The Mainstream

[l0rd]

Warning: This is full of oceanic metaphors, If you hate, are indifferent or are scared of them please leave.

 

 

In the vast sea of music there are sea creatures from great blue whalesa huge animal which makes its presence knownto tiny plankton residing in isolated areas and out of sight of most sea explorers plane of sight.

 

 

 

Many of us sea explorers prefer these gargantuan creatures because of obvious reasons; our media spotlights these whales more than other creatures, we might lack knowledge of other creatures or simply because they find these creatures far superior and we have maintained our life to have a very narrow spectrum of variety.

 

 

 

On the other hand, many of us prefer small sea-creatures. These explorers like seeking out and discovering new kinds of plankton, or might breed our own plankton to share with the other explorers. Many of these explorers people feel that the whale and other big creatures are too massive, and because of this their motivations might to be only bigger than before, and in doing so this might impair the quality of their output and the true colors might begin to taint.

 

 

 

We are stuck in the midst of it all, left to decide which sea creature we fancy the most. Many of us might have the delusion of the chosen the medium; to not let our political or social views to get in the way of our perceptional senses and simply go along in our lives "blindly" liking the creature which we personally find to be best, disregarding these likeability-variables and making non-biased decisions that our purely based on our own enjoyability. Although this may be the idealistic way to choose our favorite sea-creatures, is it really true? Do you honestly believe that just because the blue whale is the biggest and most recognized sea creature in the oceanic kingdom that it is best?

 

 

 

Try to reflect this onto yourself and the culture you live in. Does your cultures' acceptance or disapproval towards a sea creature determine its size? I believe so, and this is not only true in music but in politics, literature, religion and media of any kind.

 

 

 

We must look past this size factor and see the true side of the many sea creatures which are parts of our lives. Incase you havent noticed this isnt a marine biology thread, but rather the affect that culture has on us, and the extreme difficultly many humans obviously have with having their own self-influenced opinions.

[baalboy5]

Is that a quote?

[l0rd]

Is that a quote?

 

 

 

Just wrote it. How about a more constructive reply, lol.

[pryomancer]

You'll need a tl;dr...

 

I just saw a great slobbery analogy of music and the ocean. :uhh:

[Mylez]

Definitely made me think, naturally I say I'm not a product of my environment. But to some extent isn't everyone?

 

I can definitely relate to what you're saying in terms of music, here in the UK most of the music in the charts is pretty terrible, obviously main-stream and has no relevance.

 

most of the music I listen to is known as obscure or less well known.

 

 

 

"We must look past this size factor and see the true side of the many sea creatures which are parts of our lives. In case you havent noticed this isnt a marine biology thread, but rather the affect that culture has on us, and the extreme difficultly many humans obviously have with having their own self-influenced opinions."

 

 

 

^ I totally agree. I hate nothing more than people who cannot think for themselves, and base everything upon what they hear in the Media. I take everything with a pinch of salt, as I believe everyone should, otherwise we are just puppets controlled by "the man" ;)

 

 

 

Finally, great thread L0rd, you certainly have a way with words and something of an imagination!

[Intriguing]

I like the big fish and the small fish.

 

Even though I really don't like seafood. Or the ocean in general.

[Ginger_Warrior]

Mainstream music is mainstream for a reason. Yes, there's an argument to suggest the media has too much control over people's tastes, but there's also another to suggest that feeling comes from below and the media are merely displaying populist opinion.

 

 

 

I listen to mainstream Indie music, but I also mix it in with a few Hip Hop or Pop tracks, some 80s/90s New Wave, some Punk, some heavier Rock and, of course, some music from the Madchester scene. That's probably been more dictated by my parents' taste in music, both of them growing up around Manchester when New Order, the Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays were becoming a force of their own, than anything the media has forced on me.

 

 

 

To be honest, the media's more obsessed around RnB, Hip Hop, Pop and Trance these days anyway, not alternative rock.

 

 

 

It's not just the media we should be cautious with though. If someone stopped you in the street and told you there was a blue giraffe rampaging through the city, would you believe them? Of course not. Everything needs to taken with a pinch of salt, that's the way it's always been.

[stevepole]

I'm not a big fan for this sea creature analogy..

 

 

 

I just wrote two papers that talked about subcultures and the mainstream.. Please don't get me started on this topic again :wall:.

[rangeor]

In this case, i'm a plankton!

 

 

 

US PLANKTONS NEED MONEY (ERM FOOD) TOO!

 

 

 

Btw pio you always make me think. This time it was in a different way, though.

 

 

 

EDIT: also you lost me around the 4th paragraph, tl;dr

[deloriagod]

Anyone who says "tl;dr" needs to stop being a lazy [puncture] or get back to whatever image board they came from. This is a forum ffs. There's actually reading involved here #-o

[warren211]

I dispise metaphors unless used sparingly and wisely.. Not entirely sure why, but it's probably because lazy speechwriters use it to sound smarter by comparing a current situation to some other situation or object in life. Your thread is ok, but I just can't stand that the entire dang thing is a set of metaphors.

 

 

 

If this thread is mainly about mainstream music, then it might as well be moved to the music forum and the metaphors removed. Direct threads are easier there. As for everything else considered mainstream well... I might as well stop being a criticizing fool so much and actually contribute.

 

 

 

I like to fit in, but when I want to express my own opinion I'll do it. I hate people who follow the social caste/naming system: emo, jock, preppy, etc... I'm a kid with a life of my own, not one of those words. Sounds cliched, doesn't it?

[Nom]

I dispise metaphors unless used sparingly and wisely.. Not entirely sure why, but it's probably because lazy speechwriters use it to sound smarter by comparing a current situation to some other situation or object in life. Your thread is ok, but I just can't stand that the entire dang thing is a set of metaphors.

 

 

 

Metaphors are a beautiful thing. Unless they're used crappily.

 

 

 

If you're going to use a metaphor to that extent, go all the way. Don't confuse people by inserting random flashes of what you're really talking about into a metaphor involving marine life. Make it a short, parable-like anecdote, or use a simple simile or two while talking real language that people can keep their heads above water in. Pun intended.

 

 

 

EDIT: To add something else besides a language peeve . . . mainstream music isn't synonymous with "bad," nor is underground stuff automatically better than the more widely listened to stuff. Topics like this usually rub me as being the product of non-conforming elitism. Yes, I just made up a term. Sue me.

[Lenticular_J]

I prefer brooks to streams anyways. Can a stream babble? No. Together, my brothers, a new era of babble shall dawn upon this green Earth!

 

 

 

...To be blue, Earth!

[nickeley102]

i get drunk and go see this guy and his guitar every thursday. hes awesome, if i request a song he will learn it and play it for me.

 

 

 

i definately prefer the plankton, i saw these guys called the vegas brown bushmen a couple of weeks ago and they played their set, went away and came back just for cabbages and giggles and thrashed muse and rage for like 3 more hours, twas awesome.

 

 

 

i dont mind celebrity culture, and i definately dont take it as seriously as you do. despite the american cultural hegemony empire that surrounds me. ignorance, hypocrisy, britality, the elite

[Cyco_Reborn]

Nice metaphor, it puts the music industry in a pretty good perspective, but once again someones failed to notice the Music, movies and tv board. Well done!!! #-o

[pennywise]

Nice metaphor, it puts the music industry in a pretty good perspective, but once again someones failed to notice the Music, movies and tv board. Well done!!! #-o

 

 

 

 

 

Are you serious? This is about culture in general, not just music. Once again someone failed to read the whole post. Well done!!! #-o

[Maleficus1055]

Considering the mainstream is generally overhyped absolute [cabbage], I tend to go with the lesser known stuff.

