Δευτέρα 19 Ιανουαρίου 2015

Downsizing rock n' roll: the music industry

The Make-up

Το κείμενο που ακολουθεί ( στα αγγλικά ) βρίσκεται στα liner notes αυτού του άλμπουμ: http://www.discogs.com/Make-Up-In-Mass-Mind/master/10071
Σούπερ γκρουπ...

Δεν υιοθετώ απαραίτητα όλα όσα θα διαβάσεις.

Since the breaking dawn of the industrial age, the dialectic march toward total alienation of producer/worker from product/work has never ceased, with it's attendand downsizing of skilled labour and the advances of industrial machinery which leaves roles only for interchangeable drones. These industrial trends typically manifest themselves in sqawking class disparity and powerlessness for the workers.

As an industry, the musical one is similar to the others, inventing new forms to encourage endless consumtion and downsizing the labour force, as in paying fewer workers for the work previously performed by many to minimize cost and maximize gain. The music industry uses it's monopoly of the airwaves to control people's taste, as well as their access to music/other exressive forms. This radio medium is tightly controlled by business and it's employee/lapdog, the federal goverment. The music industry determines which music shall prevail on the airwaves and thus, in popularity, typically choosing the form which is cheapest to produce.(...)

One hunderd years ago, the official organ of musical expression was classical/ballet/opera as performed by a symphony orchestra. One of these music factories typically employed some 40 skille workers ( musicians ), each one an essential part fo the whole. This was downsized in the 1920's to the jazz or swing band which was just half the size of the former, bloated institution, and thus economically more viable. Within 20 years this band had pared itself down to less than half it's original size this the Bop band and it's cool and hard bop progeny. Jazz's time as the popular paradigm was cut short however by innovations in electricity, which allowed fewer workers to make more music.(...)

This new music, rock n' roll, was cheap to produce but unpopular, as it was considered novelty music for teenyboppers. Rock n' roll was thus mercilesly pushed on radio and in film, and to ensure record company control over artists ( workers ) an age mythology was introduced, which contrived that players of this music could not be authentic unlees new and young. This capitalist paradigm had been tried and tested in the arenas of dishsoap, appliances and high art particularly with the concept of the avant garde but was honed to perfection with rock n' rool. The industry propagated standards of romantic destitution and drug addiction to discourage demands from the workers ( band members etc ) in this industry (rock n' roll ) for better conditions.

In the 1990's the rock n' roll era was eclipsed by the techno/electronic forms, which reduced the producing work force to just one or two individuals, the apparent apex of the industry's trend towards lower production costs and greater profit margins. In all of the cases here to fore examined, the forms which prevailed were the ones induced on the public through mass hypnosis and total control of the outlets of expression. The writeres and critics would typically comply with the new standards with the flourish of adejectives about the zeitgeist,as they are industry employees...




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