What About the Music?

12Jun08

Music is one of those universal things in life that can present ideas, feelings, and moods in ways that change how people think and feel on a daily basis without acknowledging it. After being immersed in pop music for the first ten years of my life, I grew out of it and became attracted to alternative, rap, and rock music.

Maybe it’s the strength of the lyrics, or the extra power behind the tones that put it a step above the sweet, saccharine harmony of pop music in my view. However, there is a small percentage of pop songs I admit to liking in mainstream music. Currently, the Billboard 100 seems hooked on rhythm and blues, and pop songs carrying hints of rap.

These seem to suspend themselves for a time, only to be replaced (quite infrequently) by some genre of rock music such asCrossfade, Sevendust, Buckcherry, or Fallout Boy. What is happening in the music industry will unfold a future that has not yet come to surface. In my opinion, MTV’s lack of music videos and presentation of new bands to audiences who were accustomed to this has left them abandoned in the dark.

I can empathize by saying that shows such as Total Request Live and Making the Band captured my attention, and introduced me to music I would not have listened to. In addition, music videos supplemented personal aspects of artistic expression for each artist I was interested in that made artists more appealing to me. This absence has left a Friday, 3:00 p.m. void in my life since tenth grade that leaves me quizzically staring back at MTV.

To move on with the new, it seems the arrival of music through on-line sources such as music forums, Myspace, featured bands, and popular music blogs is the new medium for getting to know what’s out there. Indie music is setting a precedence like no other, threatening major record labels. Where this will carry music fans who don’t devote 5 hours to searching new artists on-line is a question perhaps left to technology.

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