When is music not music? At what point does a musical artist cross from the realm of musical performance into the realm of performance art/theatre?
I ask myself this after watching a news segment about concertgoers walking out on Britney Spears in Perth, Australia recently. Apparently, they were shocked and appalled that Britney wasn’t singing live; she was lip-synching the whole time. I’m shocked myself. Shocked at the fact that they didn’t see that coming!
It’s common knowledge (or so I thought) that lots of pop artists use pre-recorded tracks live, including, quite often, their vocals. This is usually to insure that the audience gets to hear actual singing while they do their crazy choreography, instead of them just huffing and puffing through the song.
Milli Vanilli where are you now? Those guys (minus the one that died) have to be pretty disgusted by this modern pop landscape. Their career went into the toilet when the fans found out that not only were they lip-synching, the voices being heard were not those of Rob and Fab, but studio singers. Imagine how different that scenario would have been if they had debuted in 2008 instead of 1988. In this day and age, a savvy producer can take any bum off the street and make a passable performance out of their off-key warbling. I don’t know how much actual singing talent those dudes had, but it’s for sure that if they’d had the technology that we do now, any lack thereof could have been masked and a huge scandal avoided.
So let me get this straight. Almost two decades ago, a major record label (Arista) dumped a huge-selling artist for lip-synching live, but today, it’s almost encouraged, expected. Talent seems to be secondary to performance ability and image. As long as the “artist” has the look and the moves, the rest (the actual MUSIC!) can be manufactured in the studio.
Aussie Britney fans, I feel your pain. But at the same time, I’m shaking my head in amazement that you are fans of this manufactured product, yet you actually expected to get an authentic experience out of her live show. Don’t you see that it’s not about the music? If you’re a fan of the music, good for you. But that’s not really the point. The music is merely a vehicle by which money travels from your pocket into someone else’s.
I’m pretty much done ranting now.
Keep it on the ONE y’all.
MooT
PS: Remember when the Black Eyed Peas were a Hip-Hop group? Those were the days…
Lol. Right on.
“At what point does a musical artist cross from the realm of musical performance into the realm of performance art/theatre?”
when they start lip-syncing, lol. If you at least sing on your record (no matter how bad) you can qualify for the title of musical artist. But once you hit the stage, and you are no longer using your vocal chords to hit notes, and all your doing is dancing while acting like you are singing, then you are no longer a musical artist doing a musical performance. You are now a performance artist, because instead of being occupied with actually making some type of music, you are concentrating on the performance part.
Of course the biggest thing is the shock of this audiance. Moot, I too am “Shocked at the fact that they didn’t see that coming!”. Does that say somthing about Austrailians, or pop fans in general? I dunno. great post.
Man, “you hit the nail on the head” once again! Couldn’t have said it better myself.
I don’t really thing that it’s a bad reflection on Australian fans, cause that could have happened anywhere. But it is interesting that this hasn’t happened before. People amaze me LOL.
I don’t remember the rag, but I saw a statement in a music magazine 10 years ago asking, “When did country music become performance art?” I’m not really into country music, but I figure if it’s happening in that part of the industry, it’s in the rest of it. I hear the same digital artifacts from pitch adjustment, see the same stage antics that trump musical ability, and see the same lip-syncing. A few years ago watching the Superbowl Pregame Show, as Shania Twain was singing away, she stopped singing to shake hands with some of the audience members close to the stage. But, hey! Her voice is still blaring from the PA! Granted, the outdoor venue of the Superbowl is a tough one that begs for lip-syncing, but as that type of music becomes less ‘country’ and more ‘southern rock’ every day, as they compete with other forms of music in live settings, they’re bound to end up lip-syncing, too.
Nearly ALL music (at least so-called ‘popular music’) has become more performance art than the art of music. Just the other night while watching the Grammys, I saw an R&B singer going through wild gyrations with a gaggle of backup dancers while supposedly singing. I told my wife, “You can forget the notion that she’s actually singing while dancing like that. No one can do that.” She hid behind the microphone well, but sure enough, the camera slipped and showed her lips when they didn’t sync with the music. OK, sure, it’s the Grammys. But when they go at it like that onstage for two hours, is that going to be better or worse?
It was all said best in an ad in Variety a few years ago, something like, “Wanted: Three females for an all-female pop vocal group. Must be attractive, have a good stage presence, and look good in a video. Singing ability a plus…” When the video became an integral part of the music package, image and visual impression became everything. The music was something that could be ‘fixed’ as long as the artist looks good.
It started in the studio with digital pitch adjustment and the ‘wall of sound’ from the best session musicians they could find. Stables of songwriters churn out one formulaic work after another, often with a particular artist in mind, so songwriting ability is certainly not essential. Then when artists started getting their workouts from their stage choreography, realizing that the aerobic exercise precluded any idea of singing on key without heavy breathing, lip-syncing onstage became acceptable, at least to The Business.
So-called ‘pop stars’ aren’t musicians anymore. They are prefabricated ‘entertainers’. They don’t have to understand the first thing about music, write their own songs, play an instrument, or even sing well. As long as they look good, all of the above can be ‘fixed’. A friend that’s been a professional musician for twenty years said these days, a musician over 30 starting out can forget making it in the music business. You’re too old for the target demographic. An established musician over 40 will struggle to hang on unless he or she can make themselves look ten years younger. The Business can fix a lack of talent in any area, but they can’t fix ‘old’, ‘old’ is unattractive, and unattractive won’t cut it no matter how talented you are.
It is amazing that people who listen to ‘popular music’ are so shocked when they find out about the scam that is pop music. Isn’t that what they’ve been paying for? Have they not been succumbing to the visual more than the auditory since the Buggles heralded the death of the radio star on MTV? Quaffing the Kool-Aid of musical mediocrity just to be able to watch someone gyrate their posterior in painted-on pants?
Perhaps the shock is merely the manifestation of their embarrassment that when they were buying that person’s music, they were actually being sold a load of bovine scatology, and they either didn’t see the warning signs or ignored them. As long as the public has the ability to pretend that their chain isn’t being jerked, it’s OK. But when they can no longer pretend and look stupid because of it, suddenly they’re ‘shocked’.
Hey Savage!
Your commentary is excellent.
Have you ever considered starting a blog? It’s something I would read!
Moot
Shania Twain is way better than taylor swift when it comes to country music.*;’
she can really make great music and oh by the way Shania Twain is also very beautiful with perfectly sculpted teeth,..
what i do love shania twain is that she has a very pretty face and a good voice~,”
It really is an interesting trend with the mainstream music industry turning itself into an entertainment business, focused less on art and more on products. And now, with the internet, a whole alternative avenue of distribution has opened up for actual artists who want to be heard and could never make it as part of the corporate machine.
I think that when a band has a better chance of making it when their song is used in a Geico ad than by getting on the radio, it really says something about how music is treated nowadays.
the thing that i like Shania Twain is her very emotionally driven songs.’:
lol, now she just lip syncs because she too lazy, soon shell just have people cart her out on stage with a ghetto blaster and she’ll just bob her head.