers or bassists of today. Yes they might be lightning fast, but that doesn't mean that they have a clue to what they're actually doing. Any musician can play a riff or fast solo, but a great musician knows exactly what to do in any circumstance. Walk up to somebody playing any instrument and say, "that's cool, now play it in C# or G Harmonic Minor," and see what happens. 9 out of 10 people will laugh and call you retarded, but a good musician will go...."ok" and do it.

Take the Dave Matthews Band for example. I was at one of their concerts, and after their encore they still felt like playing. So they were just going to "Jam" which usually is suicide, because most bands suck ass at improve. They asked the crowd what style of music to play, and what key that should be played in. Needless to say they played for a good ten minutes flawlessly.

[Bejike]

I basically agree. For me it's almost the opposite. Before I started really getting into music, (taking theory classes, taking lessons with performers and what not.) I only listened to punk...yes I said it, i was a punk bitch. But the more I learned about music, and the more I understood it, the more genres I started listening to. I used to hate Classical, Jazz, and Metal, but now that I fully understand music, these are now the top 3 genres of choice. Jazz as number 1.

Indeed, Jazz is one of the best genres of music. Although, I wouldn't download any tracks, or buy any albums, but if it's on the radio or something, I'll certainly listen to it without a problem. Jazz is one of the genres of music that has a lot of background to it, and it comes from many dedicated artists, that truly love what they do, thus why their successful, and their music is indeed listened to.