Treia, I just finished reading through your posts. you're an inspiration. *standing ovation*
great post made by Fun as well. this topic sure is interesting. thanks for spurring the discussion, midnightraver. I'll just address a couple points that really caught my attention:
Quote:
Originally Posted by MopeyJoe
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fun
You have to think about the technological advancements we've made when considering something like mainstream music. Not too long ago, before the internet was prevalent amongst the general public, usually what you heard on TV was, more or less, all that you really had a choice of listening to. Now with the internet, more musicians have the possibility of being discovered. More musicians are capable of self-promotion without some giant record label assisting them. Before the internet was relevant, you never ran across people ranting about how bad mainstream music is.
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Maybe you need to brush up on your history skills. Back in the 1950's, when the teenagers were starting to stand out, a genre of music was starting to become quite popular amongst the teenagers - it was rock-and-roll. Now, just like today, people were complaining about how bad rock-and-roll was (much like today with rap). But you have to remember, there was no internet back then. And back then, people hardly listen to music on television - hell, not everyone had one back then either. So whatever they heard on the radio is what they had to listen to, yet they still heard this genre of music that was, at the time, controversial.
So what I'm saying is, you're wrong. People have ranted about mainstream music before internet was relevant. It was just a different style of music that was mainstream at the time.
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Joe, I think you misunderstood the last bit of the quote from Fun. the type of "bad" you're talking about in the historical example is of the "this heathen music will corrupt our youth!" variety. Fun is referring to when people say things like "everything on the radio is trash." the latter case deals with so-called music quality.
another possible misunderstanding is exactly how people complain about mainstream music. in past decades, some people drew heavy criticism to certain music that was popular at the time. this criticism rarely led to claims that
all popular music was horrible compared to other music that was being listened to by far fewer people.
in short, the belief that popular music shouldn't even be given a chance has become far more prominent in recent years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Treia
However, to say someone is the way they are and why they do what they do ("corrupted") because of music doesn't seem logical. I never made my choices, or geared my personality, to reflect the music I listen to. I just don't see why anyone would say, "I do this because of the music I listen to," or "I am this way for the music I want to listen to," so to say it contributes isn't something I'm entirely comprehending.
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I'll try to explain the way I understand this concept. some hip hop artists have a very, for lack of a better word, thuggish persona. a young, impressionable kid who idealizes one of these artists and soaks in all the lyrics might subconsciously attain certain notions. "sagging my pants will make me look cool" is harmless, but "I should be hard like those guys and carry a glock" is not.
I'm not going to say I truly endorse the idea, but I do think questionable content in media can have a negative impact on young people. I firmly believe that other factors are far more important for development, however. by the way, I happen to enjoy most hip hop myself
now for a different note. it seems to me that more and more "indie" acts have achieved mainstream popularity as of late. among the artists you can vote for on vh1's top 20 are Death Cab for Cutie, Kings of Leon, Mumford & Sons, and Two Door Cinema Club. what are everyone's thoughts on this trend? personally, I'm conflicted. I'm glad that more people will be exposed to different types of music, but I'm not looking forward to hearing some songs I would normally love over and over until they no longer seem special to me.