Can Somebody Take Out The Trash?

It never ceases to amaze me...

I can see why the independent revolution has come full force and rightfully so. I actually sat through an hour of radio while I was driving home stuck in traffic (because my cd player was on the blitz) but my ears were hurting...I was absolutely horrified by some of the 'stuff' that I heard(I can't even fix my mouth to call that garbage MUSIC and that's even an understatement). Every five minutes, I could hear myself saying "what kind of crap IS this?" I have to say that out of an hour's worth of music, I probably only liked 2 of the songs, and that was between 4 different stations...is that pitiful or what?

Well, one of the songs that I liked was actually from a new independent artist participating on one of those "battle" programs, where they have two local artists compete to be the champion. This champion is selected by the "listeners". Now, I never listen to this program, so I thought that I would entertain myself, since I didn't have anything else to listen to (I think I would have rather listen to nothing after that hour).

The challenger's music was played first. I have to admit that this was one of the best songs I had heard in a long time (I listen to a little hip-hop here and there), but this was a great club song, I just knew it would win, especially compared to the so-called champion song that was played next (one of those times I was screaming at the top of my lungs, "what kind of crap IS this?") Well, the challenger lost by ONE vote and I'm like they can't be serious.

I felt this was a lost opportunity for the challenger because although we heard the song, there was no other information about how to get the song, who the artist was or anything else identifying how I could get my hands on it. Although people voted for the challenger's song, there is absolutely NO WAY to get in touch with this person to see if he has a digital download of the music. I didn't hear the artist's name but I do remember the song, however the DJs weren't exactly sure if they were pronouncing it correctly. What wasted effort for such good music.

Sure, he got some free promotion from it, but what was promoted exactly? I heard the song one time, who knows if and when I'll ever get to hear it again. I tried calling the station to get some contact information if possible, but the line was busy for at least an hour. The DJs that were hosting that show would have been gone past this point and with all of this effort and no progress, I grew discouraged and just gave up. I really enjoyed the song, but unfortunately I'll never know who the artist was or anything. That's how the "suits" keep control over people. Yeah, they'll give us 3 minutes of local fame, but past that, what have you really gained for all of the time you waited to get the airplay, all of the politics to get chosen for the airplay and then they don't even pronounce your name correctly...and then if you don't win, you'll never get anything from it. Although it was only ONE vote that kept him from victory, ALMOST never gets rewarded (remember I mentioned that before)? Supposedly these commercial stations play what the "people want to hear." Well...I'm a person...and there were at least 7 other people that liked the song, so tell me why can't I ever hear it again?

In that case, I would have done some clever marketing and either said my name or the title of the song as my website name, because then at least I'd have something people could identify with or jot down if I really wanted people to find me. I'm sure he was confident he would win, but he doesn't even get a consellation prize. I sincerely doubt if I will ever get the opportunity to get in contact with him.

Just another reason why I'm glad there is finally a day of true INDEPENDENTS (pronounced, independence), where those considered to be the underdogs can be the top dogs, and truly give people what they want to hear.