Blog Entry - What does it mean to be a part of the Music Industry?

During the course, an emphasis has been put on the concept of being un-attached to media on a personal level, and being aware of your own part in this whole industry - that fact that we (the common folk) are vulnerable consumers - meaning that as much as many of us consider ourselves to be independent and knowledgeable people, we are essentially slaves to an ongoing cycle of recycled merchandise - and we will buy what they tell us to buy.
An example of this branding being The Sex Pistols, obviously well known - their name being associated with anarchy and rebellion and the fact that they sang with 'working-class accents' helped them to be perceived as 'genuine' and 'relatable' to the masses.
However 40 years later we can see that non-music orientated The Sex Pistols merchandise is commonplace - no longer is it about politics or rebellion or music or anything 'real' - but instead more about the money the industries are  getting off middle class teenagers who choose to invest in a
'The Sex Pistols Mug!'.

The proof is all around us, it's not a debatable issue anymore (not that is ever was) - nor is it necessarily and issue per sae. It is merely consumerism and we as the consumers believe we are swearing loyalty to for example The Sex Pistols by investing into these products, but who is actually gaining from this?

It is fair to say that the music industry is a bit fucked up in that respect - as are the other industries that naturally coincide, this mutual dependency between us (the consumers) and them (the big industries) provokes thought in to whether this will ever change - or if people even want a change.

I'm not about to sit here and devise an alternate utopian society - however I will ask the question why do we as musicians strive to become professionals in this industry when we are aware of the twisted mechanics that keep it running?