You must have heard Gangnam Style by PSY. A quite recent song void of meaning, even in the Korean dialect, yet has become one of the most popular songs in the world today. Blame it on the media. Blame it on a record label with a gargantuan budget but not the patience to train and groom artistes...no love for the craft they claim to be out to propagate.
In the past few weeks, we also witnessed the misadventure of a mediocre actress who tried to further infect the music industry with the shallowness spewing over from Nollywood, however, she went overboard by a long shot. Tonto Dikeh is the perfect example of where the Nigerian music industry is headed in the next decade if it is not sanitized now. I personally believe the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) or the Nigerian Institute of Standards (NIS) has to come into the entertainment industry and start getting rid of these substandard pieces of art.
Some have pointed to the need to make a living, but art is not a commodity made for the love of money; It is made for the love of the art! Others strive to give the fans what the fans want, but they forget they are professionals. Would a doctor prescribe anti-biotics to a diabetic rather than insulin simply because that's what the patient wants?
Finally, PMAN itself is not helping. They are supposed to be the guild which accredits performers, musicians, and singers, yet the process of admission of members remains unclear. As an apprentice musician, or upcoming artist, one must create a piece of work which masters in the industry will examine, and if they pass it as a MASTERPIECE, then will such an apprentice be admitted as a master of their craft, and granted membership of the guild. Whether PMAN scrutinizes works by upcoming artistes in order to make them members, I really doubt. They simply grant membership to anyone the media has made popular. Imagine if such yardstick were used in other fields such as Accounting, Law, Medicine, Piloting, and Engineering. We'd all be dead by now.
As every Nigerian who is buoyant enough to pay the top music producers, video producers, radio and television stations keeps popping up as music artists, the industry itself is veering out of control toward that very same iceberg which sank the Titanic, and I'm afraid there will be no survivors.
Lovely piece sir. As a DIE-HARD lover of music, I sincerely agree that our music industry has suffered much degradation and desecration. Gone are the days when we appreciated songs for their lyrics. Many of us go for beats/instrumentals now...SIMPLY BECAUSE WE WANT TO DANCE...SMH. Good one with this piece.
ReplyDeleteI rep both #TeamBlogger and #TeamPerv. Cheers!
I totally agree... Instrumentals are our solution at the moment but also there is a lot of artists doing good music. They just don't get the same media exposure so it is hard to find them!
DeleteHonestly, I fear for the kind of music we will leave behind for our children and what they would transform such music into. There was a time when we could write out the lyrics of songs, and find meaning to the situations we were passing through in life, and how to get through them. Today though, it's the very opposite.
DeleteYes, while i agree that some of the art produced today is of questionable quality, i disagree with your suggestion that the answer is more censorship.
ReplyDeleteDo you want the world to become China, the censorship headquarters of the world? Has the insane level of censorship in China actually improved Chinese life?
If art is about self-expression, who has the right to express themselves? And if everyone has the right to express themselves, then who has the right to deny them the opportunity to do so?
Sometimes we want the world to be a better place. That is not a bad sentiment. The problem is, we often want a better world for ourselves, and at significant cost to the happiness of others.
I'm not calling for censorship, what I am suggesting is Quality Control. I was reading a blog some days back where the effects of bad music on babies was being analysed. There are serious detriments.
DeleteThere is a body already which is responsible for what musicians can say in their music, and what they cannot. What I'm talking about here is grading and standards. Like I mentioned earlier, most of these new "entertainers", they're not not artists, they are in the industry to make money, and the standard of goods and services any business is offering must be scrutinized, and controlled.
There are several other Nigerian industries which would have collapsed if not for the checks on standards. Thank you.
I love the title of the piece!!! well done!!
ReplyDeleteThanks...thanks. Browse by some other time.
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