Randy said, Again the Eminem question comes back to the media, in this case
MTV, who, seemingly contrary to their political orientation, promoted the
hell out of his last record, giving his videos heavy rotation out of
proportion to his stature at the time, and in fact increasing his
stature and sales considerably.
Absolutely. What bothers me is not Eminem & his creativity but those behind
his promotions. Seeing Eminem & hearing him live for the first time, my
intial impression is that I can understand how kids are intrigued by him- it
s white kid rap, easier to understand & it is very hooky.
I was digusted, yet not suprised, by the speech given by the pres of the
grammy org & his attempt to justify freedom of artistic expression saying
that music is a reflection of the times & certain lifestyles that many of us
would otherwise not be aware of (cant remember his exact words but this is
what I heard him saying).
He missed 50% of what music is, as it is both a reflection & an influence on
our thought & our culture. To believe otherwise is to conveniently abdicate
any responsibility for what you are putting out. In my opinion this whole
issue concerning artistic freedom is only sidetracking what I believe to be
the real issue which is SO NOT about censorship. It is about who & what the
record company chooses to promote and why. Promotion equals sales. Targeting
young kids with stuff that is age-inappropriate because it will sell.
Watching the grammys this year, I came away with the feeling that it was a
reflection of the most boring & uninteresting era of music I have ever
experienced. So boring that this big Eminem & Elton controversy was the
biggest thing out there & it wasnt even about the music anymore. Many of
the presenters were tv sitcom characters (on CBS?)& made the whole event to
be more of a marketing plan than a true reflection of the world of music.
How sad. Sad because there is so much incredible music out there! Where it
really hit me was Song of the Year which is my favorite category. As much as
I haved loved some of U2s songs, the song they won with was so average at
best. To be fair, I havent heard the whole record yet, but I hear it is
good...
Maybe this is all hitting me because I just spent a weekend surrounded by
some of the most incredible music & songwriters I have ever experienced in
one place. More about that later but to me watching the grammys after
experiencing what to me felt like the heart & soul of the music world, was
like going back to watching a b&w tv after seeing a movie in color.
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Kate Bennett
sponsored by Polysonics www.polysonics.com
hear the music at:
www.taylorguitars.com/artists/awp/indies/
www.katebennett.com
www.cdbaby.com/katebennett
www.amazon.com
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