I am proud to finally accomplish my first post. So far this class has introduced new ideas into my head. For example, after doing my music report on “Molotov” I started to think about mainstream media. In my opinion there is uneven balance between music that is trying to send a message and music that is trying to sell records. Why is activist music not equally accepted? I feel that after an artist reaches a level of popularity he is not allowed to express his opinion on controversial topics, which brings me back to my point about “Molotov”. They are one of the few bands that I know that have kept their music truth to what they believe, sometimes even gambling their own popularity. As of now, the band has not had a new album in a couple of years, which only makes me wonder if they have been censored for their work.
I completely agree with you in regards to the uneven balance between music that is trying to send a message versus those who are trying to sell a record. I think that money plays a rather large role in this. Musicians are constantly trying to prove to people that their music is important and should be valued. It is extremely hard for new great musicians to have their records sell and to be played on the radio. Often times musicians who are trying to fight for a rather controversial cause are silenced. They are censored, radio stations will not play their music and people in general will not buy their albums. It is probably extremely difficult being successful in activist music without having a solid background in the field and a large fan base. Molotov is a great group and they are doing a truly fantastic job of bringing awareness to their listeners. I truly hope their work is not being censored and I hope to hear new music from them soon.
ReplyDeleteI love Molotov. If anyone wants to borrow one of their cd's let me know lol. I cant remember which one I have. At least with this music you can really hear the lyrics and understand what they are saying. For example: here's a link to Gime tha Power :
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfmY9Wlxx0o&feature=player_detailpage
In the video you can really understand what they are saying. Which i find is kindof rare because a lot of new spanish music goes a mile a minute.
This is sad to say but activisim sometimes does not sell records. Some artist may do a song or two and feature it on there album but im not sure that many artist would dedicate there whole album to the zapatista movement or the aztecs. They are more about making money and some people don't wanna hear about the horrible things going on in the world. Even when people do benefit concerts and things like that most of the time there just playing there own songs and not many songs are written for the events at hand. In the end the events become about promoting the artist and not the message. And if you cannot connect with what the activist is speaking about more than likely your not going to buy there album.
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