My Justin Bieber Rant and Rave

[fuzzygobo]

I don't care how popular he is now, he just doesn't have any respect or credibility from me.
All the musicians I admire, not just for their talent, but for the dues they had to pay before they became successful.
The Beatles spent three years playing sleazy clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg, and only got a record deal with Parlophone after every other record company turned them down.

Fleetwood Mac spent five years of soul-searching after they lost their leader Peter Green, and moving to California and finding Buckingham and Nicks, and then striking it rich with Rumours.

Tina Turner had a few hits with her husband Ike,(in between all the beatings) and had to walk out on him with 78 cents in her pocket and struggle for years before her stellar comeback.

I could go on forever... but exactly what dues did Mr. Bieber have to pay for his fame? What sacrifices did he have to make? What did he really have to risk? It must be nice to have Usher take him under his wing and open doors for him to get him to a level most other musicians reach only after years of struggle, disappointments, and heartache.

I'm just remembering how sick my stomach was watching him on New Year's Eve in Times Square, and I thought it was a crime for a living legend like Carlos Santana having to play second fiddle to him. And butchering Let It Be in the process. Paul McCartney he ain't!

When I find myself in times of trouble, another zit I find on me
Justin, don't you squeeze it, let it be!

I'm afraid a dangerous precedent has already been set that a lot of up-and-coming musicians and singers think all you have to do is THINK you'll be famous, and all the trappings and priveledges will just fall in your lap. Instantly. Right now. No waiting, just instant gratification right now, because that's how life's supposed to work, right?

Eddie Van Halen once said about his days before VH hit it big: "You gotta eat a lot of **** before you know what a steak tastes like".
Thanks for letting this old coot rant. Now I need a nap!

 

[Speed Tracer]

You make a well-reasoned argument. I respond thusly:

If you don't like 'im, don't listen to 'im or watch 'im. No one's making you. Change the channel. Leave the room. You have a choice not to engage in certain media.

 

[D'Snowth]

In Bieber's defense, he had somewhat humble beginnings as well...

He was born out of wedlock to a teen mom up in Canada who struggled to support them as he was growing up; his mother posted some home movies of him singing on YouTube, and Usher just happened to discover him and became his mentor (and presently, Justin Bieber has actually done the same for a new girl, whom he hopes to persue a duo act with, because apparently he's done with being a solo artist).

 

[Oscarfan]

Look up the Key of Awesome parodies of him; they're so true and funny.

 

[Drtooth]

All I'm hearing is the same thing everyone knows by now...

The music industry is crap.

There will always be those who struggled to get to the top, and some who are just insanely lucky.

Here's the thing... he posted stuff on Youtube and some famous guy accidentally stumbled on it. Same thing happened with Andy Samburg. Someone who I used to greatly dislike, but has grown on me and I'm actually liking some of his SNL contributions... often times more than the other stuff on that show. There are literally hundreds of people that put crap up on Youtube, only a thin percentage of them even get recognized. Heck, if SOPA passed, most of them would have to pay outrageous fines for covering songs or basically even using a stock picture of Super Mario.

Now, granted.. I dislike his music, I don't get why he's popular, and there will always be more talented people out there who have to abandon their dreams and just be that sad, fat balding guy in the office who was part of a band that's not even good enough to play local functions. Put perspective on that next time you see that commercial for the iPhone and the kid wants Siri to call him "Rock God." Cute little dream for a teenager, nightmarish taunt to fat baling version of him in a cheap, ill fitting suit. And he probably didn't even get those girls either... he's either alone completely or with some ugly little shrew of a wife his mother fixed him up with because she wanted grandchildren.

There is literally nothing in that statement that's new because of Beiber. We've seen prefabricated hitmakers decades before that. From the clean white faces that stole African American music to the Monkees to New Kids on the Block. The music industry is fixed. If you're lucky to become successful like the Beatles or the Stones or something, years of hard work paying off... Mazeltov. But more likely someone's bound to be famous for being hired by some recording industry suit to record a poorly (and possibly computer program) written Hip Hop thing about women shaking euphemism for Butt. I literally think Bieber should win a lifetime achievement award for NOT being that, and because even his music sounds better than that stuff by comparison. Heck, I'd say Bieber has more of a humble background than some of those guys do.

And that's not even telling what's going to happen to him later. There aren't too many musicians that stand the test of time. They can't all be Michael Jackson or The Who. Sometimes even having one hit's better than nothing. Unless Bieber owns his songs, he's in for a ride. Don't even get me started on how the music industry handles song rights. If you're lucky and rich enough to own them, it's one thing... but horrible stuff happens when you don't. I can see either one of two things happening here...

Either he's somehow still around and making some money for his record label that takes most of it (unless he becomes so big he can handle himself... good luck on that).

Or he'll be a sad nostalgic cultural footnote... he'll find a new lease on his popularity ironically and a 40 year old Bieber has to play off that irony because that's the only way he'll ever make money again...Rick Rolling and VH1 "House of...." come to mind.

So the future's not even a guaranteed happy ending for him either.

That said, you know what other music act got their start on Youtube?

And they got to work with the Muppets AND write and perform a song on Sesame Street.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I used to be like you, bitter about the music industry. Then I woke up and realized that in the end, its not hurting me. No one is tying me to a chair and forcing me to listen to it. AAll I have to do is change the channel. Problem solved. If i want to find new bands, I go to pandora and check out the recommended artists for my tastes. There are a lot of bands out there, you just have to find them through what is more popular.

 

[Drtooth]

I used to be like you, bitter about the music industry. Then I woke up and realized that in the end, its not hurting me. No one is tying me to a chair and forcing me to listen to it.

Are you referring to me or the guy who started the thread?

I'm not saying the music industry is screwed up because I'm bitter, but rather stating a well known fact.

It's 46 degrees outside and the music industry's screwed up. Whole entertainment industry's screwed up. I'm not saying it to be bitter by any means... everyone accepts that as fact.

Still, my point is that there's been hundreds of Biebers in history already. Plus, when you reach a certain age, new music doesn't give you that special feeling and just sounds like noise. The only reason someone listens to the older stuff is that they feel nostalgic about it. It has something to do with endorphins.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Oh, sorry, the guy who started the thread

 

[charlietheowl]

The music industry has always been like this. Is the way Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five got discovered all that different from Justin Bieber? YouTube videos serve the same purpose as the Open Mike Nights/small club gigs the Jackson 5 played in the late 1960s.

 

[gonzosgirl1987]

no offense, but to the person that started this thread isn't it kind of the same thing what eddie van halen did by putting his son wolf gang in the band? fame and fortune came easy to him as well without really any hard work.