Does our society value music enough?

[kegmcnabb]

"Classical music"? No.

"Music"? Sure -- iPods everywhere, jazz clubs/coffee houses galore. Mega rock/country/pop stars packing stadiums. Opportunities for tubists? Not many here ....

Well, I think the answer is "no" all around. The presence of ipods and clubs does not indicate our value for music as most people do not use music as anything but as an "ascessory," just like their purses and shoes, to validate their self-image and lifestyle. Music for most is a kind of "aural wallpaper" used to decorate their lives. "I'm tough, I listen to Metal!" "I'm educated, I listen to classical." I'm sophisticated, I listen to jazz." And that is the limit of the value of music to most...if it doesn't reinforce my image, I don't like it (or at least don't need it).

And ya know what's worse...this applies to most musicians, as well.

[David Zerkel]

Our society values pop culture.

Somewhere along the way, we have let the mass pop culture dominate every aspect of our lives, from our news reporting to the music that we listen to. This really bugs me, not because I'm some sort of elitist snob, but because the bar has been lowered so pitifully low. Those of you out there who know me know that I'm no prude, by any stretch of the imagination, but I am constatntly asking myself "When did THAT become okay to do on TV?" (the radio, the movies... fill in the blank) Catch "Nip/Tuck" some night if you don't know what I'm talking about.

I just think that we, as Amercans, have blindly accepted the crap that the "entertainment" industry continues to spew for so long that the next generation just accepts this as "they way that it is." This is tragic on many levels, not just for classical music, but for the sake of our values system in general. Our society seems to blissfully accept getting dumber and dumber and dumber, largely because we spend so much time as a country engrossed in what the mass media jams down our gullible little throats. Don't even get me started on the people in the mass media that we allow to think for us just because they can shout the loudest... "Dittoheads" exhibit the ultimate form of intellectual laziness.

I think that unless our society becomes more intellectually engaged, the future is just a little bit spooky. Sorry this roamed off topic a bit... Does society value music? Society values what they're told to value by the machine.

Ugh...

[TubaRay]

Classical music was the popular music of it's day so in 400 years we can expect a BBS where they are whining about the lack of respect being given to rap stars and Britney Spears.

Well S%#^&@$!!! Now you've gone ruined my whole day. What a totally depressing thought.

[TubaRay]

Well-spoken, Ken.

[Dan Castillo]

I think that unless our society becomes more intellectually engaged, the future is just a little bit spooky.

The future is already spooky and our window for change is closing pretty darn fast. Most people don't really know what we're in for during the next hundred years.

Anybody been listening to Al Gore lately?

[miketuba]

Hi all,

I've been authoring a blog for the last couple of months and this morning referenced this topic.

If you care to visit and comment: http://philpro.blogspot.com/

Cheers