Have you ever thought about what is inside the music industry and is it totally different from our imaginations? The artists release songs not because they are passionate about it but because of money and people listen to music because those songs are trending on social media (Tiktok or Youtube). How about the quality of the music chart and music awards? Now, let’s open the door and go inside the “theatre” to see what is in store for us right now.
The question that I keep asking myself is if the singers/artists are not serious about their music, why are they doing it? Can you imagine how people used to say “Oh, his music is amazing! I listen to his songs every day! ” to “Oh, he is a singer right? He must be rich! ” The sad thing is that it’s all about “money” now. Even though everyone loves money, some artists have put so much effort into their work because music is what they love. Choosing between money and passion, same like “ Hey kid, who would you prefer, mom or dad? ”. It’s tough! I think most of us heard about Justin Bieber right, I used to be his fan too. I’m not saying his music is not good but if you know one of his songs called “Yummy”, okay, I have to say, it was bad (I don’t want to use any offensive words, but really, it’s worse than bad). At the beginning of 2020, January, Justin posted on Instagram streaming tactics and tips to get his song to No. 1 on Hot Billboard 100. ( Tenbarge) Is this just he was lacking confidence in his song because this is not the best one or he used his fame to manipulate the streaming and selling. Next, if you are a Kpop (Korean Pop) fan, you may hear a company called “Pledis”. On May 26, 2020, Dispatch ( a Korean news website) reported that the CEO of Pledis - Han Sung Soo, wrote his wife’s name as “So Jay” in the credit of 8 songs of IZ*ONE ( a Korean girl group) to get unfairly profited. (J. Lim). The music industry is meant to open the door for everyone to show their creativity or to heal other’s minds through the lyrics and melodies. I hope the way that some people try to get more profits in the industry doesn’t affect some small artists that want to share their songs with others.
Social media, a new way for audiences to discover new music instead of printed albums, CD, cassette or vinyl (some young generations may not know what cassette or vinyl is because they are not popular to them anymore). My parents used to tell me the story that when they were a kid, they could only listen through CDs or on television. It was hard to listen to music back then when there were few ways to discover new music. Technologies improve so fast in a few decades and now Tiktok or Youtube is the most common way and also both apps are free for everyone in every age range. Counted until May 5, 2021, there are 689 million Tiktok users and this number still keeps growing up every day, weeks, months. Say So, Death bed (Coffee for Your Head) or Savage are songs that you may have heard somewhere before and they are the top songs that viral on Tiktok. Songs get famous easier on here because the video usually takes around 10 to 20 seconds and sometimes you just need a small catchy part to get audiences’ attention. Artists approach their listeners this way is new and effective but sometimes they just have one and only viral song (also called “One Hit Wonder”). In my opinion, maybe going up little by little is better than boosting up in one night and “disappearing”. Next, Youtube, the place that was only created for well-known artists. Do you ever randomly search for some singers that you never heard before, I guess no. For the whole life, I think most of us only watch videos from our favourite artists and our Youtube suggestions are all about them. Also, Youtube is how artists give their messages through music and videos. Small artists or underrated artists usually don’t have a large amount of money to make “fancy” music videos and it’s hard to catch the viewers’ eyes. Even though I think in the future, there will be more music apps that help us discover new music (small artists and singers) but it doesn’t mean they would have big followers like big artists who are already well-known.
Last but not least, have you ever waited until Monday to see the Billboard Hot 100 Chart or become so excited about the nominations in the Grammy award? Merchandises or concert tickets are bundled with the digital download used to count toward the Billboard Hot 100 Chart before July 13, 2020. Comparably, lips balm or frying pan or any merchandise of the artists will not eventually be allowed to climb the charts. Some songs actually “vanished” right away after 1 week and I think this is too unfair for many artists that deserve more popularity, supporters and big fandoms. Not only the merchandise or tickets, but Billboard also counts the number of times that songs spin on pop radio in America. Well, the bad thing is they only play songs from Western artists. (Rolli) So what about who is not Western, what should they do to have a chance for their songs to spin on American radio? Not only in America, but we can also actually see the same thing that happens on the radio in Canada. Whenever I go inside the car, some songs just keep playing every day and spinning again 15 or 30 minutes apart. I just don’t get it, does anyone feel bored when we are listening to the same songs and wait for new hit music, really? Last year, before the pandemic, my family travelled a lot and we listened to pop radio. I was bored and I texted the radio for song suggestions when the same songs just kept playing, as you can see, nothing happened. I was quite upset because radio is where everyone can have their choice to choose music and share with everyone. So, I decided to use open Spotify and played my own playlists. (I could play any genre that I like and especially I could choose a specific song that my family all enjoy). Next up, music awards, some become boring and lose viewers when there are many new “useless” categories created and how the judge didn’t treat them fairly. I am not sure why they have to create more categories, to please more fans of artists or artists who came to the show don’t feel “lonely” when they go back home. Win an award is how we appreciate artists that are dedicated from the smallest part in their songs, their albums or their EPs. I think music awards is not a primary school where we should “share” the “prizes” so no one has to feel sad, this is not how it is supposed to be! I am not saying all charts and awards are all unfair but I hope in the future, somehow this situation will change, little by little would be enough already.
