The major label music industry is helping to save local indie scenes. Really. Don't believe me? Here's the proof:

The 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Yeah, I know. I like to pretend that I watch these media travesties each year in hopes of catching something fresh or worthwhile (yet knowing that it will all be mockable fodder).

Quote of the evening goes to the Rage Against the Machine bandmember who, from atop a prop, exclaimed, "We played for you guys!". Seems like he was stating the obvious, but unfortunately Rage was one of the few acts of the evening that actually did play. So accepting is the current 'rock audience' of lip sync routines by such newcomers as Britny Spears and *N Sync, as well as seasoned veterans like Janet Jackson, that it makes you wonder what crime it really was that Milli Vanilli's Rob Pilatus drove himself into depression and died for.

At least in the case of Milli Vanilli, there were real people behind the voices on the record. Comparison: Madonna's performance a few years back with Lenny Kravitz of her song "Ray of Light". For whatever reason, the 'material girl' decided to sing live. Ick. Viewers were treated to an out of tune, unforgettable for the wrong reasons rendition of what is a crystal clear recording. It was proof that, after all of the pitch correcting, layering, compressing, and other processing was done, Madonna's sound is so reliant on machines that she might as well be considered an android.

And that's the standard. If you do manage to get a live singer, they're more than likely singing to a prerecorded track. Very expensive karaoke has replaced real entertainment in our "Who wants to be a Millionaire even if it's for all the Wrong Reasons?" world.

Or there's my favorite: the sloppy guitar band, that tries to be 'indie-esque' but somehow manages to have almost as much relevance as .38 Special. Every label's got one now! Maybe they'll each be lucky enough to get a Rob Thomas-like guest appearance on some established act's recording that will help push sales of their middle of the road pop drivel that seems to be the only 'alternative' to boybands on the dial.

The more I see this crap churned out as entertainment, the more interested I get in being a better performer, in experiencing a little 'old school' like writing songs that are meant to be sung instead of whined. The more this is the norm, the more the norm for me is to turn it off and go to a club and see real music, or buy a local CD instead of the latest major label ear candy. And I know I'm not the only one.

So indeed, the current state of music in the mainstream IS sending people out into their own communities in search of entertainment and musical fulfillment. For once, they've done something right.

Dana Detrick-Clark
dana@thezone.org

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For more on Dana, check out her band (Post Orgasmic Trauma) and record label (Serious Vanity).