FASHION, MUSIC, INVESTMENTS.
The Author of: The Music Industry Killed The Music: I was doing my usual, driving while listening to my "cool out" playlist on my iPod, enjoying music from dynamic artists such as Atlantic Starr, DeBarge, GUY, Exposé, Al. B Sure, Sade, The Jets (chuckle), Hi-Five, Stacy Lattisaw, Anita Baker, Brenda K. Starr, and Ready For The World, to name a very few. As I was listening to this diverse playlist from a variety of artists, I realized that I really miss MUSIC. From the age of 10-21, I had a real love affair with music and was constantly listening to my tapes, CDs and most of the time, my radio. And luckily, I had SO many different artists to choose from. Whether Hip Hop or R&B there were so many songs that were SO different from each other. Black music was thriving.Unfortunately, today I feel like its not just Hip Hop that is Dead, as Nasir Jones has proclaimed, but "Black Music" as a whole. This could be why, according to Billboard and as reported by Yahoo! News, from 2005 to 2006, R&B and Hip Hop suffered the largest decline in sales of any genre of music (18.4% and 20.7%, respectively). Also according to Billboard and as reported by Yahoo! News, since 2000, total album sales have slid 25%, but R&B and Hip Hop are down 41.4% and 44.4%, respectively.Now some people blame illegal downloading…blah blah, blah, but honestly it is my opinion that The Music Industry Killed The Music!Now I'm not trying to recite the typical saying that you hear some old people say "music back in my day was much better than music now." I even hear teens say that they are not really feeling "commercial" music and prefer going on the internet and hear "underground" music…I totally feel this sentiment! There was a time when the industry would actually put a budget toward developing an artist, now it seems like they execute the "throw it against the wall and see what sticks" strategy…they take an artist, do a mediocre record, put no money toward marketing or promotion, put the record out and say "let's see what happens, if the song does well we will put more money toward the project and put it out." BUT what crazy is that they no longer put in the necessary work or money to make the artist a success.The industry has become lazy. These days, if they don't hear a hit record on a damn demo, they wont sign the artist. To me this is backwards (as a matter of fact, its so backwards instead of saying the MUSIC industry, I will now refer to it as the CISUM industry {Continuously Insulting Society Using Music}).The CISUM Industry has become a major disappointment and if the numbers don't prove that the consumers that they say they are catering to are so tired of the same bullshit, then I don't know how else they will get it.Let's go back to a time when a female singer didn't have to look like a model to get a deal-it was all about talent and a good song!Let's go back to a time when Hip Hop songs could have a multitude of topics and Hip Hop artists knew how to flip words.Let's go back to a time when artist development was so dope, you really didn't know Whitney was so ghetto.Let's go back to a time when it wasn't a requirement for you to be under 24 to get a deal.Let's go back to a time where each label wanted to be the first to have the new, different and hot artist instead of trying to put out a carbon copy of what another label already has.Let's go back to a time when you paid top dollar for a concert, you received a top dollar performance…not just and artist walking back & forth on stage with a mic.Let's go back to a time when you didn't have to cross your fingers and hope that when you saw your favorite artist perform live, they could actually sing!I have many friends who are at record labels and they bust their asses every day to try to make a difference in this industry and support truly talent artists. To you I say I know it is out of your control and you do the best you can every day. Keep ya head up, a change is gonna come. And to those with the decision-making power, stop looking at what everyone else is doing, get some balls and go out there and change the game! TF
Metro P feat. Bobby V.Nelly feat. JD and Ciara- Step on my J's***Checkout New Music from BIG GRAND!!!!*** BIG GRAND
too much to name them all.
Driven From Within, Michael Jordan
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