In conclusion, I hope many people who still think this industry is a game and everyone here are kind, rich and perfect would change their minds too. Anything, anyone or any places have their own dark sides so we can’t deny them because we want every path in our life are roses. Although the music industry is same the as the package, the outside may look pretty and stunning but the inside is the opposite, I still think there are so many positives that we could see. I really want to see the difference and the changes that could happen in near future. 
Have you ever  
thought
 about what is  
inside
 the  
music
  industry
 and is it  
totally
  different
 from our imaginations? The  
artists
 release songs not  
because
 they are passionate about it  
but
  because
 of  
money
 and  
people
  listen
 to  
music
  because
 those songs are trending on social media ( 
Tiktok
 or  
Youtube
). How about the quality of the  
music
  chart
 and  
music
  awards
?  
Now
,  
let
’s open the door and go  
inside
 the “ 
theatre
” to  
see
 what is in store for us  
right
  now
.
The question that I  
keep
 asking myself is if the singers/artists are not serious about their  
music
, why are they doing it? Can you imagine how  
people
  used
 to say “Oh, his  
music
 is amazing! I  
listen
 to his songs every day! ” to “Oh, he is a singer  
right
? He  
must
 be rich! ” The sad thing is that it’s all about  
“money”
  now
.  
Even though
  everyone
  loves
  money
,  
some
  artists
 have put  
so
 much effort into their work  
because
  music
 is what they  
love
. Choosing between  
money
 and passion, same like  
“ 
Hey kid,  
who
 would you prefer, mom or dad? ”. It’s tough! I  
think
 most of us heard about Justin Bieber  
right
, I  
used
 to be his fan too. I’m not saying his  
music
 is not  
good
  but
 if you know one of his songs called “Yummy”, okay, I  
have to
 say, it was  
bad
 (I don’t  
want
 to  
use
 any offensive words,  
but
  really
, it’s worse than  
bad
). At the beginning of 2020, January, Justin posted on Instagram streaming tactics and tips to  
get
 his song to No. 1 on Hot  
Billboard
 100.  
( 
 Tenbarge
) Is this  
just
 he was lacking confidence in his song  
because
 this is not the best  
one or
 he  
used
 his fame to manipulate the streaming and selling.  
Next
, if you are a  
Kpop
 (Korean Pop) fan, you may hear a  
company
 called “ 
Pledis
”. On May 26, 2020, Dispatch  
( 
a Korean  
news
 website) reported that the CEO of  
Pledis
  -
 Han Sung  
Soo
, wrote his wife’s name as “ 
So
 Jay” in the credit of 8 songs of I 
Z*O
NE  
( 
a Korean girl group) to  
get
  unfairly
 profited. (J.  
Lim
). The  
music
  industry
  is meant
 to open the door for  
everyone
 to  
show
 their creativity or to heal other’s minds through the lyrics and melodies. I hope the way that  
some
  people
 try to  
get
 more profits in the  
industry
 doesn’t affect  
some
  small
  artists
 that  
want
 to share their songs with others.
Social media, a  
new
 way for audiences to discover  
new
  music
  instead
 of printed albums, CD, cassette or vinyl ( 
some
 young generations may not know what cassette or vinyl is  
because
 they are not popular to them  
anymore
). My parents  
used
 to  
tell
 me the story that when they were a kid, they could  
only
  listen
 through CDs or on television. It was  
hard
 to  
listen
 to  
music
 back then when there were few ways to discover  
new
  music
. Technologies  
improve
  so
  fast
 in a few decades and  
now
  Tiktok
 or  
Youtube
 is the most common way and  
also
 both apps are free for  
everyone
 in every age range. Counted until May 5, 2021, there are 689 million  
Tiktok
 users and this number  
still
  keeps
 growing up every day, weeks, months. Say  
So
, Death bed (Coffee for Your Head) or Savage are songs that you may have heard somewhere  
before and
 they are the top songs that viral on  
Tiktok
. Songs  
get
  famous
 easier on here  
because
 the  
video
  usually
 takes around 10 to 20 seconds and  
sometimes
 you  
just
 need a  
small
 catchy part to  
get
 audiences’ attention.  
