MEAGAN CLEMENTS | staff writer

Students should start supporting underground music.

Some people agree with what they hear on the radio, while others are disgusted by it. There are plenty of talented artists who get radio airplay. But the same songs played in circulation on popular radio stations outnumber the music of today’s deserving musicians.

Just as I need air to breathe, I need music to soothe my soul. When radio succumbs to spinning rap numbers about lip gloss and candy shops rather than heartfelt anthems that inspire a call to action within our lives, I get frustrated.

It is sad to see the artist/audience relationship slowly fade as record label executives become greedy over money and the next big act. What we see today are artists who have sold their souls to the music industry and their tunes as well.

There is no longer room for creativity and individuality where money is concerned. Money, in short, can be defined as the deciding factor over which major labels choose artists based on popularity and their potential for success rather than their originality.

As college students, we have the power to help define our generation based on the music we actually listen to rather than on those lifeless, blasé duds of artists who continually buy their way to the top of the pop charts.

For some artists, the music industry has many kinks to work out.

“It’s very conformist and corporate. It seems to me the industry spends too much time and money following trends and not setting them,” said folk/rock singer/songwriter Dave Yaden of The Weight.

Are you listening? The truth behind the music industry is that the fans are the ones who support the music they love, and they deserve better than “processed pop”, “lousy lyrics” and word that yet another homogenized “newbie” just went triple platinum in one week.

Back in the late 1950s to the early 1960s, music was an experimental thing. Artists such as Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry didn’t want ownership by their record label. They had a vision, and they were more curious to see if they could make that vision a reality than how grand the red carpet looked or how much money they made.
According to indie music website http://www.areyoulistening.com, “Most of the big radio and media companies have followed suit and now everything is based on stock prices and quarterly earnings. Accountants don’t know music so they put a bunch of money into a few really homogenized, talentless artists.”

With radio’s current focus turning to selling advertising, rather than marketing good music, listeners are fed lousy, uninspiring songs and left feeling as if there is little hope for the deserving musicians who lurk in the shadows and lie undiscovered.

The conniving label executives of major labels have figured out how to manipulate the situation and hypnotize the innocent minds of those that sit on the other end of the radio and television.

So where in the massive fields of radio and commercialization is an artist who has what it takes to rise above this travesty and rescue that artist/audience relationship, which is the only thing that matters in the first place?

It all starts with a simple task. Those of you who feel passionate about truth and sincerity in an artist’s music can call your local radio station and request the kind of music that you want to hear.

By calling radio stations and alerting them of the types of artists whom you feel deserve to be recognized, you are being one catalyst to what could be a radio revolution.

You are the music fan and it is your voice that matters. How many times have you watched MTV and thought, “This isn’t music! This is garbage!” Why should you let radio and MTV control the type of music you listen to?

Get involved by supporting new talent and seeing live music; join a fan club or message board of a favorite artist.

It all starts with one individual. Are you ready to save original music and the radio before they die? Are you listening?