Mainstream music today

Mainstream music today (at least on MTV, BET, VH1 and mainstream radio) is quite repulsive. Mariah Carey now has more number one hits than any other pop artist except the Beatles, recently surpassing Elvis Presley. This is only further proof to mainstream music's decline in recent years. Yes, it never used to be this way in the '60s and '70s. Back then most mainstream artists were actually talented.

What's sad is that many of these artists are winning Grammys, which are awards that were at one time much more credible. Grammys are partly based on record sales, which automatically leaves out any musician who is unsigned or on an independent label. Some of the best music on the planet will never be heard by the majority of people on this earth. Currently, the majority of this country has heard of R. Kelly, Hannah Montana, and Britney Spears, but the majority has also not heard of Sufjan Stevens, Pinback, or Electric Needle Room (ha!)

What makes a pop song? Well, a pop song is a POPular song. What makes a song popular? Money. Money controls what we are able to listen to on most radio stations, MTV, BET, VH1, and even Pandora. The gatekeepers, even in this internet age, consistently continue to control what we listen to on a regular basis. Casual music fans don't even notice. People like me who go far out of the mainstream to find new music do, and we feel special and/or cool for noticing all of these "indie" bands.

But now, thanks to shows like Grey's Anatomy, "indie" is pop. "Indie" is in style, at least on television. Just listen to 75 percent of television commercials- they all contain a great song from an "indie" artist. Still, this "indie" artist most of the time truly is not "indie," because much power and money was put forth to get these "indie" songs in commercials and on TV.

I challenge you today to discover an artist who is not on a record label. Check out my Myspace page and you will see many bands that are my myspace friends that are unsigned but freaking good.