the picture that’s been going around facebook lately is a split screen of frank sinatra and his lyrics juxtaposed with justin bieber and his obviously vapid lyrics. the caption, “what happened?” infers that modern music is trash and they don’t make it like they used to. while this isn’t an “apples to oranges” comparison, since both entertainers are musicians, it’s a bit of an “apples to applesauce” comparison, for a couple of reasons.
(1) one of these guys is a classic, iconic singer who’s been immortalized by time, and the other is a little kid who has been tirelessly marketed. comparing one of the all-time greats to a kid who probably won’t even be remembered in a decade or so would be like comparing bono or bruce springsteen to one of sinatra’s forgotten contemporaries.
(2) there have always been stupid songs in every generation. we just forget about them because they don’t stand the test of time. even some of the popular songs that have lasted are ridiculous. listen to the words next time you’re listening to an oldies station, for example.
(3) bieber is a result of an unfortunate pop music demand. as long as his music is in demand, it will be manufactured, and will be popular. that doesn’t mean good music isn’t being made, it means it isn’t being noticed. the culture is responsible for good music not being popular, not musicians or artists. but with the internet, it’s not impossible to find it if someone wants to put the time into it.
*********
we’re living in a golden age of music, because anything we want to listen to is at our fingertips. but record amounts of music are being made as well, which means people have to be discerning and not rely on what the mainstream market produces. good music is out there, people. don’t give in to easy facebook propaganda.
