Product vs. Art

Product vs. art is a big issue for me and it has been for quite some time. I get really hot and bothered by it and it’s something that has, at times, made me look like a jerk for defending my position so ardently. Perhaps a benefit of a blog is that I can rationally lay out my position and the supporting points without the shouting and namecalling that often go with defending such a personal subject of music taste. So here goes.

Justin Bieber, product. Pink Floyd, art.

Maroon 5, product. The Gorillaz, art.

Usher, product. B.B. King, art.

These are just a few examples that I think help illustrate my feelings better than a few paragraphs can, though I’m going to write those anyway. It’s harder to specifically define product and art, but it’s something that nine times out of ten I can identify right away. What is it? Is it the production value? Sometimes, but not always. In my list above, Pink Floyd and the Gorillaz had enormous budgets for their albums. Is it the lyrics? Quite often, yes, but there are so many exceptions to this theory. Is it the style of music? Getting closer, but there are still a ton of exceptions.

For me, I know from my inmost being that Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and the Jonas Brothers are the purest form of product to ever have been introduced to our music vernacular. The common bond is a similar story, mostly pieced together from news, rumors, etc, but it’s what I’ve got. Industry wants to make money, needs something to offer masses. Industry finds young person with plenty of looks and just enough talent. Industry spoon feeds music, look, marketing, distribution, and concert support and voila, product. Justin Bieber went from singing into his Macbook in Canada to having Usher produce is freshman album. Bieber never earned his stripes writing his own stuff, performing in venues where nobody cared.

There’s also so many clear examples of music as pure art. Most of the jazz and classical universe, save the Muzak you hear on elevators. In rock music, too, there’s something about true punk music that refuses to compromise that gives it an enormous amount of cred, even if the music seems hardly artful. I’m thinking NOFX, Bad Religion, Ramones, New York Dolls, etc. We hear these stories of artists who damn the machine if they won’t have them for who they are. It isn’t that they don’t want to make a handsome living or even a modest living playing music. But they will only do it if it’s coupled with the love of the craft, their art.

Then there’s the world in the middle. Those bands that are popular and receive the greatest debate on their sell-outness. Nickelback, anyone? It’s this middle of the road (I hate Nickelback, by the way) that gets rather hard to define and what gets people steamed. Black Eyed Peas, the Shins, the Beatles, Jason Mraz. How much of these artists was art and how much was product? This is where our gut, hearts, and (hopefully) our ears play the biggest part.