I recently had an interesting discussion with one of my history classes regarding what the music industry is currently trying to classify as "music." The discussion started because were were talking about the origins of rock and roll in the 1950's with stars like Elvis, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino, Bill Haley, Little Richard, etc.
I half expected the class to be turned off by some of the 1950's music that I played. To my pleasant surprise, most students seemed to at least appreciate the fact that this stuff was life-changing for the people listening to it in the 50's and how it would pave the way for future decades of music.
We then decided to talk about the themes of music in the 50's in comparison with music that is popular in 2008. That led to the topic of American Idol being brought up. As a huge music fan myself, I can appreciate the talent that some American Idol contestants possess. However, on the whole, many of them possess no musical talent aside from having a good voice. They are winning a karaoke contest on national TV. They aren't singing their own songs, and when they do make it big thanks to the show, many of them go on to produce albums of music that they don't write themselves. Nothing worse than stereotypical, corporately produced pop music that guys in suits think American teenagers will sympathize with.
I was also surprised (and pleased) that most students in my class agreed that they don't tend to respect the American Idol stars. Again, I respect the fact that they have good voices, but when they are able to write and produce their own creative music that doesn't sound like every other band in the world, thats when I will start to pay attention.
What are your thoughts on Idol?
I half expected the class to be turned off by some of the 1950's music that I played. To my pleasant surprise, most students seemed to at least appreciate the fact that this stuff was life-changing for the people listening to it in the 50's and how it would pave the way for future decades of music.
We then decided to talk about the themes of music in the 50's in comparison with music that is popular in 2008. That led to the topic of American Idol being brought up. As a huge music fan myself, I can appreciate the talent that some American Idol contestants possess. However, on the whole, many of them possess no musical talent aside from having a good voice. They are winning a karaoke contest on national TV. They aren't singing their own songs, and when they do make it big thanks to the show, many of them go on to produce albums of music that they don't write themselves. Nothing worse than stereotypical, corporately produced pop music that guys in suits think American teenagers will sympathize with.
I was also surprised (and pleased) that most students in my class agreed that they don't tend to respect the American Idol stars. Again, I respect the fact that they have good voices, but when they are able to write and produce their own creative music that doesn't sound like every other band in the world, thats when I will start to pay attention.
What are your thoughts on Idol?
