How are things, guys? I hope you're all having a nice week. I've had the idea to write a post like this one for ages but today I found a little spark of inspiration to sit down and type this (always a nice feeling). So, without further ado, let's talk about people, music and their ideas of ownership.
The little spark of inspiration came from scrolling through the comments on a YouTube video. I like to consume my music in various ways - I like listening to CDs and I like watching music videos, sometimes on MTV, and sometimes, when I want to listen to something particular or new, I like using YouTube. The majority of the videos in my YouTube history and recomendations are music related.
Today I clicked onto Sam Tsui's channel - if you're not subscribed then oh my goodness, go and listen to his amazing mashups please - and saw a cover of 'Stressed Out' by Twenty One Pilots. I decided to watch it because I really like Twenty One Pilots and I love Sam's covers. And, as I often do, I had a little scroll through the comments while I was listening.
It was in the comments sections that I saw things like, and I am paraphrasing here, "It's weird that this song has become mainstream" and "I miss when I could say Twenty One Pilots and no one knew who they were". This kind of thing bothers me.
I understand it, I really do. As someone who listens to and loves indie music and as someone who likes to hunt out new bands and music, I understand that sense of "wait, what?" when you first hear some of those acts being played on the radio. But my "wait, what?" is out of excitement. I want the bands and singers that I love to be able to continue making music and that is made a whole lot easier by more radio play. When I listen to things, especially new bands, its likely that I'll share their songs with at least one person, but if it don't then that isn't because I want to hold an exclusive listening right to them. It's because I listen to a lot of music and I might forget or I mightn't know anyone that I think would particularly love it.
However, it isn't necessarily those people or those comments that bother me, so much as the comments such as, and I quote, "...they're not ours anymore...". Excuse me, what? They were never yours. But I find this happens all the time. People think that because they own the albums, know the words to the songs, maybe because they've seen a gig or two, that the music and the artist is theirs. What people seem to fail to grasp, is that they own the songs and the CDs and the gig tickets and the merchandise. They don't own the people. They might feel connected to their favourite musicians - I certainly do - but that doesn't mean that they are yours and yours alone to keep in a little bubble of 'lesser-known-ness'.
These people are ultimately trying to make a living. They love what they do and they love the people that support them and they are lucky to have such great opportunities but they have bills to pay. They want to be able, as I think many of us do, to be able to make a career out of what they love doing and you can't make a career if your fans are trapping you inside a little bubble of 'lesser-known-ness'.
I remember when The Arctic Monkeys released 'AM' a few years ago and people kept telling me how long they'd been listening to The Arctic Monkeys and how they had specifically been the ones to get me into their music and so on and so forth. Some people treated the new album and the band like a book they were letting me borrow - like it was theirs and they'd want it back when I was done, like they'd have bought the sequel before me. Here's the thing though, I'm a huge Arctics fan, I like so many of their songs. I'm an Alex Turner fan, for that matter - his soundtrack for Submarine was just incredible. But they are not 'my' band as they are not anyone's band, no matter how they feel about it, and I wouldn't want it to be like that.
A song by Circa Waves was featured in a TV advert last year. I think it was 'My Love' but I only saw it a few times so I couldn't be sure. And when I first saw it, I was a felt a little bit weird - but not because 'my music' was going to end up in the 'mainstream', just because I wanted more for them than advert music. That's a different thing.
I love feeling like I'm in on the start of something great or I'm in a little club of people who also own all three albums and dance around their house to the songs I like best. But at the same time, I like to see artists grow. I like the micro-communities that bands and singers are capable of forming. And most of all, I'm in it for the music. It doesn't matter to me whether things are cool or mainstream or new or old. It matters to me that I enjoy the songs, that the guitars are played well, that the violins are in tune and that whoever is singing has a voice I love.
And with that, I'm off to listen to some Van Morrison. And you can too, if you so wish, I don't mind sharing.
Thank you for reading this post, I know its a bit different but hopefully you enjoyed it.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you agree with me or do you think I'm way off base? Do you have any music recomendations for me? Lets all discuss this stuff in the comments below.
Speak soon, my lovelies.
Go forth and listen to your favourite songs!
GingerSnaps xxx
