Lack of Musical Talent Crazy

[erpowers]

I was listening to a sample of Miley Cyrus this morning because the Today Show is having a concert with her tomorrow and they played a little of her music in order to remind people about the concert. In my opinion she is not that great of a singer. I just think it is so sad that so many of the current singers are not that talented. So what happened to all the talent?

[bigwillq]

1. No, she's not a great singer.

I do like some of her songs though. She's just another one of those marketing successes. Well, her show is pretty popular but if she wasn't on the show she probably wouldn't have a music career or the following that she has.

I kind of like her though.

[terrya]

3. Just like the Jonas Brothers

I was watching them on some show and...I can see how some 14 year old girls would think they're cute. But that's about it.

They're nothing more than generic, marketed performers. Like "American Idol", but without any discernable talent.

[bigwillq]

5. I hear so much about the Jonas Brothers

but I can't think of a single song they sing. :shrug: They're coming to CT this weekend

[MilesColtrane]

2. The talent singers/musicians are still out there.

We just never see them because they aren't signed to major labels.

If they can afford to record their own music, they don't have the money to get it in front of a wide audience.

[mikeytherat]

4. Word. There are a million tiny clubs in New York, Chicago, etc.

where unbelievably talented musicians slave away for peanuts. As a bassist, I cannot tell you how many times I've exited one of these clubs wanting to throw away all my gear, as the bassist I just saw is on such a higher plane than me musically. I rarely get the same feeling observing most "popular" artists.

mikey_the_rat

[LynneSin]

6. She's a disney personality - like Britney and Lindsey

and you know how well those 2 turned out

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. Talent is irrelevant - what is important is boobs, lips, and hip shaking (for women)

or being cute and sexually ambiguous or safe (for the men).

Record companies don't give a shit about talent or musical ability - that can all be fixed up in editing with the magic of computers and effects and whatnot.

All the record companies care about is "does this person have the look we're going for?"

Which is hilarious - in a cosmos destroying way - when you think about it, people judging a person's musical ability based on their face and ass.

But that's what the vast majority of people do.

And then the talent gets shoved aside and are forced to go independent.

[johnnie]

8. And that philosophy has been around forever

Fabian, Ricky Nelson, Nancy Sinatra and on and on. Major record companies are there to make money as is most companies that want to stay in business.

You can go back to the early days of records and find just as many prop stars as you do today. It's just that it is human nature to romanticize the yesteryears of old. Where is all that great talent of The Village People, Frankie Avalone, Bobby Sherman, Chubby Checker, The Defrancos, Leif Garrett, The Bay City Rollers, Slade......

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. Yes, it's been around a long time - but it used to co-exist with "Let's give this a try"

Now the record companies won't experiment like they used to do with odd music, new and different, and so forth.

So, yeah, there's always been the visual-product-passed-off-as-music, but there used to also be "We don't know what the hell this is - let's put it out and see if it sells".

In the current market, there is no way the Beatles, the Stones, Pink Floyd, Yes, Jefferson Airplane, the Doors, Zappa, or any of the great bands would ever have gotten a contract.

[johnnie]

10. It's the same in some ways

For an example, The Beatles were turned down by every record company and finally they got accepted by George Martin who mainly did comedy records and released them on a very small label at the time. The Stones were signed because The Beatles were making money by that time.

Zappa had to start out on the Verve label which was part of MGM, but it wasn't a major label. I think he then eventually started Zapple to put out records later on.

The Doors were on Electra and that was another pretty small label although they had a few good artists.

The thing is, there are very little small labels these days with any money to support the promotion of unknown bands and there are only a few major labels and they are basically Sony.

Personally, I love the state of the music industry these days. You can get tons of shit you could never get before. A few hours of surfing MySpace will turn up a shitload of great music that hasn't been fucked up by "major labels" Bands get to promote themselves and d what they want.

Pop music is what it has always been, but the access to "alternative" music is 1,000 times better than it was just 15 years ago. I think this is just the beginning of what will turn out to be a very good thing. I wish this shit was around in my "prime" of playing music.

The record industry as it was has self imploded and that makes me happy. The thing I wonder though is how many people who bitch about "the music today" actually take time to find good music and support it? I think too many people are still in the state of mind that they expect the big media people to sell them the music they like and tell them what to buy.

[Chovexani]

12. True. MTV exacerbated things, though.

Record companies aren't even pretending to look for talented artists anymore, they're just looking for people they can make into "brands".

And there's a legion of hacks who are all too willing to indulge them as long as those checks keep coming.

[DarkTirade]

13. Hell, if the money was good enough I'd probably consider selling out like that...

then halfway through the first tour, go nuts and leave the band in a big uproar to make sure that people would be interested to see what I'd do next. Then I'd do my own thing. :P

[Deja Q]

14. Hey, you forgot Mama Cass Elliott!

:cry:

[MrScorpio]

11. There's a good reason why I promote Underground music

Because, that is where the talent is

[aquaman]

15. There is a ton of talent out there.....

Just don't expect to see/hear it on the today show.