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If you think it’s impossible for the industry to be reformed, or that it can’t be regulated — and that’s the worst part — think again. You will, of course, notice that when most mainstream media focuses on the political and cultural problems of the day, it largely focuses on the money.
The reason is simple, well-know yet unacknowledged by any serious thinker. It’s been well established. And that’s because the money-makers in the music industry — which are in turn dominated by billionaires and powerful interests — don’t take any real interest in public debate.
This is often the case — as a result. When media outlets and politicians focus on the problems of the day while ignoring the fact that most people are not actually dealing with issues of substance and depth (for whom many aren’t even aware what they’re talking about), they are, effectively, feeding the very political-economic system that they operate at.
It’s why the music industry is so popular in this nation, especially among young, middle-class, or other middle-class people. There’s a general sense that there’s a crisis of legitimacy that has been brewing for an extended period. But what the music industry has failed to provide is a political foundation that works. It’s a problem that’s been built and broken far too many times.
It’s why the recent attacks on the music industry — including the ones against Bill O’Reilly, who has been accused of sexual harassment, harassment of women, and, of course, the most recent one on Beyoncé — are not just an attack on music. It’s an attack on the legitimacy of the music industry. It’s also, as the head of the industry told my friend James O’Keefe, “a massive attack on the whole of our industry.”
Music, as all media, has long been a global and complex affair that was built over centuries. It was created over a long period of time, from the first industrial revolution, when there was great economic development around the continent to the present day, from the Great Depression to the present.
How did it come to exist? And why did it get so intertwined with a set of ideological constructs, both political and social?
Well, here are the facts: The music industry has always been a global affair.
When a single artist and musician is attacked for being different (or perhaps for having the audacity to believe that they are different!), many people on social media will engage with them to defend their points of view or condemn them. But most will also take issue with the fact that they made money on a single, or the idea that they contributed to a massive number of others’ endeavors. Or that they are doing something good and unique. Many will point to the work of artists who are “too rich” to pay their bills or to be able to create at the grassroots level. But those who have the audacity to even mention the business would be on fire, wouldn’t they?
The artists, as well as the musicians of each genre, have a vested interest in the media’s narrative — to some extent. As the author of “The Big Change: the Future of Music,” Jay-Z has written on the subject, “Every new artist has a vested interest in getting more attention and not less money to pay themselves to be successful and do what they do best.”
The media is, in many ways, an important part of the media economy of today. Not only does it provide the most reliable information for artists, it takes the job of covering their music.
That’s why, when the political climate is one that forces bands or “alternative facts” to be taken seriously, it’s impossible, as far as I know, to even keep playing a concert that was not even on my tour. At best, it helps to try and avoid an online argument by having your critics and fans ask a different question.
The music industry has always been a global affair.
When a single artist and musician is attacked for being different (or perhaps for having the audacity to believe that they are different!), many people on social media will engage with them to defend their points of view or condemn them. But most will also take issue with the fact that they made money on a single, or the idea that they contributed to a massive number of others’ endeavors. Or that they are doing something good and unique.