Music takes a lot of talent and skill. Not a lot of people realize that. When they listen to music they think of how good the singers voice sounds, they don’t realize how much work goes into the real music, sure singing is very important but what about the guitar playing, the drums, how much time it takes to make just one song, all the energy artists spend just to please us and that’s what makes music so enjoyable for us and this goes way back to early 19th century, when musicians such as Beethoven and Mozart worked tirelessly to perfect numerous symphonies for their adoring public.
In the early 1900’s singing was introduced into movies and many musicals were made. Then came the introduction of jazz in the late 1920’s which included music with saxophones and trumpets, this kind of music was made famous by one man, Louis Armstrong. At first this kind of music was adored by many black people since it was black artists who actually started it but the more popular it grew the more it was recognized by white people, soon every person in America had jazz playing out of their stereo.
Then came the 1960’s an era that introduced rock n’ roll and who else to make it worldwide than “The Beatles”. “The Beatles” revolutionized the whole concept of rock n’ roll and pop and became the most famous band in the world with hits such as “Hard Days Night.” Up to this day the Beatles are still recognized as one of the greatest bands ever, many claim without their arrival, music would’ve been lost. The 1960’s also produced another great artist in Elvis Presley, an American who adopted a similar kind of style to the Beatles, yet he was talented enough to perform solo. He is still remembered up to this day mostly for his stylish look, deep voice and his keen sense of fashion.
As the rock n’ roll era faded, disco began to gain fame, the idea of listening to groovy beats in a dark club with an illuminated aluminum ball hanging from the top captured many of the public’s imaginations, disco resembles what we call today, Techno music. Disco was able to live on through the 1980’s yet a new musical force was about to emerge, “Heavy Metal.” This was an ingeniously twisted piece of hell, consisting of electrical guitars, sophisticated drum use and ear deafening vocals. Also in the 1980’s there was the reinvention of pop, by none other than the “king of pop” himself Michael Jackson. He began his career with his brothers in the “Jackson five” but later on decided to go solo and what a career decision it was earning him several accolades and awards.
As we entered the 90’s, we were about to experience the rise of rap, which up to this day still dominates what most teenagers prefer to listen to. Rap consists of several melodic beats along with fast talking rhyme-like verses.
But along with the beauty of music comes of course the bad side. Music has tremendous ability to reach out and influence people and sometimes that influence isn’t so good. A good example of this is the high school shootings in columbine several years back, the student was said to have been influenced by the suicidal lyrics of artist “Marilyn Manson” (a modern day Goth rocker). The tragedy that day brought awareness to many people about how they should control what their children listen to. In my opinion children, teenagers specifically, should be allowed the freedom to listen to whatever they want as long as they are aware and mature enough to realize that the lyrics the artists are feeding to us, aren’t messages of death, they’re life experiences, and as if its already not hard enough for them to share their pain with us, they also have to deal with teenagers shooting each other and carrying guns around because of misinterpretation of their music, now that’s wrong, artists deserve much more than our criticisms.
Another issue worth mentioning is the language artists use these days, many elders find it crude and offensive, but what’s wrong with how someone expresses themselves, and anyway they’ve taken precautions by labeling their albums as parental advisory.
Another bad side of music is that good, popular music is starting to fade away. Now we just have pretty models to look at, while their music is full of unoriginality, I don’t even think they should earn the image of being "musicians."
Songwriting and musical ability is no longer what makes a musician famous. Spokes models such a s Britney, Chirstina, Backstreet, Enrique Iglesias etc, are more likely to earn more money and success than actual musicians because what is being marketed now is looks instead of music.
There are decent bands coming out of England such as Muse, but they are in the shadows of their American counterparts, who can be good musicians but in the same time can be money churning concoctions. The English population therefore should protect their money, and open their senses to notice this and so also protect their children and culture by moving away from American culture and support English bands. As long as they don’t take action English music dies.
