Thursday Music

When it comes to popular music often times I feel as if I'm late to the party. Maybe it's because the stations I do listen to (yes I'm one of the few who still listens to terrestrial radio when commuting) play music that's less than fresh. The FM dial is certainly littered with diverse music, but the only DJs that broadcast up to date artists are only interested in broadcasting Justin Beiber and the like.

I was sitting with a few colleagues last night at happy hour and all of them candidly admitted they never actually pay for most of the content they consume. I understand this mentality, but I never got past the moral aspect that it's theft, plain and simple. Plus I feel I should support the artists that may or may not enrich my life with their work so they keep producing things I enjoy.

Timing is everything in art and kids rule the market when it comes to music. They buy the most, so it makes sense that the industry caters to them first. Take a trip down memory lane with me, when music was more interested in targeting the young adult market, when people still bought CDs. We had a more mature sound, lyrics that were a bit compelling, and songwriters were actually interested in producing great albums and not just singles.

Sure a lot of the music back then was silly, but I found popular music was more diverse then. Perhaps if consumers actually cared about the humanities we'd find more art that was directed at us.

So today I bring you Candlebox for those who like to reminisce:

"People think life on the road is a dream. It isn't. It's lonely and oft times, troublesome. If it weren't for the fans and their energy, I'd just as soon stay home. But that's what feeds the gypsy soul. That connection." - Kevin Martin