Comments on: Idol Hands: The Trouble with Keith Urban, Fame & Talent Shows

By: TX Music Jim

TX Music Jim — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 22:28:06 +0000

As much as I hate the talent shows like Idol, the voice etc. If I were Urban or Shelton and you wanted to drop buckets of cash on me to do the show. Yeah I think i’d sign the contract. If indeed it somehow costs them to some “artistic integrity” Somehow I think they’ll just keep doing what there doing. If anything the bigger platform should give artists like Blake the ability to dictate to the label the kind of music they want to make not the other way around. Apples and oranges I know but did Waylon sell out doing the Dukes of Hazzard. My least favorite Waylon record but he certianly made great music before and after that show was over. I imagine Shelton and Urban will do.

By: Jon

Jon — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 18:46:41 +0000

And, by the way, that applies as much to luckyoldsun’s post as it does to Devin’s.

By: Jon

Jon — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 18:42:25 +0000

The legitimacy a general observation may have does not obviate the need to provide evidence that it applies in a particular case.

By: Devin

Devin — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 03:02:37 +0000

Alright fine. I know nothing about the music industry. All the stories I hear about label pressure to release this song and not that one, or to go with this kind of sound instead, blah blah blah must be exaggerated. There’s certainly no one in Nashville who’s making a certain type of music just because it’s more profitable/successful than another style that they may or may not prefer more.

By: luckyoldsun

luckyoldsun — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 02:33:49 +0000

I’d bet that the vast majority of artists make the music that they want to make. It must be quite a rush for someone to hear their music getting played on the radio and to have thousands of fans attending their concerts and cheering for them.
If Blake Shelton is having success with the music that he’s making, I find it extremely unlikely that he’s thinking, even for a second, “Gee, I really wish I was making a different type of music.”

By: Devin

Devin — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 00:32:30 +0000

To Jon’s first point: I don’t think I’m projecting. At the risk of invalidating my point by sounding like some obsessed super fan, in the hundreds of videos and interviews I’ve seen and read, he’s made comments about the type of music he’d like to make, that he didn’t like the heavy pop direction that modern country music was headed in, etc. Every song that he’s written himself and cut has had much more of a neo-traditional bent. And he spent the first 10 years of his career making that kind of music for the most part. I’d go out on a limb and say he didn’t have some career epiphany in the last year and decide that he was meant to sing loud, pop-country ballads all the time. It’s just a guess. But as mentioned, this is secondary to the main topic and not really important, and I’m just arguing because it’s the internet, and why not?

Back to the main point. I don’t think that in the grand scheme of an artists career will these things really be remembered or considered when looking at their legacy or the merit of their music. This isn’t Blake’s first reality show gig. But I don’t know anyone who really remembers his stint on Nashville Star or Clash of the Choirs or who would say that either of those shows somehow invalidated the music he put out after that point.

The only thing that bothers me about these judging/coaching gigs is that the artist transcends “singer” and becomes a “personality”. It takes away the focus and expectations of what they DO, and when those expectations go away, they turn in mediocre efforts. As I said earlier, it doesn’t take away their credibility or their capability of making good, smart music. It just makes it easier for them not to. I think that’s an important distinction.

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 20:05:07 +0000

Point about the original point taken ;-). But I’m not convinced that participating in these shows – as a judge, coach, contestant, special guest performer, whatevs – really amounts to undermining one’s art, at least, not among the audiences following these artists. It might not enhance their ability to build new audiences, but that’s not the same thing.

By: HOLLY

HOLLY — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 19:09:15 +0000

well, there are two strands of discussion now…
doing what you love + what sells
though i think on that level,
an artist finds a way to make what he does in a way that they can have success

but the original point of the essay is…
when you rely on “fame” to become successful, versus music (of ANY, even the cheesy kind) people aren’t going to embrace your art. indeed. you’ll be a kardashian with a record deal instead of a glorious backside — and the people who know you, think you’re awesome/hot/sincere/a good guy are NOT likely to have any interest in your music or your concerts.
it’s like rushing into a burning building…
or trying to undo what actors have spent years trying to create beyond movies (and there aren’t a lot of people going to see russell crowe, jeff daniels, bruce willis or kevin costner in concert…)

and that is where — by undermining their art — these judges reinvigorate their fame, but at the cost of the thing taht brought them.
if ANYONE can reverse the trend, i’m putting my money on keith urban.

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 19:01:57 +0000

“But I still feel deep down that if you took away the pressure to have radio success, those aren’t the albums he would be making.”

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: projecting your own taste onto an artist you like, or believing that liking his or her work gives you some special insight into his or her taste, is never a good idea. It’s quite easy for an artist to revere traditional country music and be good at it, and yet for artistic reasons not want to put it at (or maybe even anywhere near) the center of what he or she does.

By: Devin

Devin — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 17:51:12 +0000

MattB said it before I could. Blake doesn’t transcend country music like the rest of those artists, especially Kenny. Not to mention demographics. The younger crowd that’s more likely to go to a concert is probably more in the Jason/Luke camp. And Eric Church’s music is far more interesting at the moment. I don’t know, maybe it’s disappointing to them that he isn’t selling out every show. But not everyone can do that. Somebody just has to be moderately successful.

(For the record, I’ve seen Blake twice. Once in a bar/club and once in an arena. There’s no question that the smaller concert in the bar was more entertaining, more fun, and more Blake’s style (pre-Voice and Red River Blue.))

@NM:
I guess I don’t technically know this for sure. But I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, and seen many videos and read many interviews. I have no doubt that he reveres traditional country music. I know he’s damn good at singing it. It’s painfully obvious that he became more successful once he took a more contemporary, pop-country direction. But I still feel deep down that if you took away the pressure to have radio success, those aren’t the albums he would be making.