Artists
 approach their listeners this way is  
new
 and effective  
but
  sometimes
 they  
just
 have one and  
only
 viral song ( 
also
 called “One Hit Wonder”). In my opinion, maybe going up  
little
 by  
little
 is better than boosting up in one night and “disappearing”.  
Next
,  
Youtube
, the place that was  
only
 created for well-known  
artists
. Do you ever  
randomly
 search for  
some
 singers that you never heard  
before
, I guess no. For the whole life, I  
think
 most of us  
only
  watch
  videos
 from our  
favourite
  artists
 and our  
Youtube
 suggestions are all about them.  
Also
,  
Youtube
 is how  
artists
 give their messages through  
music
 and  
videos
.  
Small
  artists
 or underrated  
artists
  usually
 don’t have a large amount of  
money
 to  
make
 “fancy”  
music
  videos
 and it’s  
hard
 to catch the viewers’ eyes.  
Even though
 I  
think
 in the future, there will be more  
music
 apps that  
help
 us discover  
new
  music
 ( 
small
  artists
 and singers)  
but
 it doesn’t mean they would have  
big
 followers like  
big
  artists
  who
 are already well-known.
Last  
but
 not least, have you ever waited until Monday to  
see
 the  
Billboard
 Hot 100  
Chart
 or become  
so
 excited about the nominations in the Grammy  
award
? Merchandises or concert tickets  
are bundled
 with the digital download  
used
 to count toward the  
Billboard
 Hot 100  
Chart
  before
 July 13, 2020.  
Comparably
, lips balm or frying pan or any merchandise of the  
artists
 will not  
eventually
 be  
allowed
 to climb the  
charts
.  
Some
 songs actually “vanished”  
right
 away after 1 week and I  
think
 this is too unfair for  
many
  artists
 that deserve more popularity, supporters and  
big
 fandoms. Not  
only
 the merchandise or tickets,  
but
  Billboard
  also
 counts the number of times that songs spin on pop  
radio
 in America. Well, the  
bad
 thing is they  
only
 play songs from Western  
artists
. ( 
Rolli
)  
So
 what about  
who
 is not Western, what should they do to have a chance for their songs to spin on American  
radio
? Not  
only
 in America,  
but
 we can  
also
 actually  
see
 the same thing that happens on the  
radio
 in Canada. Whenever I go  
inside
 the car,  
some
 songs  
just
  keep
 playing every day and spinning again 15 or 30 minutes apart. I  
just
 don’t  
get
 it, does anyone feel bored when we are listening to the same songs and wait for  
new
 hit  
music
,  
really
? Last year,  
before
 the pandemic, my family travelled a  
lot and
 we listened to pop  
radio
. I  
was bored
 and I texted the  
radio
 for song suggestions when the same songs  
just
  kept
 playing, as you can  
see
, nothing happened. I was quite upset  
because
  radio
 is where  
everyone
 can have their choice to choose  
music
 and share with  
everyone
.  
So
, I decided to  
use
 open Spotify and played my  
own
 playlists. (I could play any genre that I like and  
especially
 I could choose a specific song that my family all enjoy).  
Next
 up,  
music
  awards
,  
some
 become boring and lose viewers when there are  
many
  new
 “useless” categories created and how the judge didn’t treat them  
fairly
. I am not sure why they  
have to
 create more categories, to  
please
 more fans of  
artists
 or  
artists
  who
 came to the  
show
 don’t feel “lonely” when they go back home. Win an  
award
 is how we appreciate  
artists
 that  
are dedicated
 from the smallest part in their songs, their albums or their EPs. I  
think
  music
  awards
 is not a primary school where we should “share” the “prizes”  
so
 no one  
has to
 feel sad, this is not how it  
is supposed
 to be! I am not saying all  
charts
 and  
awards
 are all unfair  
but
 I hope in the future, somehow this situation will  
change
,  
little
 by  
little
 would be  
enough
 already. 
In conclusion
, I hope  
many
  people
  who
  still
  think
 this  
industry
 is a game and  
everyone
 here  
are
 kind, rich and perfect would  
change
 their minds too. Anything, anyone or any places have their  
own
 dark sides  
so
 we can’t deny them  
because
 we  
want
 every path in our life are roses. Although the  
music
  industry
 is same the as the package, the outside may look pretty and stunning  
but
 the  
inside
 is the opposite, I  
still
  think
 there are  
so
  many
 positives that we could  
see
. I  
really
  want
 to  
see
 the difference and the  
changes
 that could happen in near future.