MovieChat Forums > Before the Music Dies (2006) Discussion > Look out for trolls on this one!

Look out for trolls on this one!

posted 16 years ago by kevfannc
8 replies | jump to latest

I know the teen troll will be responding to this post first!

I worked as a musician for years in the Chicago area, and when I decided to quit at age 30, I came to realize two things:

1.) Music has been facing an uphill climb since the mid 1990s. True, the film depicts great avenues for musicians to use, but let's face the real, hard truth. If you're going to make a serious attempt at having a successful career only playing music, you're going to be dirt poor for a good time, and even if you do get some breaks here and there (as I did) , eventually security and comfortability win in the end. There is no way now I would ever trade our security and comfortability away so I could "artistically express myself". The "formula" that the record business (or pop culture business, as so put by Branford Marsalis) has set forth is a mold which I and many former musicians I know simply do not fit. It's also a formula that has been sold to a generation of manufactured zombies. I hope the trolls are angry with that last comment.

2.) People do not use listening skills AT ALL. You can sing about war, you can sing about love, you can sing about God, you can sing about that long-lost friend you remember from long ago. Does it look good? If it doesn't, no one cares. As long as you look good in this superficial society that's ALL that would ever matter to a business trying to make a profit. Again, let the trolls come out for this one.

Times change, I understand that. However, the point of the film is that the true artist, the ones with talent and the ability to play instruments are possibly fading forever. The ones who don't have 36-24-36 measurements and the ones who play every night in clubs or bars for the love and the joy of creativity. The ones who write for the joy of writing, who play music for the love of performing, not just for the quick buck. You don't have to like The Who or Pink Floyd or DMB if that's not what you like. I do feel that it is important to have the courage to discover different expressions without being told what is good and what isn't, which is what this generation does not do. They think whatever is on MTV is automatically for them. Hopefully the next generation will act, think, and discover music for themselves and not be told what to enjoy.

[–] mead2000 16 years ago

so true and well said. hope the trolls don't bite you in the ass, kev

[–] Fantacist 16 years ago

Most of the musicians in this, other than Costello or Clapton, were never my cup of tea, and some of the lesser known, particularly harmonica man, well, there is probably a cosmic reason for that, but I did find most of what was said to be insightful. I find it funny though to hear how easy it is for someone like Dave Matthews to say "Money doesn't matter." Ofcourse it does. It may not be an issue to someone who has done quite well for themselves as far as profit is concerned, but to 99% of the rest of the world, money is the blood that keeps all of this ridiculous horses**t going. When you have alot of it, sure, you play your heart out, life is a party, and your making more money to do what you love, but if you're like the rest of us, MONEY IS A BIG DEAL. Even if you're an artist who lives and breathes music, you play like you're screaming out from a flaming pit of s**t, forgotten by God, the music is in your blood, you were born to play, its' all you know, blah blah blah, you've got to eat, and if you don't want live under a bridge with your guitar, you've got to pay for that s**t too. Money matters, life costs, and any successful musician who says so otherwise is talking out of his/her ass, trying to sound like a real humanitarian, a true artist, as if there's anything true left in the entertainment industry. I'll shut the hell up now, but you can't avoid it folks, in terms of the physical realm we live in, most of us are going to struggle for the rest of our natural lives for little pieces of green paper with the faces of dead men on them.

[–] jshea432 16 years ago

kevfannc just summed it up in a nutshell. Music is dieng from the idiocracy that goes on in our society today. MTV, paris hilton, lindsey lohan, and all those other wannabes thinking they can sing, when theyre are good musicians out there who people dont even know about because our culture is blinded vy this blanket of mediocracy. Well, thats my two cents.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] eastcoastguyz 15 years ago

There are people who have no success and say money doesn't matter. When the same person becomes successful and says money doesn't matter, then they sound like they are lying. The truth is, money never mattered much to Dave Mathews from the start. Most have the goal to be able to simply continuing doing it without having to get a day job consider themselves successful. The other misconception is that people equate fame with money. There are many musicians who are famous, but are not rich.

[–] eddy23 15 years ago

Care to name some?

[–] the_urban_prince 14 years ago

i partially agree with what Fantacist said. everyday blue collar people care about money cause they HAVE to.....on that same token i would quite music and get a real job if it meant i had to compromise my music in order to get a record deal. most artists likely won't do that though.

[–] solex10 7 years ago

The 'trolls' (detractors) (and not all of us are teens-I'm not one) should be tearing this POS documentary apart, and to bits. This is just the bleating of an old white Generation X'er pissed off that his favorite music isn't as popular as it used to be, and instead of dealing with said change, he's just issued a long rant against the clouds (accompanied by whatever token people of color that he could get to support him.) Music CHANGES, as does life, and to expect music to be the same (and young people to reproduce the same past sounds ad infinitum for the pleasure of older people like yourself) is beyond ridiculous. There was pop music in the '60's, '70's, '80's AND '90's-why didn't this fool rant about it then? There was a chance (under Obama and his cabinet) to rectify the situation by calling for the 1996 Communications Act to be repealed and a new version of the previous one to be issued; why didn't he and his fellow Generation X'ers unite in the thousands and do that? He's a lazy fool who thinks that he's owned the same (white) rock and roll/folk/whatever 'just because', but guess what? He's not. NOBODY owes him that, certainly not a world of music similar to what was in the '60's as he mentioned at the end of this movie, and NOBODY owes you (or others like you) that, either.

They think whatever is on MTV is automatically for them.

Hey buddy, weren't you like that at your age with radio and TV (especially with shows like Don Kirschner's Rock Concert, The Midnight Special, American Bandstand, etc.?) Guess what? The kids are doing-NOT with MTV (which doesn't play music videos that much anymore)-but with Spotify and similar services, plus YouTube, what you used to do as a teenager. Whatever's used to convey music is what they hear music from (plus whatever info about music is offered online.)

2.) People do not use listening skills AT ALL. You can sing about war, you can sing about love, you can sing about God, you can sing about that long-lost friend you remember from long ago. Does it look good? If it doesn't, no one cares. As long as you look good in this superficial society that's ALL that would ever matter to a business trying to make a profit. Again, let the trolls come out for this one.

I hate to break it to you and the stupid moron who made this documentary, but that's been the case in music, for a long time.

Most of the popular singers of the past had to look presentable to be on stage and screen (Elvis Presley, the Beatles, most of the other rock and rollers of the 50's and '60's, many folksingers of the 40's, 50's, and 50's, etc.)-you didn't expect them to be showing up in jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers, did you? A popular Canadian band named Arcade Fire even (tried) to insist on smart dress for the concertgoers coming to see them on a recent tour (2014). And again, where were you and people like you in the '70's & '80's when artists dressed up smartly on variety TV shows (plus, what about bands like KISS?) You and the make of this film are just pissed off that you didn't get where you wanted to in music and that time passed you by, and you're also jealous at anybody that did do so-no more, and no less.