Does the music industry have dark sides?

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.