Commercialized music, in all its many iterations, is a strangely personal experience for being a cultural element made for the masses. Everyone has a special place in their heart for their favorite bands and genres. Meeting someone else who shares one's tastes can produce a budding friendship without taking away that special relationship. There can be something about a curated playlist, a collection of albums and a stack of records that testifies to one's unique respect and understanding of the lyrics and melodies.
A close friend of mine likes to quote songs he feels best capture his feelings, apparently better than he can himself. The lyrics mean something incredibly personal to him and he finds great importance in words never written with him in mind. While museumgoers making personal interpretations of art displayed in the Louvre or Met also deal with a similar juxtaposition, often failing to be the intended audience or subject, the degree of commercialization in the modern music industry makes the contrast seem even more troublesome. When certain music stars depend on hundreds of thousands to find their music personally touching in order to be successful, the degree of personal meaning that can actually be attached has to suffer. And yet a fan, while listening to their favorite artist in a packed concert venue, still feels the significance that song carries, despite the intensely impersonal nature of everything surrounding them.
However, this internalized contradiction is by no means an inherently bad thing. Human culture thrives on interpretation and reinterpretation of art. It inspires further creativity and drives people to reexamine their earlier thoughts and assumptions. Beyond revelations on such a great scale, even media like pulp fiction from airport travel marts can encourage people to think on new topics and maybe even influence their perceptions of romance or adventure. That may be where this contradiction verges into the negative, when motives of mass-market appeal and profit directly influence the artistic process. While a collective conversation and examination of a song, book or sculpture can drive excitement and progress, modern artistic pursuits can all too often pander to perceived values and desires. Opinions and perspectives can be re-entrenched and hardened rather than challenged. Unfortunately, when musical success usually relies on sellout concerts or extremely well selling albums, a strong incentive exists for popular artists to create music that encourages a personal connection for the largest number of people. It encourages overused themes and emotions in order to appeal to the largest potential pool of fans.
This is by no means a wholesale condemnation of modern musicians or an allegation directed at the vast majority of artists. Most write what they know and feel, and the majority never become popular enough to even begin to worry about commercial viability. Yet, the most popular bands need to pay their bills and the most profitable songs tend to be those that might not have any deep or important meaning, but those that feel and sound right. Feeling a personal connection to a song fills a need for validation and understanding, but I have to wonder whether we should be asking more from the medium many of us spend hours and hours listening to. We don’t always need to challenge what is comfortable, but we have to understand what can incentivize the artists we respect and support, and think about whether we want something more.
