But surf a couple videos and WatchMojo Top-10 Lists start showing up in your YouTube suggestions.
With WatchMojo's top-10 videos at about 10 minutes in length, I clicked for a couple minutes of fluff. So what kept me in for 10 minutes was the ridiculous criteria. Here are some quotes:
"we're looking for members of the Rock-n-Rock know for the D-Baggy-ness"
"w'ere not saying these people are D-Bags, we're just saying we see how other people do"
At this point, the criteria is weak, and WatchMojo is not even standing behind the list.
Possibly the only line that caused me to giggle was the observation: Ted Nugent is living off Cat Scratch Fever for several decades. (Actually, Ted Nugent's "Stanglehold" is a very very good song (and known for its bass line) but not much else in Mr. Nugent's catalog.)
So what is the criteria for D-Baggy-ness in Rock? Well it's not the same as for film: the top D-Bags of Movies seem to all have over the top egos and meanness and huge work-related problems ... Naomi Cambell's assaulting her maid with a cell phone seemed over the top.
But one musician was criticized by WatchMojo because he sued Napster for giving away music for free, i.e., defending his intellectual property rights. Now that doesn't make him a clear-cut villain, and with that in mind, maybe you'll watch this WatchMojo collection because making a top-10 list of villains should have a bit more consistency (and worthiness) in their criteria.
WatchMojo: Top 10 D-Bags of Rock
By the end of this, the criteria seems to be "some anonymous person complained about something, possibly unsubstantiated, and they've made the D-Bag list".
And, unlike assaulting and injuring your maid with a cell phone - which I believe there is widespread agreement that this is faulty behavior of Naomi Campbell, what about suing Napster? I think that's a serious issue and debater among musicians and the music industry itself ... there are several valid arguments and not all on the same side of the argument.
Hey, not everything has to be serious ... we can talk about Fluff from time to time, right? :-)
I have thought about this for years,but haven't read enough to have an informed opinion. There are arguments on both sides. In general, I am for copyright protection the concept of protecting intellectual property. Previously, as a worker, we used to discuss the cost of each new edition of Windows or some other software, why we had to buy it (or a license for many users) and we would sit around and say that the actual physical purchase of the item just cost pennies to produce, but it was the years of work that went into the new version that the consumer pays for. We would say the same thing about the cost of new pharmaceuticals - the actual pills themselves might cost pennies, but it could take billions of dollars & years of research to find the unique molecule and then get it tested in clinical trials & so forth. Both the software and the new drug had to be protected by copyright (or patent). Anyway, I have thought about it and discussed the matter with friends for years, but never read a book I bought years ago entitled "Copyrighting Culture" by Bettig. It's near the bottom of a moderate-size stack of books - maybe I'll read it soon, considering you brought up this very interesting question, if so, I'll let you know what I think.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, as for Napster. I definitely remember the time when it first started and I thought it was tremendously exciting - likewise the subsequent "torrents" and so forth although I must say I never downloaded anything myself and never would. Later, this all became "moot" as Youtube made it possible to watch practically anything for free (ad revenue solved the problem of providing culture to the masses - exactly as on TV).
As for the "dirt bag" ethos? Eh. It must appeal to adolescents' or teens' rebelliousness of course - and probably many who never really escape the "pirate" rebel mindset.
Not to be a bore, but I enjoy rap music, even if it sometimes is overtly misogynistic. Back in the day, when the old school was still new school, I enjoyed the recordings of artists like LL Cool J ("I'm Bad" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVDfyc2lh4Q). The classics - Sir Mixalot, Slick Rick, NWA, etc. I guess that really dates me. (OTOH I thought a lot of punk was hype.) But I also enjoy many other genres - even different forms of metal. I don't mind any of it - even at loudness 11. But I also like less frenetic rock. Folk. Even country music. Nowadays I mostly listen to jazz or classical. If I had to pick the recordings of one artist or band that I could have to listen to on a deserted island it would probably be Duke Ellington.
Helen, there a couple things about music that are worth knowing.
ReplyDeleteThe first is that the music business has changed a lot, and changed again a lot, and again. Since the 1960s, the music business was about writing songs, cultivating bands (remember when bands like the Beatles had multiple albums in a year?), and being there for the long haul. The 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, have each had their own changes and quirks. Largely, now no one actually buys music, the royalties are less (except if you're a very big mega star), and most of your money is made performing shows (both famous and obscure artists). My friend Josh Melville (early Island resident, was part of the Performing Arts students here on the Island in the 1970s/1980s, and was in the original movie Fame) continued in the music business and is now an expert, he writes under the pen name Moses Avalon, see his book: Confessions of a Record Producer: 10th Anniversary Edition, Revised and Updated. I've heard his explanations and the business has changed several times over the decades.
The second point, is that intellectual property and respect for intellectual property rights is important, even if the artist is only making a penny off of a sale or streaming play. While all of us would love to have all our music for free, that's not right, and immoral ... even if we've mastered the technology to overcome the barriers to free downloads. Fortunately these days, I have Spotify (much better than iTunes) and a can consume unlimited music for $9.95/month, and feel like I am getting the music legitimately rather the getting it boot-legged.
Lastly, is the D-bag aspect merely of a younger generation or was this "curator" (is that the right name for someone who works for WatchMojo?) just had poor thinking? Poor thinking is not just limited to youth, right? :-)