I'm sick and tired of hearing the lame excuse that people are fed up with music because,"there's only one or two good songs on an album wah wah wah". Please!

I have a theory. Radio and MTV is built on this strange creature known as the hit. The hit was made for maximum consumption and instant gratification. When you listen to that one hit songby someone you probably wouldn't otherwise listen to, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

Usually when I buy an album I don't even listen to the single,. being that I've heard it a million times already. But I know someone who bought "Dangerously In Love" about 7 months after it was released JUST so he could blast "Crazy In Love". I doubt he even listened to the rest of the album. But that's the kind of record buyers the industry is dealing with. But it's hardly surprising considering that it seems the entire population is indifferent to music in general, while they go gaga over every damn movie and DVD release.

Personally I don't get movies. I don't see what the big deal was with Jhonny Depp's goofey performance in that stupid "Pirates" movie. I don't get why Brad Pitt gets 20 million dollars a picture. Why every Tuesday a whole batch of really bad films get snapped up by the public every week. Yet people refuse to buy cd's and download every song they hear for free.

I suppose as a society we get what we deserve, which in this case will be a serious decrease in good music to hear. And there is some great music out there. The fact that radio and tv refuses to play it is no excuse. But why do people like dumb movies so much?

There are great films that are slept on too, so in that way, they are very similar.

I don't understand why people can't listen to a 70 minute record, but they can watch a 120 minute movie.

I think it's obvious that people do enjoy concerts and live shows though, and will pay WAY MORE to see those than a movie.

The Oscar for oddest rant of the year goes to...

There's an overabundance of crap in every art form. I don't understand why Ashlee Simpson has a hit record. C'est la vie.

ashlee edit..
[Edited 12/29/05 15:50pm]

Cinnie said:

That's true. That's a fact that I missed during my diatribe. Yeah people will pay 50.00+ for concert and theater tickets, and even more for opera tickets, so you're right.

When asked about her huge album sales once Ani DiFranco stated that it was never album sales that got her going, it was the love of performing in front of an audience. She said performance was key, and if someone eanted to take some of that by taking home a cd after the show that was fine.

I think alot of casual listeners buy records the same way they buy clothes.. really as fashion.

I appreciate film more than music. Music, for me, is often a background experience. There's good music, there's bad music. Just like movies. But for the most part, music is a medium that allows you to do other things.


A good film demands you devote X amount of time to it, and has the ability to drag you in and clear your mind of anything else.


That's why I appreciate movies more than music, as a whole. I listen to music more often than I watch movies, but for me, movies are #1.

Just because you have to use your eyes?

If you're doing other shit, you're not really listening to the music.

Cinnie said:

really? your mind doesn't often wander while you're listening to music? you don't think about other things frequently? you don't drive while you're listening to music?

I guess that's why music videos (and live shows) are so engaging though. It's no longer merely a passive, subliminal "background experience" when you're using your eyes.

TheAstonishing said:

I do, but I've also driven off the road because I was zoning out to the music

Cinnie said:

or when there are characters... or plot... etc.

CynicKill said:

CynicKill I'm so with you on this topic.

It's like people can't decide for themselves what a good song is unless they've been blitzed in the face with promotion for it.

CynicKill said:

This to me is a major reason why sales in the industry are slipping. I think even while people are paying for downloads now, casual listeners won't even download the whole album.

Compare that to the late 90s when those same listeners had to buy a whole CD for the one "hit".

Why don't people download more movies? They still buy DVDs but not CDs. wtf

CynicKill said:

Compare that to the music industry where 20 million dollars means the highest-paid recording artist would have to record 5 albums for that.

Ditto, sports contracts. I don't get it.

Cinnie said:

It's a strange phenomenon. I take it that downloading a movie is just too much work lengthwise. The fact that they BUY them is another story, making me think that people like movies more, which at this point is no secret.

The question is why? Bad movies bore me so much more then bad music.

