Is it Good, or is it Just Cool?

I’ve always kind of wondered why people like the things we do. Other than genetic disposition, or even how we were raised, questions like “How the hell did _____ become so popular? They’re not even that good!” come up all to often in my mind. Through this last week or two, I think I’ve found an answer.

I finally got to reading Donald Miller’s “Blue Like Jazz” last month (and I really liked it, btw) and he talks about this issue (I can’t remember which chapter). Also, out of the blue, Andrew Wasson (he’s an amazing guitar teacher on youtube, check him out) talked about the same thing in a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmZQ2fnXU1o&playnext_from=TL&videos=_ZLdseiz-Ao).

I feel that people today (especially children and teens) have no musical frame of reference, nor musical taste. They buy albums because they are told by society that it is ‘cool’. And us as humans, who have an innate need to be liked/loved will buy said album to connect with other people whether the music they bought is good music or not.

The big culprits I feel are pop and rap “artists”. Most of them don’t write their own songs, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but many of them are cut & paste songs that their producers make for them, and are generically bland. Then the record company takes these bland songs and puts them on the market, and they know exactly who to market it to: Children and Teenagers. These age groups have not fully developed their musical tastes yet, and their musical frame of reference is defined by what their family and friends listen to, not necessarily what they like yet. This is how (I think) people like Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, Ke$ha, Owl City, and Lady Gaga (I could go on) got so popular.

Really, what Adam Young a.k.a. Owl City does to “write music”, an 8 year old with a Mac can do in Garage Band. His most popular song (Fireflies) wasn’t even written solely by him, Matt Theissen of Relient K had to help him (who you should check out!). Speaking of Owl City, you should watch this YouTube video about them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyasBBoQqCA

I urge musicians out there to strive to make music that is both good AND cool, so that us as listeners will be happy, and they’ll be happy when they’re making a lot of money (which seems to be a driving force in the music industry, not making a quality product that people will enjoy, but a piece of crap that will make them millions). I also urge us listeners to think before they buy! Don’t buy music just because ‘everyone else’ likes it, or that it will make you cool if you listen to so-and-so. Listen to samples first and decide for yourself “Do I like this? Would I listen to it again? Does the message of the song fit in with my world view?”. You should like a song because you like it, not because you think they’re good looking or because the coolest person in school likes them. Shoot, there are a lot of ugly musicians who are really good (AC/DC and The Rolling Stones for example).

There’s my two cents for the day… I’ll stop now. ;)