What on earth is wrong with society!

Pollyanna

Platinum Member
I was looking at the news. Sports articles often go into the science and art behind what the players do. The music articles seem to mostly talk about the business, the artists' private lives and what's on.

The govt gives far more in grants to sports than the arts. Then there's all the corporate sponsorship. To be fair, both the govt and corporations put a dead hand to almost everything they do. Sure, lots of people play sports themselves but many have had music lessons, and most listen regularly.

I enjoy sports but my point is that it's so much more popular than the arts it's redikulouss! (at least in this country)

I don't geddit. What the [expletive] is wrong with people!!

Sorry, just had to vent.
 
Agree, corporate sponsorship and govt grants is almost inexistant in arts, which to a certain degree affect many of the population, certainely in regards to music, everyone's enjoying music one way or another :)

The pony club where my daughter is riding (that's a sport, right?) never ever recieved any grants from local authorities or local industries,and that's not because we didn't ask, it's a disgrace, if it was a football club, it would have been granted :(

No one seems to care about musicians, painters, sculptors or any kind of art related issues, it's a real shame.
 
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Yeah. How about those sob story articles about poor sportspeople doing it tough coming up. For musos, it's a given.

Many sports people get carried through by ultra supportive parents who'd spit on 'em if they were playing in a rock band. But elite sports has the money because it has the audience and the means of generating income from that audience.

It ain't right, I say!
 
Yes but when corporate sponsors do get involved with music such as sponsoring a bands tour it just seems to do nothing but drive up prices of tickets, etc so that the "Everyman" can barely afford to participate, if at all. And when government gets involved via grants, etc. then you get restrictions and censorship. It often seems to be damned if you do, damned if you don't.
 
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Good vent Pol, but the harsh truth is simple. Economics.

The economics of sport is far more tangible, predictable, lucrative than anything arts related. Professional sport is10 times the money-spinner that a music or theatre related event or festival could ever be.

You are right in that both sport & music/arts are intrinsic to society, but sports translates into very tangible benefits compared to music. It is easy argued that sports is good for health and builds communities. This very quickly scales up to very large numbers and turns into a big business. It could be said that the arts is good for your health too, but its a less convincing argument.

Compare the poster boys.. Roger Federer versus Keith Richards. Who is more aspirational to the 99%? Who would you want you son to be ?

Before you jump down my throat, Im just playing devils advocate.

PS- great timing on this thread, Pol. As I write this, a big event promotion company has suddenly dropped the idea of a 3 gig 3 city tour with Linkin Park, Maroon 5 and Enrique Inglesias and have decided to start a pro - wrestling channel instead


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It's all about money - Dear Polly! The money talks, the bullshit walks...

But "Life is Short and Art is Long."
 
I say we should go on strike. No music, anywhere for 30 days. Then when we come back, we quadruple our prices. That'll show em lol...
 
No doubt it's all about money, but money is a measure of demand. Chickens and eggs.

How long has this been going on? People crowded the arenas to see gladiators kill and main each other and Christians being et by lions. I'm not a historian but I get the impression that the grand operas were not as massive or frequent.

Now, admittedly, we have grand musical spectacles in stadiums but sports attract those crowds and more week in and week out.

It's all screwy. People making love is considered obscene but people getting punched or shot is family entertainment.
 
The Romans used to fill the Coliseum for Gladiator battles and the like but never for lute or flute players.
Sorry Polly I posted without reading your post above, but I think that is the history of we humans.
 
Governments and corporations love competitive, meat eater types. They love to see a tackle in a football game that's so vicious they they wonder how the other guy gets up. They love the people in corporations that kick ass and take names as they quickly climb the latter.

They like what they know and it's always about the money.
 
It's all screwy. People making love is considered obscene but people getting punched or shot is family entertainment.

Yep, you see it on the news every day, many people don't even care about it anymore, it's just a routine , there's almost no news headlines on TV without an act of violence commited somewhere in this world, it's pathetic.

The same goes for some film makers, this industry is saturating the world with films which contains violence, murder, swearing, immoral topics and the likes, and a 12 years old adolescent can go and watch these movies, sad really, but it's ok to find sponsorship to make this type of business, it brings money in their pockets, who care about moral and etiquette, heck, only money matters.