Cinnie said:

Yeah I'm not much for sports. First of all I don't get the financial aspects of it. I take it all that sports money comes from advertising revenue but I'd have to investigate it. But how people get so involved in it escapes me. It's almost as if they are playing the sport instead of the team. I won't get into how entertaining watching it isn't.

Slightly off topic I came across a Real Sports story on European soccer and this huge racism phenomenon in the stands. Scary stuff. Soccer fans are the nuttiest people currently living.

CynicKill! I am SO with you!!

Cinnie said:

Good. I guess my rant isn't so "odd" after all.

plenty of people are dowloading movies. not necessarilly legally, but it's going on big time. But it is more work to download a flick than a CD, even with high speed (so I have heard ).

Universaluv said:

I imagine it's only a matter of time before a decline in DVD sales and the increase in DVD burners.

But it's still sickening to now see these music stores turn into movie stores.

TheAstonishing said:

For me it's the other way around, but for exactly the same reasons. Music is what gets me through my day, it helps when i'm working, when i'm studying, when i'm riding the bus, driving, at the gym, when i'm sad, when i'm happy, when i go out. Even when there is no music I associate music with situations. Movies i could do without. Books i could do without. And good movies need good music. So i appreciate music much more than i appreciate movies.

Cinnie said:

they do. which is why the govt. didn't really do anything about internet piracy until it started to happen on a larger scale with movies.

TheAstonishing said:

some do. i think more people consider that "stealing" because they have more respect for film.

Cinnie said:

well, on the consumer it it has to do with the time it takes to download it and put it on a disc. on the production end, it takes more money to make a movie, so they crack down harder.

Cinnie said:

It's simply too much trouble to go through. Quality can be lousy, subtitles, extras, looooong downloads, you have to burn them on expensive disks and you'll only watch them once. Compared to that, i don't mind paying 3euro's at my local videostore, or buy the damn thing for 15euro's.
With music, I don't even have to go with any of the file sharing programs. There are plenty of websites that offer almost all new releases for download, with lyrics, cover art, correct tags and whatnot. Download it, play it on my computer, stream it to my stereo or transfer it to my iPod in less than 15mins. Now that is a good deal.

CynicKill said:

It's a form of escapist entertainment and people need their cathartic fix.


As a filmmaker myself, though, I find films to be quite similar to music. They are timebased and rhythmic, rely on beats, crescendos, ritardandos, etc. I like making films better than music because I can use music as well as images, characters, sound effects, dramatic constructions, stories, etc. I can work with different media all in one package.

Because in the last 20 years (since MTV, really), a lot of people have become too visually-trained...they need images; eye candy....you only have to look at crap like "my humps" to see that's where a lot of people are at.

in my opinion some people these days are less able to use their minds-eye to form their own pictures...less people turn off their tv or internet and just read a book these days or focus on a classic or well-made album or other well made piece of art.

the ones who appreciate good art in my experience are usually involved in art in some way themselves.... most of the MTV crowd aren't as interested in opening themselves to the richness of a good book or album....the alternative eye-candy is too addictive and some people like the kind of advice they get on tv and in bad movies and agree that to some level that they should live that way.

while more demaning, the benefit to more time-honoured forms like books and albums is that they are ultimately more rewarding in that they are different every time you read or listen to them....most movies and tv shows on the other hand are pretty much the same with each viewing.


my

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[Edited 12/30/05 5:04am]

I do believe that a lot of music is crap these days. People complain that there are only a few good songs on CDs nowadays because often, there are only one or two good songs. Outside of NPR and oldies stations, I've pretty much given up on radio entirely. I do the digging, I find the stuff I appreciate, and I listen to my own music collection.

That said, I appreciate music far more than movies. During all of 2005, I saw one movie in a theater -- and that's about average for me for a year. I can probably count the number of movies I've gone to a theater to see in the last 5-6 years on one hand.

Can't get enough of music, tho -- just gotta dig in the crates a bit.