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0 pointsthrav5y ago0 comments

I think this has more to do with our culture making everything about the individual. You can’t name bands anymore, because explosive popularity is the realm of the individual artist.

Even massive individual artists, disappear into relative obscurity when they move into a band format (John Mayer).

Kanye, Taylor, Nicki, Lizzo, Justin, Drake, Ariana, Billie, Miley...

Even hip-hop, which seems like a distinctly individual genre, used to be ruled by groups. NWA, Wu-Tang, Roots, etc.

Our current culture over-values individuals and loves the myth of the one wo/man show. Teams are boring. Give us someone to follow.

You see this with founders too. Even if the company was created by a team, there must be one figurehead.

I guess this is because so much of marketing is aspirational. Most people try to purchase the identity they want. It’s easier to sell an identity with an actual person.

0 comments

tyu25y ago

> Our current culture over-values individuals and loves the myth of the one wo/man show. Teams are boring. Give us someone to follow.

People repeat it often, but it's not true, it can't explain Blankpink, BTS, Twice, Red Velvet, etc. It's probably just americanism to emphasize individuals, but big music is produced by teams (and not small teams) regardless whether it appears to look like an individual.

4dregress5y ago

I think its more about Culture being driven buy corporate profits. Pop music made by people who don't own their masters seem to be slaves of streaming. If you like underground music or music by people who do own their masters then the experience is very different.

For example Greg Pucaito is killing it. Amazing debut album doing really well in all the charts. 100% in control of his and can anything he wants like his recent "Fuck Content" event

Multiplayer5y ago

You see this with... Countries of hundreds of millions of people. The idea that one person is running the United States is ludicrous. The amount of over-attention on the current president is just an amazing case in point. This approach doesn't scale and the resulting lack of progress is holding us all hostage. /rant

syshum5y ago

Where you see over valuing of the individual, I see a massive about of Tribalism, and collectivism. Maybe not in music I admit I am not following music culture very closely but just about every other aspect of human society today (and I suspect music is as well) is deeply steeped in the tribe/group/collective

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