Heavily corrupt often glorifying money, materialism, sexism, mocking the sanctity of sex itself, drugs, alcohol and so much more. I feel the need to vent about this, because as a music lover, our youth will continuously be tainted by these puppets of the evil music industry. I am just interested in hearing other people's educated thoughts regarding this.
Heavily corrupt often glorifying money, materialism, sexism, mocking the sanctity of sex itself, drugs, alcohol and so much more. I feel the need to vent about this, because as a music lover, our youth will continuously be tainted by these puppets of the evil music industry. I am just interested in hearing other people's educated thoughts regarding this.
Are you assuming Nicki Minaj and LMAO correspond to the music state as a whole? There's a bit more to it than that, a lot of artists just enjoy music. Unfortunately they don't usually make headliners, but it's still no reason to cut them off when considering the music scene.
Also I find it funny that only 'today's' music industry is corrupt with sex and drugs. If you read up a bit on what rockstars were doing in the 70's you'll understand it's not a new phenomenon.
Are you assuming Nicki Minaj and LMAO correspond to the music state as a whole? There's a bit more to it than that, a lot of artists just enjoy music. Unfortunately they don't usually make headliners, but it's still no reason to cut them off when considering the music scene.
Also I find it funny that only 'today's' music industry is corrupt with sex and drugs. If you read up a bit on what rockstars were doing in the 70's you'll understand it's not a new phenomenon.
Obviously i'm not taking away from true passionate artists, I'm sure even the ones who glorify all those things I mentioned have love for music, that doesn't make it okay for them spread that negative energy around. Pop and Rap are heavily influential, and with that power of influence I personally feel those artists have a moral obligation to be good role models, whether past or present. I'm not trying to bash music altogether like you're irrationally implying, that's just not logical. You seem to have missed the whole point. All I'm wondering is how everyone feels about this and what can be done.
Also when I say the "evil" music industry I mean the corporations that own the record labels, they could care less about the general public or even the artists themselves for that matter. Do a little research and the evidence for that claim isn't very farfetched.
To Doug, by sanctity of sex I do mean that it should be seen as something very special between a couple instead of being seen as a recreational activity. That's my honest opinion anyways.
I know a few people who are musicians, they don't want to babysit anyone, they just like playing instruments and making music. If I was a musician I wouldn't change my path because someone told me I might be having a bad influence on someone. Music isn't supposed to substitute your parents, it's a form of art.
Let's be honest: you're talking mostly about for example rap videos of some idiot drinking overpriced champagne while having a lot of underclothed ladies dancing around him. If you don't like that form of entertainment don't consume it. If a lot of people do this, it will go away. However the fact that it has the weight that it does, with millionaire rappers, shows that a lot of people enjoy it. Good for them. I don't, I barely consider it music, but thankfully my standards of quality aren't what defines wether something is mainstreamed or not.
Also I don't see the harm in corporations owning record labels. If an artist wants to see his album released, then he can either do it with his own money or he can convince someone else to use their money. I'd say if you're using another person's millions to record and distribute your music, then don't go around and whine about how they have no soul or whatever. If an artist feels like a certain label isn't what he wants, he can leave. Or never even join at all - websites like bandcamp or beatport allow independent artists to sell their music with no middlemen. Honestly I don't see how this is an issue: some people want to make crappy music, some people want to invest their money in the crappy music business and some people want to pay money to listen to crappy music. It's their issue, it shouldn't be a concern for the rest of us because decent artists still exist.
As to drugs, I've known a lot of hardcore drug addicts in years past. One of them who got clean is my good friend/bandmate. Trust me, mainstream media is not the problem.
List of famous songs about sex and drugs
Drugs:
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Purple Haze, Lithium, Heroin, Test-Tube Baby, Cocaine.
These are just the ones I immediately remember and that are definitely about drugs, and that are from very famous bands (except Test-Tube Baby, which is briliant). There are probaby thousands more of songs with more subtle lyrics.
Rock has always had a huge influence from drugs: Keith Richards must have snorted at least half of Colombia, Bowie proudly did acid, Hendrix shot heroin, Iggy Pop did coke.
Plus, the entire Jazz scene was fueled by drugs: Ray Charles shot heroin, Sinatra did enough coke to put a horse OD'ing and Coltrane and Miles Davis did coke as well.
Sex:
Rape Me, Closer, Woman To Woman, pretty much anything by Marvin Gaye or Isaac Hayes, Brown Sugar, Light My Fire
I don't think I even have to talk about this one.
I might seem arrogant by making this, but it's just that, as bad as today's music is, it's ignorant to say that this generation is the first one to talk explicitly about sex or drugs - it's not even the one doing it more aggressively. The only difference is that in the 70's this kind of reference was done better, while now it's just obscene.
All these valid negatives in the OP can be seen in HBO's Mad Men etc.
Now 71, Neil Young wrote Ballard's (at age 21) of the fatal consequences of drug abuse upon his contemporaries,
as did many others, and as I tried to warn ...
One of the worst being alcohol abuse, IME and observation !!!
Valid points all, OP -- Education is key as is treatment(s), not persecutions etc - another big business .
In certain ways I agree. But to be fair, bands like Bon Jovi and Justin Bieber are releasing songs these days that are not about sex, drugs and rock n roll. Rock music has cleaned up a lot these days. Rock music now is respectable and if you go to a concert and see the Rolling Stones for example, you will see a bunch of upper middle class grey haired fans and even bringing their grand kids to the shows. Rap may be rebellious though.
Okay you're right there was plenty of drug/sex references in songs back then as well. in the 70s artists at least used metaphors and what not. I don't think there was one song that just said "I wanna ________ you" lol you know what I mean you did a good job saying it- "now it's just obscene."
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