By
Shaun Clayton
Arizona Daily Wildcat
"Oops! I did it again," says the cover on Britney Spears last album, but what exactly did she do?
Save endangered wildlife? Devise a new treatment for lupus? Sing with the Three Tenors? No!
What she has done is sold millions of albums! Ergh!
Yes! The Backstreet Boys and N'Sync as well!
ARGGHHH!!!
Somewhere, somehow, something went horribly wrong with music. It used to be that the most talented musicians were the ones who became successful.
Then, records came along, and with them, the companies that made money off them. Then the companies made more and more money. These companies then merged into behemoths, and suddenly it's not about talent anymore - it's about marketing. The person who fits a certain marketing demographic is the one who gets the record contract, promotion and a quick route to stardom.
The purpose of this is to make money, and indeed it does work for the record companies quite well. As a result, it does a fine job of making sure that no innovative or interesting music will come along for people to listen to.
The record companies have a good thing going with their current system, so why would they change it? Why would they want to take a chance with an artist that doesn't fit in their current marketing scheme?
Basically, unless you are a top-selling artist, you don't get any attention from the record companies. And forget about independent labels. It's near impossible to compete with the distribution and promotion juggernauts of the bigger companies. Success, moreover, does not lie in the Internet either - just witness the whole "kill that evil, evil Napster" kick that these companies have been on.
No, in order to stem the tide of manufactured pop acts and saccharine, teeny-bop music, the solution must come from elsewhere.
As such, the next Jimi Hendrix, the next Beatles or the next Devo will be overlooked in favor of the next boy band or girl with bouncing breasts. The record companies are going to continue to put out records whose appeal is not artistry, but marketability for the time being.
What then is the solution? Abduct the record company executives, take them out to the desert and then execute them, Tarantino-style, with razor blades and some music by Stealer's Wheel playing in the background?
Perhaps not. A better and less messy solution would be for people to just tell others how they feel about music being reduced to pure marketing. Let them know you gave up listening to the radio because it was all the same crap. Let your friends know about new and interesting music you happen to come across. Don't buy the bad music.
It can make a difference. The scourge of disco was put down at the end of the '70s because people resisted and said "Disco Sucks!" Of course, it sneaked back in the '90s, but it was never as popular or as prevalent as it was at its height.
So, if people work together and fight, Britney will never "do it again."
