Has New Media Changed the Business of Art

Is it possible that with the advent of new media has the art of creating and making music been lost? With the revolution of the internet and single song purchases, the business of music is even more about business than it ever was and certainly less about art than at any time in recorded history. Where record producers used to proudly produce a project where each line of each song was carefully crafted by wordsmiths, stroked and caressed by passionate musicians, lovingly voiced and re-voiced until the sounds being produced were as close to perfection as humanly possible. A completed project began on-air play prompting fans to go out and buy, buy, buy.

Rabid fans are voraciously following recording projects as they happen, listening to digital tracks on line and then carefully picking and choosing each $.99 to $1.29 track to their own specific tastes. While stores used to be filled from the ceiling to the floor with every kind of music possible, these days the racks are thin. CD’s are pricey and very few of us want to lay down anywhere from $12 to $22 to be disappointed by having only a song or two we really like. In an effort to make up for the increasingly low record sales, record companies are spending millions to find the next 5’11” blonde female or smolderingly sexy blue-eyed brunette wearing bright red lipstick and barely more than a thong. And of course there’s search for the next full-lipped blue eyed shaggy haired boy for the tween set. With the advent of pitch control and digital re-touching, these re-mastered divas don’t even really need to know how to sing. In this world of new media, the emphasis has turned to producing a package in which we can find not only music but the opportunity for selling clothing lines, make-up, spots attire, shoes, and musical instruments as well as whatever else the marketers can come up with to fill their coffers.

I recently listened to an interview with Taylor Swift where she spoke about how a song she was working on was “leaked” to market before it was ready to go. Several million copies of the song were sold in the matter of just a couple of hours and it has been one of her biggest selling songs to date. Was this the best song Swift ever wrote or was it the opportunity for owning a track that was not quite complete, not quite perfect, not quite done? We as human beings enjoy feeling part of the process and this is sort of like grabbing a little cookie dough while mom’s back is turned. Security tightens as these unfinished tracks can be shot out over the internet and hung like a carrot in front of us so tantalizingly close, making us feel so close to the artist. We are voyeurs in our own way.

Music is all about emotion. It’s about making a connection with the lyrics and music that can take you places your soul never knew existed. In my opinion, the pre-packaged bubble gum songs of the digital age are more about sales than art. I, for one, hope that in the near future, the music business will evolve into being just as much about art as it is about business and I hope those passionate musicians, along with everyone else they’re involved with will make money in the process.