[Nadril]

[cabbage]ty metaphors in the post aside,

 

 

 

The reason why mainstream music (and media, for that matter) is "mainstream" is because it is easy to digest. It's easy to understand, and to get. Mainstream sitcoms are focuses around jokes that a large portion of the population will get, as mainstream music focuses around catchy melodies and "radio hits".

 

 

 

That isn't to say that mainstream is bad just as it doesn't go to say that something underground is good. "Underground" music may have just not been recognized yet, but they may also focus on more complex tunes, or maybe won't have a clear cut melody.

 

 

 

Of course you get a ton of [cabbage]ty underground music. I'd rather listen to what is on the radio any day of the week than listen to some of the basement "Kvlt" metal people try and produce. Of course when underground music gets it right, when they aren't censored by mainstream media and have total creative freedom they can produce some incredible things.

 

 

 

And like I said it's not like all mainstream music is bad. Just because it's easy to digest doesn't make it bad, because there can still be a lot under that.

 

 

 

 

 

And really I think the same holds true for all mediums.

[JeremyM]

Anyone who says "tl;dr" needs to stop being a lazy [puncture] or get back to whatever image board they came from. This is a forum ffs. There's actually reading involved here #-o

 

 

 

now i shall ask, what does tl;dr mean?

[Intriguing]

Anyone who says "tl;dr" needs to stop being a lazy [puncture] or get back to whatever image board they came from. This is a forum ffs. There's actually reading involved here #-o

 

 

 

now i shall ask, what does tl;dr mean?

 

"Too long; Didn't Read"

 

Nadril is right, by the way.

[doomy]

Anyone who says "tl;dr" needs to stop being a lazy [puncture] or get back to whatever image board they came from. This is a forum ffs. There's actually reading involved here #-o

 

 

 

now i shall ask, what does tl;dr mean?

 

"Too long; Didn't Read"

 

Nadril is right, by the way.

 

Oh thats what it means, I'm going to have to start using that alot.

 

 

 

Ah reading the thread without reading what its about is totally random.

[stevepole]

To sum up mainstream in simple terms-

 

 

 

Mainstream is just a subculture exploited due to are capitalistic society.

 

 

 

For example the grunge music scene. Grunge started off as a subculture of rock music and and when MTV played Nirvana's Smells like Teen Spirit it took off and no one wanted to be left out of its success causing the culture of "grunge" to become mainstream ultimately ruining the true meaning and message behind grunge (for me it is my theory of my Kurt Cobain killed himself). Once the corporations milked grunge for all it was work they left it for the next "big" music scene which is currently are modern day alt rock... Blah blah blah

[BlueLancer]

 

Mainstream is just a subculture exploited due to are capitalistic society.

 

 

 

 

Mainstream is really just the opposite; The lack of a subculture; The dumbing down of everything involved within it (and making it as safe as possible, removing all references to drugs, swear-words or even some political agenda).

 

 

 

I wouldn't say people who only listen to mainstream music are 'dumb' though, totally a matter of taste. But more often than not they are young, and have yet to explore all the different kinds of art available in the world, including music.

 

 

 

Once you grow older, chances are you'll grow tired of the same old radio-pop, and will venture out to find smaller niches, alternative rock/jazz/metal/grunge, etc., as your taste matures and you actually want music that sounds good, not music that you listen to because "everybody else does".

[l0rd]

Not quite sure why this was moved as the main point of it is not to discuss music, but the mainstream in culture.

[stevepole]

 

Mainstream is just a subculture exploited due to are capitalistic society.

 

 

 

 

Mainstream is really just the opposite; The lack of a subculture; The dumbing down of everything involved within it (and making it as safe as possible, removing all references to drugs, swear-words or even some political agenda).

 

 

 

 

I do agree that the media dumb down subculture and that it is so they can increase the audience and in turn have a greater margin of profit. Look at Hip-hop for example; hip-hop started off a subculture of the Black community and now it has become a mainstream culture.

 

 

 

Television plays a huge role in the exploitation of subcultures.

 

 

 

I would get into more detail but I got to study for a test in my cultural studies class, funny enough.