I am not the one into delve in controversial topics like
these as I have always hated confrontation and conflict (that why I’m a ‘Wimpy
Kid’) and most certainly hate the dirty politics back home in Bangladesh where
the two political parties are always at each other’s throats literally. The
strike in Bangladesh carried out by one of the political parties in November
had ruined my chance for a retake exam which had basically ruined my future
prospects to a certain extent! But that is not what I’m here to talk about,
today I want to talk about the demise of the music industry, and this is
supported by fall in revenue by big labels scratching their heads due to the
increased availability and reach of illegal streaming content.
The quality of music has dropped. I may get hate for this,
and I know that people will have different tastes and will like different
genres, but even a person who likes the same genre as me may think the music
industry is flourishing – producing the best music he has ever heard and it is
continuously getting better. But that’s not me. To clarify, I am going to talk
about the mainstream music that usually topple the Billboard Top 10. And I must
say, it is going downhill. I must admit, not ALL songs are bad, but the
majority aren’t that good either. Now, as a reader, you may say that, “well
Wimpy Kid just listen to what you like and stop complaining about it!” Trust me
I wish I could, but I am not complaining about the state of the music industry
just because of my own personal opinions, but that, in terms of social media
portrayal, the ‘get rich or die trying mentality, and most and foremost the
constant sexual appeasement for men, is what is horrifyingly wrong.
Firstly, I would like to talk about the quality of music.
When I say quality, I mean the sophistication of lyrics, the songs having an
ambiguous meaning so that we can interpret the meaning ourselves, and the level
of thought, energy and ‘soul’ that goes into writing the music. And if you look
at the newest top hits for the last maybe two years, you will find a steady
trend that most music is not written by the artists who perform the songs
themselves and that the main motif consists of ‘getting money, bitches, and
sex’ in a nutshell. This is not my definition of music. Don’t get me wrong
though, songs including these ideals can be good – but they hardly are. With a few
exceptions in my eyes like Coldplay, Adele and maybe Charlie Puth, most of the
songs that are topping the charts are electronic dance hits, which to be fair,
is not proper ‘songs’ in my eyes at all. The importance of beat over melody has
also reduced the quality of songs in general, as the greatest songs in general
have had an equal footing in harmony, melody, rhythm and – in my mind the most
important of them all – lyrics. Artists also probably do not have more ‘soul’
in their music due to hiring songwriters, their own personal talents may not be
able to shine due to lyrics not being written from their own personal thoughts,
which I think is what makes great music. Trending icons nowadays have very
little to no personality and I think this is because of the desperate need for
fame, but not for the reason of sharing one’s thoughts to the world. Record
labels are also to blame as by trying to ‘play it safe’ they have reduced their
credibility to nurture actual talent. This has all culminated into a huge mess
and due to these qualitative factors about the industry not being taken into
account, the financial side of things have suffered as well. I’m not saying
that good music has to be at a certain sophisticated level, but a certain
degree of thought and passion has to go into making songs. Catchy dance tunes
are not going to cut it, and this can be seen even from a financial
perspective:
