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Thoughts on the Modern Music Industrial Complex

Greetings from The Music Bowl! I'm The Wonderfish.

Inevitably, we cannot escape father time. Sure, people try to avoid aging physically and there are tricks of the trade to attempt if you want to spend the money but, like it or not, we are all on our way to that great gig in the sky. I bring this up because I am not a full time musician. I've never even studied music full time. For me, music has always been a part-time job just as it is a lifelong pursuit and I can only hope for more time to spend on my music because I do love it so.

The music industry is a difficult one. In fact, every book I've read and every documentary I've watched about it says so. But I don't need to read a book or watch a movie to know this. I've been a working musician for two decades and I make the same amount of money for a gig today that I made twenty years ago. The market is so bad where I am that sometimes I make less! How I wish I was kidding.

I love all kinds of music. I love rock and roll and I love playing an electric guitar with the volume blasting and the distortion level up! It's FUN! It's FREEING! So, when I hear classic rock songs on commercials, my heart sinks a little. This is mainly due to the argument that arises in my head. How can these rock and rollers allow their music to be used by these huge corporations? Rock and roll is supposed to be about freedom, about letting loose, about having a good time, not caring about all of the rules and about sticking it to the man! Isn't it?

I have the TV on and I hear the intro guitars of Aerosmith's Dream On, a song that reigns as a supreme example of classic rock, and I look up only to find that it's being used in a Wal-Mart commercial. And my jaw drops.

Wha...?

Dream On and... Wal-Mart?

That was the first song I noticed, then I realized over a few months that Wal-Mart had employed an arsenal of classic rock songs for their ad campaigns. Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar, Standing Ovation by The Gap Band, Working Man by Rush, and Back in Black by AC/DC are just a few of the tunes you can hear in these television commercials. If you want to see them, just do a quick Google search. Trust me, you'll find them.

To me, Wal-Mart represents the breakdown of the American dream in our small towns. I have personally witnessed its effects on a local scale. This corporate behemoth is the anti-rock and roll.

Isn't it? Am I alone here?

On the other hand, how much money was exchanged in this transaction? Does Aerosmith need the money? Are they simply attempting to stay relevant? And don't get me wrong, I am an Aerosmith fan and my band played their songs twenty years ago when I was just starting out. To this day, our crowds love and request Aerosmith tunes!

I'm not setting out to attack Wal-Mart or to attack Aerosmith or any of the other bands in these ads. I'm just making an observation. The 14-year old Wonderfish sees these commercials and her heart breaks. The 34-year old Wonderfish sees these commercials and bets that Aerosmith doesn't have to worry about whether or not they still make the same amount of money per gig that they did when they started their career. Still, and I don't know about you, but when I think of shopping at Wal-Mart, the lyrics "Dream on, dream until your dream come true," don't immediately come to mind.

So, which institution is the hypocrite? The corporation or the rock band? Or are they just one and the same now in 2018? Shark's in the water! See you next week.

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