Getting back to what it's about - music cannot be bought
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Artist:
My recent post on the whole Radiohead discussion really resulted in some interested comments. Thanks, folks!
Articles on the band's decision have also made it to the Danish newspapers, obviously, and so far critics of Radiohead have been quoted for good measure ("fair and balanced"), but a sympathy for the band - and not the business - has been at the core of every piece I've read so far.
I guess most people are sick of the business, its ridiculous witchhunts and its clawing to an antiquated business model. No one likes a sore loser. The biz dug its own hole.
Anyways, not very nice to kick someone who's already down, so on we go...
I was watching a program from those Lonely Planet folks today (a part of the series called "6 Degrees", I believe). The enthusiastic traveller Toby was in Havana. Obviously he had to check out some of the local music. The young stuff, though, not Buena Vista Social Club.
So what does this have to do with Radiohead? I don't mean to make this a discussion of capitalism vs. communism. And I don't mean to sound like a hippie or something (but I might).
In the program we saw bands playing. For the heck of it, I suppose. And one of the musicians said:
Music cannot be bought
Music needs to be appreciated
Music needs to be done with the heart
Music is sacret
Yeah, as simple as that. And it sounded natural coming from a person in that environment. But the fact that he needed to state it means he knew about the big machinery that has a negative effect on music.
A utopian thought? Well, these guys were doing it. Right there on the film. There was no commercial machine around them dictating anything.
How naive that might sound to ears from this part of the world I felt it really hit the nail on the head.
If you look at man's total length of musical history then for how long has music been a product, something you paid for? Only a fraction (the most of the 20th century). Sure, musicians through time got money for their services, but bare with me.
Radiohead's step - and whoever "smaller" acts who have tried the same before them - has given us a chance to really reflect on music as a whole.
In western society we have been used to the fact that everything costs money (even love, some might argue?). Capitalism indoctrination, the left-wing conspiracy theorist might say. Society's evolution, others might say. Whatever it may be we have now been given a wake up call. Let's take this moment, pause, and think about what music really is.
Communication, I guess. On a non-verbal emotional level that resonates in all human beings no matter what colour and creed.
And now I really start to sound like a hippie, he-he. But what the hell, let's let that well-meaning lil' bugger inside come out and stomp on the cigar of Mr. Money for a little while... and get back to what it's all about. The music. Free of commerce. Free of society's norms which we have for so long accepted as "just they way things are".
Okay, I'll tumble a bit more with this thought on my own. It's a nice feeling. There are some interesting perspectives. Got some funny ideas how musicians could work in the future.
Man, I gotta go to Havana, he-he.
Articles on the band's decision have also made it to the Danish newspapers, obviously, and so far critics of Radiohead have been quoted for good measure ("fair and balanced"), but a sympathy for the band - and not the business - has been at the core of every piece I've read so far.
I guess most people are sick of the business, its ridiculous witchhunts and its clawing to an antiquated business model. No one likes a sore loser. The biz dug its own hole.
Anyways, not very nice to kick someone who's already down, so on we go...
I was watching a program from those Lonely Planet folks today (a part of the series called "6 Degrees", I believe). The enthusiastic traveller Toby was in Havana. Obviously he had to check out some of the local music. The young stuff, though, not Buena Vista Social Club.
So what does this have to do with Radiohead? I don't mean to make this a discussion of capitalism vs. communism. And I don't mean to sound like a hippie or something (but I might).
In the program we saw bands playing. For the heck of it, I suppose. And one of the musicians said:
Music cannot be bought
Music needs to be appreciated
Music needs to be done with the heart
Music is sacret
Yeah, as simple as that. And it sounded natural coming from a person in that environment. But the fact that he needed to state it means he knew about the big machinery that has a negative effect on music.
A utopian thought? Well, these guys were doing it. Right there on the film. There was no commercial machine around them dictating anything.
How naive that might sound to ears from this part of the world I felt it really hit the nail on the head.
If you look at man's total length of musical history then for how long has music been a product, something you paid for? Only a fraction (the most of the 20th century). Sure, musicians through time got money for their services, but bare with me.
Radiohead's step - and whoever "smaller" acts who have tried the same before them - has given us a chance to really reflect on music as a whole.
In western society we have been used to the fact that everything costs money (even love, some might argue?). Capitalism indoctrination, the left-wing conspiracy theorist might say. Society's evolution, others might say. Whatever it may be we have now been given a wake up call. Let's take this moment, pause, and think about what music really is.
Communication, I guess. On a non-verbal emotional level that resonates in all human beings no matter what colour and creed.
And now I really start to sound like a hippie, he-he. But what the hell, let's let that well-meaning lil' bugger inside come out and stomp on the cigar of Mr. Money for a little while... and get back to what it's all about. The music. Free of commerce. Free of society's norms which we have for so long accepted as "just they way things are".
Okay, I'll tumble a bit more with this thought on my own. It's a nice feeling. There are some interesting perspectives. Got some funny ideas how musicians could work in the future.
Man, I gotta go to Havana, he-he.
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