Can Consumers be trusted with culture?
This is a nice follow up to my last posting. If consumers are more interested in identity shopping than the music, can they be trusted with "culture"?
Actually, I'm writing this out of deep regret for something that happened in my community. Cody's Bookstore, a Berkeley landmark, has just gone out of business. I loved Codys. It was the best place to find a good book. With its passing, I know the intellectual vibrancy of Berkeley--and Telegraph Ave. in particular--will suffer.
Many sources have been blamed for Cody's closure. One, of course, is the internet. With so many cheap and shipable books available on places like Amazon, students are buying less books from the local shops. In addition, students browse a lot, but they don't buy. Basically, kids aren't reading books for fun these days. We get our textbooks and that's that. Not that I blame us. We are so overworked with text-books assignements. I have so little time for anything outside of school :(
So if people aren't buying books, what are they doing? I'm willing to give Berkeley students the benefit of the doubt. But what about the millions of folks who voted on the last episode of American Idol? Do consumers put their money in the right place? Can we trust the market to support the best art? To preserve and create new, exciting art forms? NOT like reality TV?
From where this is heading, I'm sure you're expecting me to say: NO. But of course, it's more complicated than that. My neo-liberal economic leadings have led me to protest the protection/subsidizing of dying industries. Out with the old, and on with the new, has always been my motto. And of course, I'm fed up with my professors at school, who seem more interested in the museumification of music than the creation of fresh, vibrant sounds.
Plus, there is some great music that has done well commercially, against great odds. Take the sounds of Jamaica. That little island had everything stacked against it. And yet, some of the greatest sounds of the last century came from there, including ska, rock steadky, reggea, dancehall, and dub. Reggea has done especially well commercially. The success of Jamaican music is heart warming. It makes you believe that the best does rise to the top. In addition to economic troubles, the Jamaican people made music in opposition to the neo-colonial policies of their political leaders. Basically, lots of upper class Jamaicans and politicians like Manley and Seaga wanted the international community to associate Jamaica with high class art like European classical music. Too often, the "preservation" of art has conservative political undertones. And it causes people to overlook the great sounds that are defining the values of the here and now.
A great example of this is my relationship to hip-hop. I never listened to hip-hop until now because I thought it was dirty and low class. Without melody and harmony, I thought hip-hop was unsophisticated. Well, that's just because I wasn't exposed to it. I've listened to it a lot more now and I have a much greater appreciation for the sophisticated verbal and rhythmic skills of the rappers. I think they're great musicians. But my loyalty to "fine" music--especially classical music--growing up, enabled me to dismiss these new sounds as inferior.
So, I guess I don't have answers. My point is that consumers have supported good music. Values change. Times change. Music must change with the sounds. That is not to say that traditional music is bad music, but it's preservation should never inhibit the creation of new sounds. Meanwhile, I can't deny the beauty of classical music and "classic" art. I've proved my dedication by buying a mammoth "History of Painting" book. I guess I just don't know how to deal with those fine arts...most of us don't like them. So what do you do? Preserve them? As long as you can preserve them without stifling new sounds....
Actually, I'm writing this out of deep regret for something that happened in my community. Cody's Bookstore, a Berkeley landmark, has just gone out of business. I loved Codys. It was the best place to find a good book. With its passing, I know the intellectual vibrancy of Berkeley--and Telegraph Ave. in particular--will suffer.
Many sources have been blamed for Cody's closure. One, of course, is the internet. With so many cheap and shipable books available on places like Amazon, students are buying less books from the local shops. In addition, students browse a lot, but they don't buy. Basically, kids aren't reading books for fun these days. We get our textbooks and that's that. Not that I blame us. We are so overworked with text-books assignements. I have so little time for anything outside of school :(
So if people aren't buying books, what are they doing? I'm willing to give Berkeley students the benefit of the doubt. But what about the millions of folks who voted on the last episode of American Idol? Do consumers put their money in the right place? Can we trust the market to support the best art? To preserve and create new, exciting art forms? NOT like reality TV?
From where this is heading, I'm sure you're expecting me to say: NO. But of course, it's more complicated than that. My neo-liberal economic leadings have led me to protest the protection/subsidizing of dying industries. Out with the old, and on with the new, has always been my motto. And of course, I'm fed up with my professors at school, who seem more interested in the museumification of music than the creation of fresh, vibrant sounds.
Plus, there is some great music that has done well commercially, against great odds. Take the sounds of Jamaica. That little island had everything stacked against it. And yet, some of the greatest sounds of the last century came from there, including ska, rock steadky, reggea, dancehall, and dub. Reggea has done especially well commercially. The success of Jamaican music is heart warming. It makes you believe that the best does rise to the top. In addition to economic troubles, the Jamaican people made music in opposition to the neo-colonial policies of their political leaders. Basically, lots of upper class Jamaicans and politicians like Manley and Seaga wanted the international community to associate Jamaica with high class art like European classical music. Too often, the "preservation" of art has conservative political undertones. And it causes people to overlook the great sounds that are defining the values of the here and now.
A great example of this is my relationship to hip-hop. I never listened to hip-hop until now because I thought it was dirty and low class. Without melody and harmony, I thought hip-hop was unsophisticated. Well, that's just because I wasn't exposed to it. I've listened to it a lot more now and I have a much greater appreciation for the sophisticated verbal and rhythmic skills of the rappers. I think they're great musicians. But my loyalty to "fine" music--especially classical music--growing up, enabled me to dismiss these new sounds as inferior.
So, I guess I don't have answers. My point is that consumers have supported good music. Values change. Times change. Music must change with the sounds. That is not to say that traditional music is bad music, but it's preservation should never inhibit the creation of new sounds. Meanwhile, I can't deny the beauty of classical music and "classic" art. I've proved my dedication by buying a mammoth "History of Painting" book. I guess I just don't know how to deal with those fine arts...most of us don't like them. So what do you do? Preserve them? As long as you can preserve them without stifling new sounds....
posted by Kristin @ 10:26 AM
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