Music Talent Shows Are Destroying Music

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   frantisek78posted 11 years ago

   American Idol, The X Factor and The Voice have cheapened music to a great degree. Instead of trying to form bands and make music they care about, singers and musicians try to get onto one of these shows in the hopes of "making it big" all of sudden and having the corrupt music industry throw money at them.
   No one on these shows says they want to win the competition in order to carry out their musical vision. Instead almost all of them say they want to help their families (ie. just make money). This is why after these competitions the vast majority of them disappear, or they come out with one or two very weak albums whose themes and styles are dictated to them by the music label who signs them. These singers are used to make a quick buck by riding on their very momentary "fame" and are then thrown to the side to bring in the next group. They are expendable. This is why music has become so boring over the past few years. Almost all the indie bands, rappers, hip-hop, country etc. "artists" all sound alike.
   Art cannot be centrally dictated by either governments or large corporations which force their ideas down everyone's throats. Until singers and bands decide to do their own vision and come up with something new the quality of music will continue to be very low, interchangeable, and dull.

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   psycheskinnerposted 11 years ago

   Music shows increase interest in music on the part of the general public.  I think this is a good thing.

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      frantisek78posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      On the contrary, I think many people are being turned off music because of these shows. Music has always been popular and there is no need for TV shows to "popularize" music in general. These shows are trying to popularize the styles of music that are produced by the music labels they have contracts with. Year after year and show after show basically use the same repertoire of songs. The general public is not what makes these shows popular, but mostly teenage girls who do the majority of the voting for and buying of the "artists" that come out of these soulless shows.

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         psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         So people are tuning in to watch t by the millions... because they are turned off and hate it?
         
         I'm not seeing it. if you don't like that sort of thing, don't watch it.  It's not hurting anyone.

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            frantisek78posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Well, they might be tuning in to watch it just to criticize it, or just to watch how bad it is. There is nothing wrong with that. Just because people watch something doesn't mean they enjoy it for being "good" necessarily. It's like watching really bad movies for their unintended humor.
            You know, it is OK to watch things we don't really like, and then give an opinion of it. That's what "professional" critics do all the time.

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   Uninvited Writerposted 11 years ago

   Music will survive just fine. After all, if we survived disco we can survive anything
   
   I agree that some of the people being pushed today are not good for the music industry as a whole. But there will always be those who do it the traditional way and work their way up to success rather than thinking the only way to make it is on American Idol or the like.

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   rebekahELLEposted 11 years ago

   The only one I watch now is The Voice.  American Idol lost my interest.  Way too commercial for me.
   The Voice seems to draw more artists with talent, but when America starts voting, it gets a little iffy.
   I have seen some incredible talent on The Voice, and I enjoy watching it .. most of the time.
   
   This particular season, I'm hoping for the soul singer, Nicholas David, to win.  He's the real deal, IMO.

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      frantisek78posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yea, I wouldn't bet too much money on the honesty of "America's votes". Those numbers can be skewed however the producers want. I agree the Nicholas David is the best on The Voice. However, even if he does win it remains to be seen how much he can keep to his own vision without being sucked in by the vision corporate music has for him.

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   Kathryn LJposted 11 years ago

   If your talking about music that makes mega bucks, then sometimes it would seem that popular music is being dumbed down.  But if you step outside your house and go and see live music, you will find talent by the bucket full.  If you can't go out, the internet is full of talent, (and a whole lot of whackos.)  Even the mainstream has some pretty fantastic recording artists.  If bland sells, you get blandness.  Maybe we should all experiment a bit more and make the effort to find the extraordinary talent which is all around us.

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      frantisek78posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, i do mean meg bucks music. Unfortunately many people are too lazy or apathetic to look into other music besides that which is being shoved down their throats. In the end it's up to the individual to find something new instead of blindly following the genres represented in these shows.

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         psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Or maybe they just like it.  With the industry side of music that's how it works.  People spend money on what they like, not on what you think they should like.

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   lovebuglenaposted 11 years ago

   Well, there've been many successful singers from Idol - Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Adam Lambert... to name a few

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      frantisek78posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Those are the exceptions to the rule. Plus, they don't have too much artistic freedom to do whatever they want. They pretty much have to stick to whatever path their labels have assigned them.

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   lovebuglenaposted 11 years ago

   But yeah I agree that a lot of contestants on these shows do say how they are doing it for the money... and that's not a good thing to say, even if that money is so they can live better lives.

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