How many times have you heard the question, "Why does music on the radio suck?" Surely, it's because Lucifer is a major shareholder in Clear Channel stocks, right?
I've asked that question often enough myself. Finally, I stumbled upon the answer.
It happened again yesterday. My band was sharing a bill with three other bands at a well-known venue on the Lower East Side. The headliners acted like typical headlining douchebags, not staying around to hang out with the other bands, switching the set times at the last minute, and worst of all, taking their audience with them after they left. No one could fathom why the headliners had such a big draw. With sucky bands, I'd like to think their fanbase is made up of relatives and people who owed them money. They typified the worst aspects of the New York scene: skinny-jeans-wearing-asymmetrical-bob-coiffed douchbags pounding away with their index finger (since they really can't play piano) on a vintage Moog synthesizer with pre-programmed beats from their laptops as accompaniment (some bands manage to pull this off, but not many).
One of the bands on the bill should be famous, if it were a just world. Original songwriting, no-frills presentation, good musicianship. But there was nobody there to see them. Didn't they have any friends? Were they just bad at marketing themselves? Would they be famous if the singer decided to wear skinny jeans and an asymmetrical bob? The only people there to cheer them on were members of my band and one other band on the bill.
It's the old "tree falling in the forest" paradox. If you have a great show and nobody is there to see it, was it a good show?" I cringed when the singer apologized to the other bands for "not having a bigger draw." How many times have I made self-deprecating jokes about serenading the roaches hiding under the chairs?
We know that the music shoved down our throats by the Powers That Be sucks monkey balls. MTV is a market-driven, focused-grouped-to-death wasteland. Rolling Stone magazine hasn't been relevant in 30 years and Top 40 radio hasn't been listenable in the past decade. You want to know how to get deserving bands to the forefront so we don't have to endure listening to "My Lady Lumps" 50 times on the drive to work? Support the fucking bands you know.
The lesson here is this: stop complaining about the bad music on the radio. If you're friends with musicians and bands you like, show up to their gigs when they invite you. Yes, we take it personally when you don't up to our gigs (and don't promise to attend a show if you have no intention of showing up). So many talented musicians are languishing in obscurity because they lack emotional support. This doubly applies to fellow musicians. Go to their shows and they'll come to yours. Better yet, create your own scene.
