Suiting Up the Music...

The following piece was originally published on the MusicDish Industry e-Journalist last month...


Suiting Up The Music The Industry's Reframing Of Music's Role In Society
By: Polar Levine


Here are a couple of stories we might be reading about soon:

Article 1: Universities all over the globe are folding their music departments into their business and economics departments, mirroring the news departments of TV networks moving into their entertainment divisions. Conservatories and schools like Berklee will soon be bought and folded into the umbrella of larger universities.

Article 2: Archeologists have recently discovered that the development of expression in music and art was intended for the purpose of commerce much like trading animal hides and crockery -- not for the purpose of expressing praise to the spirits or other non-market related activities. Music programs in elementary school will be devoted to image creation and merchandising.

These fictional developments don't seem so far-fetched when we look at the role of music and the arts in America, and increasingly, in the global culture.
Payola has become the only route to mainstream airplay since the 1996 Telecommunications Act led to the Clear Channelling of American radio. Those precious spins have gone only to the highest bidder -- the ever-consolidating record label cartel. This corporate-sanctioned payola has come to light and mega-labels have been hit with less than mega fines. We await the new version of payola that will keep us narcoticized with money music well into the future. Payola has always been a determining factor in radio play, but the more recent extreme consolidation of the industry has elevated the issue beyond a critical mass.

At the other end of the American music world, the meat and potatoes for the vast majority of working musicians is turning into peanut butter and jelly. DJs have replaced live bands for weddings and bar mitzvahs. Occasionally, budget permitting, the canned music is accompanied by a live musician, giving the impression that living organisms are playing Celebration and Hava Nagila. The musicians union in NYC has been protesting in the past few years because pit orchestras for Broadway shows are increasingly being replaced by boxes of 1s and 0s.

This trend got me thinking about "American Idol" and episodes of "The Apprentice" I saw last year that illustrate how in our culture music no longer exists (to the extent that it ever did) in the realm of art and creativity. Rather, it's come to resemble competitive sports and assembly-line piecework -- more about dead presidents than live musicians.


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