As a general rule, the music scene today is one big cash-driven system with no respect for true ability or meaningful music. Turn on any major radio station or look at the billboard top 100 and you will hear the pop garbage I am referring to. Today’s music trades substance for catchiness and the majority of it is made only for the artists monetary gain. Some might argue there is nothing wrong with most major artist being in music only for the money it brings them. For me, this defeats the purpose of music. Music today needs to be used as a medium for talking about big political issues, social injustices, and other problems in society. Instead major artists focus on their attention on turning bashing other celebrities, partying, and every single break up into a multi-million dollar hit. All these topics are fine and totally have a place in music, but they should not be all of what music encompasses.
In the 1960s and 1970s we were graced with the musical talents of the Beatles, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, David Bowie, Marvin Gaye, The Velvet Underground, Bob Marley and The Wailers, The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, Black Flag and Joy Division. These bands made music about the social injustices of their times, the Vietnam War, social taboos, and in many cases called for peace and unity. In the 1980s and the 1990s the Pixies, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Green Day, Pearl Jam, the Smiths, and the Replacements often discussed a wide variety of topics that appealed to many people who feel like social outcasts. They discussed androgyny, homosexuality, depression, and drug use.
In 2017, it seems rare to find bands and artists that have the political awareness that these previous bands and artists had. Music played with real instruments and raw emotion is no longer required out of bands and artists to achieve success, so most artists lack both qualities. I’m sure this isn’t the first period of time where everyone believed genres like punk had died, and lets hope in the next few years bands and artists come out with music that reflect the anger and call for unity in response to the current political state of our country as so many artists have done in the past.
sad iggy pop.
