Save the Music...That Depends

As a music lover, as I am sure most of you reading this right now are, I would applaud and champion the phrase “save the music” as a noble and necessary idea. Let’s face it, music is the universal language (sorry “love,” you’ve been demoted due to your many uses, especially the love of money and a ridiculously increasing divorce rate that apparently you cannot even save) of which we all connect and communicate with. But what does “save the music” actually mean? Whose music are we saving and for whom are we saving it?

It seems today, more than ever, music has become more a commodity than a release. More about marketing than emotion. More about accountants than about attitude. Trust me folks, I am not naive. I know that for some, music was always a way to wield power and cash checks. Ever since they started marketing Elvis to sing all of that wonderful, southern black music that those wonderful, black musicians weren’t able to sing themselves because the white kids weren’t “ready” for it, the music industry has been hellbent on stealing the weekly allowances of teenagers all across this country.