Re: OT: why musicians can't eat -- and why radio is so bad

[roberto <roberto@nomade.worldonline.co.uk>]

> on 24/7/01 9:02 PM, Liebig, Steuart A. at Steuart.Liebig@maritz.com 
>wrote:
> 
> 
> i was discussing this sort of thing last night with a friend. people 
>have to
> *want* to search out the "good stuff"  - - and i'm not convinced that 
>anybody
> wants to search out anything unless it's the color of their next car.
That sounds very sad and it's certainly true for many people. But why is
that so? Most people don't "know" there is something else and they have
never been shown how to look for something different. This applies to
everything obviously, not music in particular, and it's not even a matter 
of
good or bad stuff. They have been told all along, by family, school and
society, that "different" is bad or at least dangerous. We can't be
patronising with those whose only interest seem to be the colour of their
next car, if anything, if we really believe it is important and we care for
this "other" people, we can try to show them something different and hope
that a seed of curiosity will make them look for something else.
> 
> besides, maybe the are listening to the "good stuff" - - maybe we all 
>need to
> get over ourselves. or maybe there have always been people who listen to 
>music
> as "entertainment" and those who listen to it as "art."
Should we really draw a sharp line between music for entertainment or art?
What about music for ritual, music for self expression, for conveying
messages or just for plain fun? Can't music be all these and more without
class distinction? This list seems to me a good example of a bunch of
assorted people who share a common interest but are at the same time open
minded and non-sectarian, wouldn't everything be simpler if this attitude
was "normal"?!
 
> others wrote: 
>> I have faith that people can make their own choices.
> interesting comment, given that there're already **all** kindsa myriad
> avenues lined/caked/soaked w/'good' music (-that which is outside the
> 'mainstream'-) that folks do not seem inclined to 'seek out'.
Again, most people only want what they have been told they should want. The
whole system, particularly in the industrial west, would collapse if people
were able to make individual choices and seek what suit them best. Weather
we like it or not this is a reality and we have to find our way to live
within it and make what we can with it - or drop out completely.
> eh? 
> to some degree: 
> people chose milosevic. people chose hitler. people chose jim jones. 
>people
> chose, well..... you probably follow my line (via these rather extreme
> examples) by now.
Without the extremes, most people choose to forgo their aspirations and 
lead
a life of duty and dissatisfaction. It takes courage to be an individual.
I am reading a fascinating book by the philosopher Elias Canetti "Crowds 
and
Power" on the psychology of mass behaviour. It is frightening and
illuminating at the same time to see how, all along human history, people
have repeatedly chosen the various Milosevics and Hitlers and what lies
behind these choices.

Roberto

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