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Intergalactic Church of the Almighty Rod
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5/8/2006 7:02:26 PM
My "Indie" Conundrum
So I got myself to thinking about the "indie revolution" and it led to a lot of questions. People who are considered wise have said to question everything, but I'm not so sure that I like the direction this questioning is leading me. See for yourself.
What is an indie? I guess all sorts of people have different answers to this question, but the one that I adhere to is: "an artist who is unconcerned with formulas and trends, an artist that will fly in the face of convention and create what he wants, how he wants regardless to what the establishment(or anyone else for that matter) thinks of his creation."
What is this revolution I hear so much about? Here is where the riddle truly begins, and it leads to all sorts of questions.
Who is the enemy? I often hear that it's the corporate suits who are the enemy. The Big 4 boogeyman who sets up roadblocks that keep a shitload of artists in the shadows and that the indie movement is Sir Gallahad or Beowulf riding in on a white horse to save us all. Isn't the indie movement kinda guilty of the same thing? Aren't we training ourselves to be concerned with play numbers, good reviews, chart positions, sales, and accolades from people who have some degree of authority within the "scene"? Isn't that the thought process of the "lamestream"? Are we, the supposed free-thinkers, running dangerously close to becoming the enemy ourselves?
Perhaps some of us already have and just refuse to see it. Maybe that's why there is no large scale unity among independents. Perhaps we are all just chasing windmills.
Does the indie movement have "stars"? You bet your sweet ass it does. But aren't these stars manufactured? Sure they are. It's a fascinating thing to watch. I can't help but to wonder how much of these folks popularity is based on people thinking for themselves and how much of it is people just going with the "in" crowd.
When the rebellion becomes the establishment, are you still a rebel? This is probably my biggest concern. As I mentioned earlier there are a lot of similarities between the "indie revolution" and mainstream pop culture. Does this mean that in the end the "revolution" will be more of the same?
What about those of us ronin who lend our swords to the revolution even though we don't necessarily agree with everything the generals tell us? Those of us who can't, won't, or just don't conform to the vision of what is "good indie music" that the so-called leaders have. Are we just to be given a medal, a pat on the back and sent back to the shadows while the stars bask in the sun? Why bother fighting at all?
I admit, I'm not a very good soldier, but it's hard to be supportive of anything when all you feel is disillusionment.
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Fade to Black
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5/8/2006 11:03:35 PM
Sure Rev, stars are manufactured in indieland too but not by "the man" or management. They are manufactured by every individual on each of their stations. They are their own program managers. That right there is a cut above walking into any music store and having Jessica or Britney full size posters and CD's forced on you everywhere you turn. Never in the history of media has the corporate monster tried so hard to tell and sell all of us morons what is great, be it movie,TV,radio, or recording industry. In days gone by these mediums quickly acted on the responses by the masses to an individual or a trend ,etc., when they saw it was a hot commodity. Jump ahead to today. They want to tell us what we need to be entertained ahead of time by trying to create perfect packages thru the modern smoke and mirrors of technology. Butt -tuck, breast implants, rhinoplasty, dance lessons and , well, screw the voice, we'll use an autotuner. And it's not just the girls. The new male stars with their pectoral and calf implants and autotuners too. What in the hell is going on? And we'll assault the public with these atrocities until they weaken and finally come to realize a star is born. A star will, in fact, have to be born of this because we have way too much money invested at this point! That's just so wrong! Screw that! There's got to be a better way than supporting that crap!
Indieland has it's flaws and weaknesses. I wouldn't deny that for a second. So what if good music to you ain't good music to me? That's just taste. Doesn't make either of us any more right. Doesn't make either of us any less a soldier. We both know we don't want to listen to the synthesized, narrow, generic product that spews from radios these days. No matter what the common denominator may be in all of this, we are all here at least to some small extent because we know it ain't working for us out there be it artist or listener! And the fact the recording industries are losing between five and eight percent a year in sales, well, my math tells me time ain't on their side if they keep forcefeeding us crap!
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Intergalactic Church of the Almighty Rod
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5/9/2006 12:39:51 AM
Thanks for your thoughts bro. Just trying to get the pilot light relit, can't breathe fire without it. :)
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Intergalactic Church of the Almighty Rod
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5/9/2006 8:39:45 AM
Right on Larree. I see what you are saying.
I suppose by our definition the "not caring" bit really applies only to the haters. I love my fans(all 12 of 'em). :)
If I stick to my guns, yeah I might still be hoofin' it to 7-11 to buy my smokes, but I'll still be doing shit the way I think shit should be done.
The boogeyman only eats what he can see.
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6/15/2006 6:20:06 PM
Keep in mind that corporate America currently ignores "Indie" because there isn't money in it. As soon as somebody proves there's money there and it becomes hip, corporations will be all over the "Indie" movement. For example, if the key to success of an album sales was success on Indie websites, how long do you think it would take Sony to hire 1500 high school dropouts to go vote for Sony artists that they want to push? What's the difference between this and paying station managers to play their songs on the air. So today we say that Indie is all about making music free from the BS and the corporate culture, freedom to be unique and not worry about formulas. But you are correct in your concerns that this could become the status quo someday and then things change. Record companies will always be in business to sell as many albums as possible while reducing their cost. That won't change with the Indie movement. All we can hope for is a chance to compete and get heard. But maybe all we get is the chance to be heard after all.
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