Anyway, I have been thinking a lot recently about music and how it means different things to different people. I look at the charts now or the music channels on TV and a lot of the time I literally have no idea who these singers are. Am I out of touch or has music just become a machine with an ongoing production line of newbies that come and go and often as you change your socks?
I have always been a big believer in liking what you like. It's quite rare for me to be suckered into liking some new band just because everyone else does. That's just not me. I think Genesis said it best with "I know what I like, and I like what I know". To be fair they then talked about being in a wardrobe so it's not quite 100%, but you get the idea... You just need to look at my CD collection to know that I don't dabble with the 'in crowd' of music. Yes, I have a Coldplay CD, but I've listened to it once and it was cheap, ok??!! My collection probably can't really be defined as it contains all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff from soft rock to jazz to classical to everything in between. My lifelong love of music contains all eras, genres and mediums.
What I've been thinking about lately is the whole manufacturing of music debate. I've never watched the X Factor, but I get the idea that its meant to be about finding talent. We seem to be inundated with these shows in the UK and as one ends, another one starts. How much more hidden talent can there be? I was more impressed with the premise of The Voice as I think that's what it should be about. You just hear the voice and that's it, its not whether you look good and have brilliant white teeth. I have to say I've never watched it though as the people judging are not what I would necessarily call music experts (with the exception of Tom Jones of course who does know a few things). These kind of shows lose it for me though as they are never really about the talent. It's all about marketing, how can this person be sold to the public, who will love them and buy their records whether they are actually any good or not. For me, Will Young and a few of the American Idol winners were the best talent to emerge from a TV show as they can actually sing. I don't think I can name anyone else who came from a TV show really (apart from the ones causing controversy on social media) so you could say that this sums it all up.
I might not know everything about the music industry and I'm certainly not Mr Cowell, but I can usually hear whether someone has a good voice or not. I can't stand singers who don't breathe properly when they sing and all you can hear between each line of a song is a massive intake of breath as they haven't been trained to use their voice properly. Please don't sing those types of songs if you don't have the voice for it as listening to someone straining their vocal chords is just not entertaining. Big songs need big voices, fact. I can't sing myself (although I think I sound amazing in my own head) so perhaps I shouldn't really be commenting on people that put themselves out there, but that's the point. They are in the public eye for whatever reason so if you are brave enough to go for it, make sure you are good enough. There seems to be far too many second rate musicians and singers around now and I have no idea how they have got that far if they are no good.
The boy bands of recent years are a sight to behold. Constructed mainly because of their looks rather than their talent, it's not easy to listen to. I gave it a try not long ago and started to listen to a current band who shall remain nameless to see what all the fuss was about. The intro was good, nice build up and then the lead singer opened his mouth. I cannot describe what I heard, but it certainly wasn't singing. It was terrible and left me with little doubt that this band are probably only popular because of their looks and not for their musical talent. To be fair, I am probably not meant to get the boy bands of now as I am somewhat of an old fart so I'm not really the target audience. Still, it would be nice to hear something good though.
For me it has to be the whole package. A singer or band has to write their own songs (music and lyrics), play all their own instruments and sing. If they produce it aswell, well good on them. A simple formula which many people don't go for. My all time favourite bands do follow this path and yet some of them are still not as popular as they should be. Crowded House is a prime example. They do all of the above (to a very high standard) and yet are still not considered to be a top band. I just don't get it. And yet on the other side of the coin you have some artists who have people to write for them, but they are considered to be top rated. Songwriting is a talent, I do get it, and some partnerships over the years have consisted of both a singer and a songwriter which is fine as there is still a lot of talent there. What I can't stand is some manufactured person who can't actually do anything at all except look pretty. Although saying that I did read on Twitter recently something that Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy said in response to the question of singers who aren't talented having fans because they're attractive. His response was that most singers who have fans have at least some talent as nobody coasts in the music business. An interesting point of view from someone on that side of the fence.
With the age on online music there is no longer a need for someone to sell huge amounts of copies of their singles to chart anymore. The days of the weekly chart based on people buying a cassette or CD single have long since gone. This is why we now get all sorts of strangeness as top sellers. I still possess some CD singles and I used to like buying them as you could get some good rarities on the 'B side' which were not available anywhere else. Alas, the times they are a changing and you now need to be into downloading MP3s or using Spotify to keep up now. I am not exactly a dinosaur to this regard as I do download things I can't buy, but I still love the feel of the physical CD in my hands and knowing that it's mine and I can read the booklet whenever I want by taking it off the shelf rather than booting up my laptop. When the times do finally change completely I will be on board, but I think I've got a while to go yet.
So what's the answer? Is music manufactured or are there people with real talent out there? I think it's a mix of both. We have the youngsters or those from the talent shows who are marketed to sell their music to the deemed population and then there's those very talented musicians who sometimes get overlooked. It's very much each to their own with music, but what I would say is don't feel that you need to follow the crowd and listen to whatever is in the charts if you don't like it. Choose your own path and enjoy what you like. Be original and you may find that you discover a whole load of new and exciting music that you never knew was out there. I do on a regular basis, and nothing beats it!
