Bla bla bla.
Mainstream (rant)
I have long been fascinated with the concept of mainstream culture. It is quite interesting, if you give some thought. The mainstream is the concepts we all share, the things we all do. Or, at least, what the vast majority of people think. Now, focus than on popular culture. A lot has been written here about pop culture, and old time readers should remember. Anyway, in a board sense, pop culture is mainstream. Or the other way around, you can say that the mainstream is the set of general values, world views, aesthetics and conventions within the popular culture. But then we hit a road block.
What is exactly pop culture? Take pop music for example. Half a century ago, back in the dawn of Rock & Roll it was considered what we would now call alternative music, perhaps even experimental music. It was against the mainstream, it was the indie tunes of it’s day. Then it was marginally accepted, then fully embraced by mainstream media and the sight of Elvis shacking his butt was no longer scandalous. What once was indie, became profitable enough to be added to the pop culture. As long as something remains indie, just a small amount of people will know about it and it will be ‘unpolluted’ by commercial interests.
So Elvis was mainstream, right? But then in the 70s new music appeared, and Elvis-listening parents freaked out listening to –I don’t know- say Black Sabbath. Then it was also accepted marginally, then fully embraced. Or punk rock. Now most people wont tell the difference between pop and punk rock. And many bands live in that haze.
Basically things stop being indie once they have access to mass media. Then again, we hit a road block. Because now everybody has access to mass media. Of course, not everything you publish online will have a buzh-fuckin-illion readers, but you can say whatever you want, in a (still) relatively uncensored stage. So we are all indie. How come?
Well, since so many people are producing material (written, recorded, filmed and what not) it is becoming more and more difficult to tell what is popular and what is alternative. Even the most obscure band has a website with a forum with at least some rabid fans/detractors. Now, in a way internet (or as you 733t-shits say, the OMGWTFLOL internetsplz- and all those horrible memes) is still a second layer media. The (so far) unchallenged king of media is still the TV. And even there, digital television is giving a chance to small networks and even lonely channels a chance to access all that audience.
I have long been fascinated with the concept of mainstream culture. It is quite interesting, if you give some thought. The mainstream is the concepts we all share, the things we all do. Or, at least, what the vast majority of people think. Now, focus than on popular culture. A lot has been written here about pop culture, and old time readers should remember. Anyway, in a board sense, pop culture is mainstream. Or the other way around, you can say that the mainstream is the set of general values, world views, aesthetics and conventions within the popular culture. But then we hit a road block.
What is exactly pop culture? Take pop music for example. Half a century ago, back in the dawn of Rock & Roll it was considered what we would now call alternative music, perhaps even experimental music. It was against the mainstream, it was the indie tunes of it’s day. Then it was marginally accepted, then fully embraced by mainstream media and the sight of Elvis shacking his butt was no longer scandalous. What once was indie, became profitable enough to be added to the pop culture. As long as something remains indie, just a small amount of people will know about it and it will be ‘unpolluted’ by commercial interests.
So Elvis was mainstream, right? But then in the 70s new music appeared, and Elvis-listening parents freaked out listening to –I don’t know- say Black Sabbath. Then it was also accepted marginally, then fully embraced. Or punk rock. Now most people wont tell the difference between pop and punk rock. And many bands live in that haze.
Basically things stop being indie once they have access to mass media. Then again, we hit a road block. Because now everybody has access to mass media. Of course, not everything you publish online will have a buzh-fuckin-illion readers, but you can say whatever you want, in a (still) relatively uncensored stage. So we are all indie. How come?
Well, since so many people are producing material (written, recorded, filmed and what not) it is becoming more and more difficult to tell what is popular and what is alternative. Even the most obscure band has a website with a forum with at least some rabid fans/detractors. Now, in a way internet (or as you 733t-shits say, the OMGWTFLOL internetsplz- and all those horrible memes) is still a second layer media. The (so far) unchallenged king of media is still the TV. And even there, digital television is giving a chance to small networks and even lonely channels a chance to access all that audience.
What is the greatest band of our times? Do we have a cultural lighthouse like The Beetles were to our parents? Is there still a mainstream or is it too fragmented to tell? Most importantly; why should we even care? I can live in a world of endless micro-cultures. I think we already do.
posted by Antua @ 9:36 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Agreed. Excepto lo de Black Sabbath, no creo que todo el mundo lo ame, no como a Elviscocho for one.
Otros aparadores de subculturas interminables son los puestos de revistas, los temas se han vuelto tan específicos que me asustan de forma muy cabrona.
Espero que nunca, nunca, nunca me encuentre con una revista dedicada al día a día de tipos altos, medio locos, que aseguran que su seudónimo es su verdadero nombre y que trabajan en la producción de medios.
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