Mass Hysteria Band

As I’ve been getting geared up to try to get a record deal, I’ve been listening to a lot of contemporary Christian music on K-LOVE to get a taste of what’s being played across the airwaves. This isn’t so much that I want to write what’s similar, but more out of curiosity than anything else. After a few days, I’ve come to a very sobering conclusion: I’m not sure if my music will ever get air time. Why do I say this? Simply because the difference between stuff that’s being played on the radio and my own music is so totally different, I’m not sure if he A&R guys will pick it up.

I’ve gone kind of the blues/rock route with sparse instrumentation; usually just a couple of guitars, a bass, piano or organ, and drums. I made the conscious choice of not using synthesizers because I thought they’d take away from the “raw” sound that I wanted to present. My music is no-frills and straight-up, with the intent of providing a big sound from just a few instruments. In a way, it has been tougher to go this route because I’ve had to completely rely on my instrumental and vocal technique (or sometimes lack thereof) to get the sound that I want. I didn’t want to hide behind pads and shimmers and effects.

On the other hand, a lot of the Christian contemporary music being played seems to be produced by the same producer, with heavy use of background synthesizers, and pseudo-tech rhythm loops. Song structures are also fairly similar between the songs. A telling thing for me was that my son Bennie asked me after one song, “Dad, is that the same song with a girl singing it this time?” Ouch! It appears that the music industry has even homogenized this area of music as well, which leads me to what this article is about, and what I think is the problem with the music industry in general.

Because the industry has to sell as many records as possible to maximize the profit on their investments, it seems that as soon as they find a musical style that’s popular, they fill it with as many bands that do similar stuff, so they can sell more records. The net result is that what you get all sounds the same. For proof, just turn on your local pop radio station. No doubt the songs are different with respect to the singers, but I defy you to say there’s any ground-breaking stuff out there. It’s just new acts with the same tired sound.

With the widespread use of the Internet as a way to discover and buy music (thanks iTunes!), people now have a choice over what they want to hear. Because they have a choice, they’re not limiting themselves to a narrow band of music. They can reach out and explore, and discover new sounds that move them. The record companies, of course, have fought this tooth and nail, and the recent, highly publicized spate of lawsuits to prevent people from downloading and sharing music is clear evidence that they’re losing their foothold on the industry. But it’s also clear evidence that their formula for limiting choice to maximize their profits is unraveling before their very eyes.

I don’t know where the music industry is headed. Hopefully it will be in a direction where everyone wins. But as a budding artist, I’m hoping to break through in some way… Time will only tell…