The Crisis Of Music

what is the crisis of music these days, that so many people seem to feel, yet find it hard to put in words often? - only to be denounced by those who assure everyone that everything would be "fine". it is that music is only made for petty, small, boring, useless, mindless reasons - to get rich, for fame, for a social position, for greed and material selfgain. to became a star, a megaseller - or at least a "star" within an enclosed "underground scene". music should be made for positive things, for ideals - for the good of humanity, for utopian concepts, to help others, to heal others. to add something good, something truly good and positive and wonderful and fantastic to this world. but this is to most parts lost now. oh, i know a lot of people say this was always the case, just "covered up" so maybe not visible to everyone. but this is far from the truth. even if we would say it was like that, even in the full extent, there is a change in quality now. some promoter or musician might have joined a radical, utopian youth culture for money or fame, and covered it up with nice words. but at least the possiblity of making truly utopian music was acknowledged. these guys might have though "yeah, we are clever, the others strive for social change, but we go for luxury". but nowadays, this position itself has become almost an impossible - for these people. if an electronic musician says he makes music for the revolution, for a free world, for a radical change of the social system, or a peaceful, equal society - he will simply be laughed at, not taken serious, in fact a lot of people would assume he or she has lost his or her mind. because this "utopian viewpoint" is simply not understandable to most people now. almost impossible - but not quite. because, after all, there are still people who believe in the revolution, in a just society and world, and in wonderful, adventurous ideals and concepts. maybe they do not even lack numbers, as opposed to the radical 60s or the punk years of the 70s. but they for sure have become less visible, less "public". in fact, i often get feedback by people who are still radical and dreamers, but most say they feel alienated to the material, greey, shallow music cultures and subcultures that feed the bullshit of the masses and the rest these days. this could be an intermission to say to these people: go on with the struggle! you are for sure not alone. to go on with the topic, if music is not made with a high and positive ideal in mind, it loses all it's value, it's spark, the elements that are interesting and special and outragous (in a good way). this music - becomes the shallow tripe that it is. just think about it - some of music that is most respected and well-known these days, was it not made by dreamers and idealists, who had the most ideal social structures and radical concepts in mind? couldn't that serve as a proof that indeed this way has - its merits? who will think of bands or musicians in 50 years that just swam with their greedy peers in a shallow soup. also what i see a lot these day, is that, especially upcoming musicians, walk a road without orientation. they put a lot of work and energy, and quite some hard sacrifices, into their art. then it first gets ignored, gets picked up by a label or distributor or something else, than "public" interest vanes, and they slowly get back to their start and are in danger of fading into obscurity. this is the danger when music is not based on a high ideal! if you have an ideal - for example, helping people, giving them a positive outlook at life - you have already "attained" everything with your art, when you do this very thing. even if you only help 2-3 people this way, you have done a good deed. and it doesn't matter how many other people listen to your music or stuff like that. and even - which is unlikely - you do not manage to do something good with your art - at least you have tried, and this is noble in itself, and you have done something good and do not have to blame yourself. so what are these high ideals art could be based on? i already mentioned some - to create a revolutionary situation by your music, or helping a radical struggle with your output. music can be a vehicle to make people aware of social and political issues by your lyrics or titles. a noble way is to make music that generally spreads a feeling of amazement, something adventurous, marvelous - for adventure and marvel is what the world needs! and, the most noble act could be, to create art that *heals* others, gives them hope and an outlook and a good foundation for their life. it is no sense to try to make a comprehensive list here - any noble and good and high ideal is worth being put into art. so the next question would be, *how* to put these ideas into? well it should be obvious - just do it. use vocals or lyrics to achieve this, or the direction of your music, the general structure of your art. also there are many many more ways. and, in the end, if you are guided by high ideals when doing your art, they doubtless will end up in your art! so go ahead.