It’s been 29 years in the
music business… you see like most people involved, it is a curse. The passion
for the business consumes you, drags you in and holds you forever.
Music is magic…. You hear a
tune and it triggers a thought or flashback. Whether it was your schools days,
you first boyfriend/girlfriend or the day you lost your job. We can’t help but
turn to the soothing sounds (or the angst whatever your choice may be) of
music. Music colors your life everywhere you turn.
I have only one complaint,
that people nowadays take music for granted because it is so readily available.
No one ever thinks what a movie would be without a soundtrack, what it would be
like to be stuck in a traffic jam or driving long distance without it, and I
wonder what those fashionable smart phones, tablets and mp3 players would be
like without music.
The ironic thing is that in
this day and age where music is everywhere; because it is so portable and music
can sell like no other medium can; we have forgotten about the creators for
without them there is no music. Strangely enough music drives everyone’s
advertising campaign but the creators still get the bad end of the deal. People are in dire need of
content to drive the advertising dollar and vie for the consumer dollar. Most
of the content is music or entertainment driven. PLEASE give music, it’s
creators, it’s movers and it’s shakers what they are due.
We have lost two whole
generations to piracy. First physical (cassettes and CDs) and now with
downloads (internet). People today spend a lot of money on lifestyle, millions
are spent on advertising their newest deal on talk time, who makes the best ice
blended, what the trendiest phone in town is, cars that can park themselves…
but when it comes time to buy music to add value to the lifestyle everyone
turns to illegal downloads with absolutely no thought (and no conscience) to those who
deserve the money.
In an affluent age, from
which we are from, you would think people would purchase albums. “Album are
expensive”, is the excuse… from people who drink RM12.00 coffee and change
their mobile phone every 6 months.
An album does not only
involve JUST the artistes. Read an album cover and it will tell you there were
musicians, producers, composers, lyricist, arrangers, sound engineers, album
cover designers involved in the process and later on when the album is marketed
it will involve video directors, sound and light companies, entertainment
journalists, record company executives and countless other people that give
their creative input and professional energy.
We cannot hope to change
the mindset of a generation brought up with freebies and a total disregard of
creative talent. But everything starts with you and me. When you feel you want
to illegally download a song or buy a pirated copy of a CD… think again…..turn
off the radio, kill the sounds of the mp3 player you’re holding, turn the
volume of the movie you’re watching down …. Life will NEVER be the same without
MUSIC.
Meanwhile to those that
continue to work this industry with passion and hope, I salute you. They give
their lives to entertain you and me …. There’s really is NO business like show
business.
Peace, Love and Utmost Respect
