I'm sure I'm not the only one but is anyone else appalled at the state of chart music and these talentless wannabes that infect Saturday night TV?
I think we should get rid of these so called talent shows and bring back the quiz shows....just me?
Well we should still find something to replace this rubbish. What makes it worse is that shows like xfactor fuel the idea that anyone can be a singer which is not true. Singing is an art form. Art requires talent. Not everyone has talent and however sad that may be it's a fact of life.
My musical background is a combination of RnB, Rap, HipHop, Brit Pop and Indie music. All genres are rich with great talents like Biggie Smalls, Blur, Artic Monkeys and Eminem to name but a few but even these genres have been tainted with chart music mentality. Take Usher for example. I remember listening to songs like 'You Remind Me' and 'Burn' and now he's been reduced to using a canadian pop star to resurrect his career, why?
Another artist who fits the same pattern is Kanye West. 'The College Dropout' is possibly one of the best HipHop albums of all times and the same can be said for 'Graduation' but he's now been reduced to shit like 'N*ggas in Paris' with another all time HipHop great JayZ. The turning point in Kanye's career has to be his public outburst involving Taylor Swift and how the public in turn treated it. Both JayZ and Kanye have made some of the best music in HipHop history but recently appear to both be fixated on money. In 2011 JayZ was worth over $150 million dollars
For what reason could these talented artists sell their souls but money. The fuel that drives our captalist society. How does this tie in to the title I hear some of you ask....Well I don't hear but I assume. Money now drives the industry more then ever before. The writers of the chart songs are getting less and less cuts of the profits, though CD purchasing has reduced in recent years downloads has increased. The percentage of money in the business hasn't reduced more than the percentage that the songwriters has reduced by which in my eye is a travesty.
But what can we do about this?
What can I the consumer do....well for a start you can refuse to buy chart music, don't watch shows like xFactor. If you don't watch it, they won't put it on. What people forget is that the power lies with them. Vote with your eyes. If there's nothing else on then go out. Go out and support local musicians. In most cities in England there are venues that put on local music, as a Londoner I know this is true and in most if not all boroughs there is a gig every night. Go to the shows, most acts will stick around afterwards and they really appreciate your kind words. You could buy their CD or if you can't afford to it doesn't take much to give their Facebook page a like. To industry people these numbers mean so much yet they're so trivial.
And finally, how does relate to Dr.G Photography?
Well what I'm trying to do is change how music is consumed by showcasing unknown talent. I photograph them and put the pictures on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Official.Dr.G or I'll record a live video and sometimes we'll arrange an acoustic video and I'll put it up on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/DrGPhotography
Obviously I'm bound by my location and can only see shows and film videos in London but I know of talent all over Britain. So if you're in need of some new music to listen and you want a break from chart music then send me a message via Facebook.
Musicians are not the only ones who like Facebook likes and Twitter followers so if you could check out my links below it would mean a lot to me. You're like means another pair of ears for someone with incredible talent just wanting to break out into mainstream music and change it.
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/DrGPhotography
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Official.Dr.G
Twitter: https://twitter.com/officialdoctorg
