Quote from Maverick74:
It's really sad to see young black kids with no food and no clothes spending their last dime on the latest rap cd only to see the guy that made that cd driving around in a 200k Mercedes and seeing the 10 million dollar pad he lives in on the MTV show Cribs. It's pathetic. These people are making so much money at the expense of the very people who are willing to support their artistic endeavors. I don't feel sorry for them for one second. This is going to be a real wake up call for that industry. And I couldn't be happier.
I don't have anything against the few artists who do make it big and spend their money on whatever they want. However, the MTV videos, music, etc. has created a false impression in most people's eyes that [band cuts album = they make a lot of money].
Very few bands ever make it to that level. I wouldn't call Britney Spears a musician anymore than I'd call a baseball a musical instrument. She is an entertainer -- not a musician. She is a pretty face to put on top of some basic tried-and-true rhythms and that is precisely what the record companies love -- exposure and brand recognition.
What incentive does a record label have in spending millions of dollars to promote new artists when they can keep funneling in money for people like Christina, Britney and Madonna? These big name artists like Tupac, Nelly, etc. are great for record companies because the music doesn't matter as much because there is already such a large loyal audience for these "entertainers" that good quality music isn't a top priority.
If you look at albums from the past like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, etc. -- these "artists" produced high quality and original music that was enjoyable to listen to. The music was more introspective, whereas today music is more of an association with other things (bling bling, gold chains, fancy cars, hot women, etc). This is why you see a lot of people playing the same RAP albums in their cars with the speakers turned way up and the windows down.
Not all bands are going down that road, but the one's that don't have to suffer the whims from the financial agreements they make with the record labels. Whereas Britney could walk into Columbia and say, "I want this, this and that" and they give it to her without much negotiating. However, a new artist that really does make music will have to get some type of shitty retainer deal and wind up paying the record company back for the money they front to the new artist. A lot of musicians have been driven into bankruptcy from this while the record labels are pumping their cash cows for all they are worth and spitting on a lot of the really good musicians.
