There is no doubt that we, the artists, are called to face a tough discrimination from the rest of the community. Artists have often been considered as second class employees, the inactive and unskilled individuals usually connected with underworld societies.
The problem was mentioned in previous posts but there was no further research as the posts were focused on different subjects, thus I consider it important to examine it separately.
Some could say, those who treat the artists like unimportant human beings are only an insignificant bunch of uneducated very conservative people.According to a few historical examples ”Hitler’s ultra-conservative Nazi party.. declared war on popular culture, which he portrayed as decadent, obscene, and anti-German. He attacked Jews, homosexuals, feminists, and artists for ruining the country? (Scott Miller 1996). “ Soviet archives, historians now estimate that nearly 700,000 people (353,074 and 328,612 for 1937 and 1938 alone respectively, according to official data) were executed in the course of the terror, with the great mass of victims being “ordinary” Soviet citizens: workers, peasants, homemakers, teachers, priests, musicians, soldiers, pensioners, ballerinas, beggars” (Wikipedia resources). Based on an article from the British newspaper The Independent, there is a strong prejudice towards the female artists (click here for more). I also find it important to post some quotes I have seen in the Youtube video comments probably coming from people of this category.
1) ”The music piracy gives to the artists what they deserve, disrespect of course because doing music is not a job” 2) ”I have not paid for a CD, DVD or game in over 7 years. And I don’t regret it” 3) ”To think, people actually believe that musicians should make money and be rich! That’s not what being an artist is about”. 4) ”Music was there far before invention of the currency. Even if you stop creating some others will…all you idiots artist are after the money more than the music” 5) ”Musicians I don’t care what you believe. We will do whatever we want with your crappy songs and we are proud for not paying you a dime for your music. Artists do not deserve to get paid”
In fact Youtube is out of control as I have explained in a previous post (click here) but at least it gives us the opportunity to know how different people think, a true mirror of our modern society. Is this a general reaction towards the new anti- music piracy actions? Making a further research both in Youtube and other social networks, the problem is worse than a few negative comments and these are just a spark. Discrimination against artists existed long before any anti-piracy law.
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Musicians I don’t care what you believe. We will do whatever we want with your crappy songs and we are proud for not paying you a dime for your music. Artists do not deserve to get paid. A random Youtube user |
The first point is: As explained in a previous post some people react to the success of some musicians believing it is not fair. Indeed, some of them do not deserve success but it would be unfair to put all artists in the same category. Apart from that, music has always been a privilege of the elite, especially in the Baroque era, but today many artists who have become super-famous started from working-class families and the majority of them have high performance skills. Very distinguished examples are those of Tori Amos and David Bowie confirming that there are more opportunities today and things are under change.
The second point is that this problem is rooted deep in the heart of our societies. Even middle class families give second priority to music, dance etc for their children’s education not only because the possibilities to pursue a career as an artist are very few, but also because spending time and money for other studies (law, medicine, finance) is considered more important and creative despite that music has marvelous benefits for children (click here).
In every developed country there is an educational system, good enough to give the basic knowledge of social communication, motivate children and adults to choose a subject in their lives by discovering their innate natural characteristics. However what could happen if in this education, the arts were excluded from the social and parental environment, and existed only as a secondary choice? And why are the arts always considered as a secondary? Is it because there are no opportunities for a secure future employment for artists, or because being an artist means that you are dealing with the underworld, you are an unskilled person and you should drop art and struggle for money like the rest of the people do?
Being a musician or a superstar doesn’t necessarily drive you to drugs, as not each and every musician uses drugs. All different kinds of people are actually involved in drug use; from high society to labor class members, from politicians to lawyers, officials and ordinary people. And they all can disguise themselves except for the artists (musicians and actors) who receive maximum attention and their lives are closely monitored.
Whatever the reasons for this discrimination are, it would be absolutely futile to wait for the community and the world to change as the years go by hoping that some people will embrace the ideas of the 21st century. More jobs for artists can be created fast, a copyright law that works can be a reality but this type of aggressive and nonsense behavior should not be tolerated. Being uninformed should not be an excuse for being narrow-minded and ignorant. Individuals that reproduce abusive towards artists ideas should be isolated and their behavior strongly criticized. Music and the arts and the people creating it must take (and claim) their rightful place in the society.
Bibliography:
Scott Miller: West Side Story (Heinemann Publishing, 1996). Revised 2002.
Notice: The copyright of the quotes is owned by the author of each extract.
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July 23rd, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Well, reading all the above youtube quoted comments another question crosses my mind: How is it possible in our wealthy world, where the basic education is easily available for everybody, that people come to completely lack of any capacity of thinking logically? ?no reason, no logic conclusions, no ability to discriminate things. I don?t think jelousy can be an excuse for that. Even an ?underprivileged? brain has received enough input, enough education to be able to understand the basic rules of social communication. How is it possible that we still find such rough people? They probably act in a very bad faith…
July 23rd, 2009 at 3:32 pm
I must say that I always admire artists and their inspiration – so I guess I buck the trend here. To be able to write songs and to play and/or sing music is a real tallent and a gift – so to look down on this is probably due to jealousy!
April 25th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
What I really believe, the humans are just like a bunch of brainwashed donkeys. They follow blindly the leaders (media), but when actually the leaders were right? Those who have the upper hand control every step of our life as the common sense hits the bottom, when economy goes down and ignorance goes up.
Regarding the music piracy… we already host something here, so you can find more.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:48 am
I definitely feel that there is a negative attitude towards artists. The amount of piracy that continues to plague the industry is unacceptable. Artists deserve the money that they receive. They WORK hard for it, just like anyone else. I personally need to listen to music while I work. It is very beneficial. By the way, I was just stopped by to say “hi!”. I’m glad that I did!
April 14th, 2009 at 2:48 am
i do support artist coz without you guys life is simply boring.
April 11th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Thanks Lorna for this lovely comment. We have to wait and see the results from the polls, then we can have an evidence of what people believe today!
Indeed there is still room for improvement, more than you can think as the opinions of the youtube users do not differ a lot from Hitler’s attitude! Well, 60 years after that, and still no better ideas, no illusions, no dreams, no capacities…
April 11th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Fascinating post on discriminatory practices that are pervasive… I agree it is better than 50 years ago however there is still room for improvement. I support artists being treated as equals. I also encourage and nurture my children’s artistic abilities. And their right to decide on their chosen career.
Great job Wichael R. Willow!