In the mid 80's, I was part of a comitee to create an art center in my home town, it was "sponsorised" by the local authorities, after many months of preparation, we finally open the doors to welcome live bands within many styles of music and artists to display their paintings or sculpturs. After a little shy start for the first few weeks, it soon became very popular, and many local bands, including mine has played there, and for once I thought that the authorities had made a good decision, but I was thinking too soon, upon a few complaints from some residents, the local authorites closed the art center after a very short 6 months, the bands were playing on saturday nights from about 9 pm 'til 11 pm, nothing dramatical about it, the rest of the week it was an art gallery, and that's not making any noise, isn't it, be neverthless, they closed it, to say the least, I was furious and disapointed as many other musos within my home town.

Unless you're a big money making artist or band, life will be hard to get there, and you can only dream of any support or sponsoship but to look upon yourself.
 
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Most people don't understand the Arts.
Plain and simple.

Funding for the arts simply reflects popular traits.

Have you ever tried to share something artistic with someone who just doesn't get it?
You mite as well be talking about Quantum Physics!
 
For those about to die...We salute you!
Who might be wrong? The modern-day gladiators trying to survive or the savage consuming public...asking for more?
 
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I say we should go on strike. No music, anywhere for 30 days. Then when we come back, we quadruple our prices. That'll show em lol...

That's another issue, Larry. We can't strike. The minute we stop, the un-hirable hack musicians will fill that void and take the gigs. It'll suck for a while, but then people will just get used to it.
 
I see no reason why people can't just have sports teams, music groups and any other kinds of endeavors, without government help.

I mean, does anyone need a grant to do any of this stuff?

True. As I mentioned earlier the suits have a dead hand that we'd rather not be anywhere near music.

Having said that, they give the dosh to Kipling's flannelled fools and muddied oafs while the arts is ignored, and that says something in itself ...


Governments and corporations love competitive, meat eater types. They love to see a tackle in a football game that's so vicious they they wonder how the other guy gets up. They love the people in corporations that kick ass and take names as they quickly climb the latter.

Yeah, that's what it says ... many of the people with the bucks pushing their beer and circuses on us are either meat heads or wannabes.


... upon a few complaints from some residents, the local authorites closed the art center after a very short 6 months, the bands were playing on saturday nights from about 9 pm 'til 11 pm, nothing dramatic about it, the rest of the week it was an art gallery, and that's not making any noise, isn't it, be neverthless, they closed it, to say the least, I was furious and disapointed as many other musos within my home town.

Let me guess ... it was replaced by something sports or gambling related ... what a shame, you had a great gig.


Have you ever tried to share something artistic with someone who just doesn't get it? You mite as well be talking about Quantum Physics!

Bob, increasingly Yoda-like you are becoming!


That's another issue, Larry. We can't strike. The minute we stop, the un-hirable hack musicians will fill that void and take the gigs. It'll suck for a while, but then people will just get used to it.

Yes, my band is waiting in the wings ready for you hotshots to give up MWUHAHAHA
 
it's unfortunate Polly, I don't know about down under, but in the states college sports is HUGE business, even though the athletes don't get paid, college football is a multi-billion $ empire. I was blessed to have studied music theory in college by 2 wold class proffessors, and we used to vent about it all the time how sports got all the $$$.
 
I was looking at the news. Sports articles often go into the science and art behind what the players do. The music articles seem to mostly talk about the business, the artists' private lives and what's on.

The govt gives far more in grants to sports than the arts. Then there's all the corporate sponsorship. To be fair, both the govt and corporations put a dead hand to almost everything they do. Sure, lots of people play sports themselves but many have had music lessons, and most listen regularly.

I enjoy sports but my point is that it's so much more popular than the arts it's redikulouss! (at least in this country)

I don't geddit. What the [expletive] is wrong with people!!

Sorry, just had to vent.

It seems to me that the people that we have reviewing music are all too often not musicians, whereas sports retains ex-athletes at least as advisors. Instead of discussing drop D tunings, harmonies, 12 Bar Blues, syncopations, shuffles, riffs, etc, our music mag reviewers are too busy yacking on and on about Mick's lips, Iggie's (lack of) attire, or how many masks Peter Gabriel can wear in one show. I don't think any music publications that I know of have ever tried to hire people who were technically capable to even discuss musical issues - only observations that any non-musician would have about an artist, with the exception of technical mags like Drum, or Guitar magazines. I wondered from the first Queen concert I ever attended how Brian May could harmonize with himself. Why did Rolling Stone or Circus never wonder about things like that?
 
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