Showing posts with label Media Has Commercial Implications. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Media Has Commercial Implications. Show all posts

Monday, June 13, 2011

The Classics.

When I was younger the only music I ever listened to besides Barney was classic rock. Ever since then, I've been in love with the oldies. I would go for a nap and when I woke up would be in my dad's arms and he'd be slowly dancing to the song "Like a Rock" by Bob Seger.


That song has become such an inspiration to me, I listen to it whenever I feel sad, angry, depressed any emotion besides happy; I listen to it and I instantly feel better. Just like the Doobie Brother's state "music is the doctor, makes you feel like you want to."


These days, pretty much all of the mainstream music is about drugs, alcohol, money, girls and sex. Yes, some oldies are about all of those things too but they are presented in a more classy way, unlike...


or


It's like the famous female singers have no class, especially compared to Stevie Nicks.


I don't just love the oldies but I do also love some mainstream music, mostly only if it has some meaning behind it. That's what I think all good music has, a meaning.

Friday, May 27, 2011

It's All for Show

Remember the good old days?
I sure don't, Im way to young to remember the days when there was real simple and pure musicians.

Nowadays singers, musicians, bands, all seem to be concerned with their image and it seems there's so much fluff surrounded with mainstream music now.

What ever happened to the day when somebody just sat up on stage with their guitar and sang their heart out?
Let me tell you one thing, Kesha wouldn't be able to capture people's interest just sitting their singing her songs without all her costumes, props, auto-tune, and dancing.

Compare to 2011 to any year during the 60's ot 70's.
Who was popular then? Bob Dylan. The Rolling Stones. Jimi Hendrix. Janice Joplin. The Specials. Just to name a few.
They were popular for a reason, because of a killer voice and musicality.



Who's popular now? Kesha. Justin Bieber. Brittany Spears. Black Eyed Peas.
Who all seem to be more focused on their image and performance with all of these extra unnecessary things about their sets. If people only focused on their voices without seeing what the singers themselves actually looked like, I doubt they would be as sucessful as they are now.

Now don't get me wrong, Im not ragging on all music created recently, but bands/singers who keep true to their love of music and don't throw in all these attention seeking extras to their image and whatnot never seem to get enough of the deserved attention. Because they don't have that 'it' look or flavour of the month sound?

So all I ask is next time you listen to your ipod, or mp3 or music thingamabob, ask youself why your REALLY listening to the songs you are. Is it because their catchy and everyone is listening to them? Or do they actually have substance and infectious passion from the musicians who make it?

The music industry seems to be going to hell in a handbasket, but the good stuff is far and few between but when you find it, it's priceless.

Here's a few songs I feel still have that put your heart into it, attitude I find infectious. Even though they might not get the biggest coverage, that doesn't take away from how good their songs are.

Wagon Wheel - Against Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUtdoyPG0OY

Beauty In The Breakdown - The Scene Aesthetic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoFsshDfE0k

Rabbit Hole - Comanechi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaEBlFwgRVo

If It Means A Lot To You - A Day To Remember
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzq1Kmu7Xmg

It's Only Wednesday - Crash Kings

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Who's message is it anyway?


Have you ever felt like a walking billboard?

You might be thinking, "um... what?"


Have you ever noticed how many advertisements surround you on a daily basis? Take a moment to look up from your computer screen, look around the room, are you


at home in your room with posters on the walls, at school with your bag on your desk and you're staring out the window or even just look down at your t-shirt.





Is there a logo or symbol of some sort?





I bet there is.





We no longer seem to care if we are being used by a company to sell their product for them. How often do you look around on your way through the halls at school and notice a brand name sprawled across someone's chest?


Which one's do you notice the most?


Do they look different...










Or the same?





The part that is really amazing is how often products are the same, the only difference is the brand name, whether it is aero postale, abercromie or holister people go out of their way to purchase clothes that look the same as the next the clothes at the next store over.





It is as if people are settling for a brand name instead of choosing to create a personal style. It is everywhere, on your t-shirts, on your jeans, even on your bags. Have you noticed your shopping bags lately, the new reusable bags with large spread logos as an upgrade from a regular plastic bag with the logo in giant letters. It is even on your pants, mainly women's pants with giant labels across the booty of the pants because companies have determined the back side as the most noticed part of the female body, only when you are walking behind them of course. Once you see them from the front the strategy changes to focus on the chest of a person. Does this demonstrate a positive outlook on our bodies? That you only get attention for a few reasons one being what brand you wear and two for what you allow others to see. That isn't a positive image for anyone.





Even the messages on clothing can be taken to the extreme


What does this tell you?


That you're a cool kid when you spend a Friday night at home with a cup of tea and a good book or that you should be out drinking until you can't think straight. Which option sounds more appealing and exciting.





Now think it over a second time, which one will you regret the following day and which will you remember. If you hadn't thought about it a second time, what would you take away from this t-shirt.





Are they all the same answer, for some it might be and for others it may change.





Think about this, is it right for us to be wearing someone else's message; is that any different from putting on a mask.





You be the judge, but judge carefully.