Some things are symbols, symptoms of a deeper problem. If you are looking for a symbol of what is wrong with popular music today, music industry veteran Bob Lefsetz suggests we look no further than the intersection of music and fashion. Of course there has always been some blending of the two—after all, Woodstock celebrated both, and the Beatles changed the way fans dressed. Still, Lefsetz suggests it’s been ratcheted up so that both industries have been made more shallow, with musicians caring more about money than the integrity of their music.
We’ve got “Fashion Rocks,” what a load of crap that is, and all the supposed “rock stars” getting excited about Fashion Week, trying to sit in the very first row. And you wonder why mainstream music is in trouble. Yes, we’re experiencing an under the radar renaissance, bands who are about music, but the mainstream is a vast wasteland.
And if you doubt that mainstream music is in trouble, Lefsetz says, turn on the radio.
In the sixties and seventies, music ruled the world, if you were a kid and wanted to know what was going on, you put on a record. And if you couldn’t afford the record, you turned on the radio, which rather than being beholden to the corporation, seemed to be tailor-made for you, with news that you were interested in, songs that piqued your curiosity and deejays that were your best friend.
Today, radio is filled with twenty plus minutes of commercials and songs that are tested to ensure that what you heard before is what you continue to get, we live in a lowest-common denominator world where you're subjected to the crap the uninformed, casual users desire, and for this reason you tune out.
Popular music is the medium in which the postmodern generation expresses the fears, hope, and values most deeply embedded in their hearts. I find watching young adults navigate the changing landscape of popular music to be fascinating, a window into how they respond to the things that matter most.
Source: Bob Lefsetz in LefsetzLetter (August 13, 2009), a free email publication in which he reflects on music, the music industry, and popular culture. Archives are available here. Subscriptions are available here.
In a globalized, pluralistic world there is no doubt that product labels can be important. We should know where things were made, what ingredients are in products we will consume, and to what specifications the gadget conforms. Research reveals, however, that there is a hidden trap.
Do you know what a megapixel is, or what horsepower measures? Consumers are irresistibly drawn to product specification—from the “distortion rate” of a stereo to the calories in a snack—even when the numbers mean nothing to them. In fact, given a chance to directly experience competing products, buyers are still more likely to jus pick the item with the impressive-sounding features on the package, even if it is more expensive.
Source: “Specification Seeking: How Product Specifications Influence Consumer Preference” in the Journal of Consumer Research noted in The Atlantic (March 2009) p. 17 which you read here.
The Atlantic Monthly publishes a column, “Quick Study,” that briefly summarizes the findings of selected research articles. A recent entry caught my attention because it suggests a direct link between the collapse of the financial system and the massive bonuses given to bankers and executives on Wall Street. More important, the finding suggests that the financial crisis is not a problem that can be solved by merely tinkering with the technical aspects of the financial system. The human element—including issues of character, virtue, human nature, and definitions of meaning, vocation, the common good, and success—is as significant as programs and initiatives generated by the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, Congress or the White House. Human creativity, it seems, is hurt when demands for efficiency and productivity diminish our willingness to embrace our natural limits as finite creatures.
The bonuses bankers have handed themselves in recent years aren’t just excessive—they may have hastened Wall Street’s collapse. Although cash incentives tend to make people work harder, expending too much effort can actually hinder tasks that requires creativity, problem solving, and concentration. Anticipating large bonuses can lead to excessive self-consciousness and a focus so narrow that it warps perspective by blocking important outside information—like, say, common sense.
Source: “Large Stakes and Big Mistakes” in the Review of Economic Studies noted in The Atlantic (May 2009) p. 15 which you read here.
On March 20, 2009, David Miller (author of God at Work, director of the Faith & Work Initiative at Princeton University, Senior Fellow of Trinity Forum, and professor of business ethics) was interviewed on Religion & Ethics Newsweekly (a PBS program). Though brief, Miller identifies some key issues that must be addressed if the world of business and finance is to serve any morality higher than an addiction to greed.
Q: President Obama has been talking this week, this past week about precisely that—some kind of change in the corporate culture, the business culture. What would that look like?
Dr. Miller: Well, it’s such an important issue—how can we have a culture, a corporate culture that accents character, that accents the common good and not just earnings per share or a penny more per share per quarter? That’s a new culture. Is it possible that companies can make a decent profit—create wealth, create jobs, provide goods and services for society and maybe even be a moral community to develop its people? I think it can, but it will take leadership that’s committed to a new vision.
You can listen to the interview with Dr Miller here. I recommend it to you.