Grammy Awards and the ills of the music business

Grammy Awards show last night, didn't watch it... apparently a lot of other people didn't either.

The entertainment industry is a curious one, never has there been an industry so prone to self-congragulation for being the torch bearer of popular culture while at the same being hostile to changing itself as a result of how our culture is changing. It's almost embarrassing to see how many awards shows for themselves the entertainment industry hosts... but it's really not about awards is it, it's about photo opps and press coverage because as much as celebrities complain about being in the public eye, it is the public eye that sustains their celebrity.

It's almost funny to think that the Grammy producers trott out people like Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, and U2 year after year as a reflection of the fact that their dwindling audience actually knows these artists. The driving force behind the single greatest disruptive force in music since the advent of radio itself, mp3 downloading, is a market that wasn't even born when these tired faces were starting their careers... in fact, CD's weren't even mass market.

And how is it that they can convince themselves that giving awards for album/song of the year to product released 2 years ago is okay?


Technorati Tags: grammy, tired+faces, celebrities, who+cares