Many people use music as a means of self-expression; record companies use music as a means to produce revenue. No matter what genre of music is popular, artists can be marketed to fit current trends. Radios will play the same infectious songs hourly, so those songs are constantly on listeners’ minds. Then listeners will purchase the songs simply because the artists are familiar to them. The music industry cares less about artists making quality music, and more about how they can make consumers buy their product.
In the early days of recording, performers were hyperaware of the scrutiny that could arise from their intonation and timing on a record, which was permanent proof of their work. Those musicians had to be confident in their music before committing it to a lasting medium. Today, auto-tune can correct imperfect tuning, and parts of songs can be realigned so that timing is perfect as well, due to the ease of digital recording. By hiding these inconsistencies, average performers can sound just as good as truly talented performers. It is no longer necessary for a group of gifted musicians to collaborate and create a song and practice until they get make it flawless. Many instruments could be eliminated entirely. A keyboard can produce most instrumental sounds, so a single person could create a song just using a computer, which seems like a pretty joyless approach to music.
The mark of an amateur musician is the reliance on technology and concert gimmicks. Record companies can tack a musical career onto any pretty face to draw in fans. Why spend time perfecting pitch when you can gloss over your mistakes with auto-tune? Why bother practicing a song with a band for hours on end, when you can splice the different parts together instead? Why sing live at a concert, when your recording is already perfect? They might not go through the necessary hard work that more senior musicians have done before them. There are new artists that actually produce honest music on actual instruments, and they have the potential to become professionals, but the true amateurs will continuously take shortcuts. If the artists have the look, and technology can supply the talent. Their careers will be short lived. Or, at least, only as long as their record companies are willing to put up with them.
Professional musicians need to have talent to provide them with a stable career. They have to continuously produce quality albums, without the shortcuts. You can only depend on technology to give your music a backbone for so long. These artists take the time to make their records as they envision them: real instruments, real vocal talent. If they’re lucky, they don’t have a label holding them back.
Although modern technology can fix the mistakes of amateur musicians, it is helping music progress in ways we have never seen before. People can develop new sounds and methods that we never would have considered. Independent artists can record and promote their music without signing to a record label. Although plenty of performers do not possess musicianship worth promoting, many talented acts have been discovered over the internet. With more ways to create music than ever before, we are going to have to deal with the no-talent superstars and the ratty garage bands that think they will make it big, but maybe we can find some musicians that are truly gifted. Look at the credits in the CD booklets that no one ever looks at. Does the artist use instruments? Does the artist actually play the instrument themselves, or do they depend on outside help? Then take a good listen to the music itself. Does it sound a little too perfect? Does it sound like a human actually crafted this? And if all else fails, pay attention to the artists who aren’t signed to a big label. They’re more likely to be the real deal.
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