As a DJ, I am forced to listen to top 40 music, a
lot. As a professional, it is my job to
remain objective about the music in order to please the client. As an unprofessional, I get sick and tired of
the same uninspired garbage that makes its way on the radio every month. I often find myself criticizing every popular
artist who contributes to the all-powerful top 40, and becoming so irritated
that I switch to talk radio. How does
music this terrible keep reaching the top of the charts? Perhaps that is not the right question to
ask. Perhaps I should be asking: What is it about this kind of music that
appeals to the public?
Top
40 music is a difficult genre to identify because it is made up of every genre
of music. Also, it is difficult to
elaborate on examples of individual songs because the music becomes dated so
quickly. However, the artists of top 40 music
tend to make a career out of this brand of music. I have also noticed that it is not uncommon
for individuals to hate top 40 music, but groups of people to be swept away by
its generic rhythms and melodies. It
would seem that inspiration and artistic integrity always take a back seat to cheap
thrills and selling out. I criticize top 40 music for all these reasons, but
maybe I am not looking at it the right way.
If I
look at top 40 music as a product, rather than an art form, I start to see the
business behind music. The music
industry can be compared to any other industry in America. For example, if inspiring and artistically
superb music is like a five star restaurant, than top 40 music is like the fast
food of music. Fast food is cheap, easy
to produce, and designed to appeal to the general public. When I view top 40 this way, I start to see
its place in our society. Fast food
prays on all the simplest wants of America.
The food is made with little regard for customer’s health, and prays on
the customer’s desire to ingest food that is cooked with grease, fat, and
sugar. The music industry produces top
40 music in the same manor. The music is
written with little regard to the customer’s intelligence, and the content
prays on the simplest forms of human desire such as sex, drugs, and money.
Top
40 music is not produced for serious music listeners. It is made with the intention of being easy
to listen to, and easy to interoperate. America
will always pray on the basic desires of the population in order to sell
products. Viewing top 40 music in
another light has made me realize that the problem is not in the artists. It is the job of top 40 artists to appeal to
the masses, which means that the fault lies in us.
Terry, this piece runs a little short, and that's because it needs a couple of specific examples. This amorphous thing called Top 40 takes a beating but we never quite get to see exactly what it is. One interesting thing your post points out, though, is how much of the music we listen to is not by choice. I'd like to hear a little more about how you see the world differently when it so often has a soundtrack of music you hate.
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