Well music's not exactly dead or on its last legs, but I am very concerned about the current state of music in our society. Year after year we see more and more school systems cutting Music and Arts programs for our kids. Adding to that, the general public (that's you and me) are no longer buying CDs or even MP3 downloads. CD sales have been declining for years and last year for the first time the number of paid MP3 downloads declined from the previous year (yes ITunes was getting nervous which explains the Beats acquisition).
I know there are certainly reasons behind these trends. The recent recession hit states and school systems very hard and tough choices have to be made. However, I don't think the decision makers realize just how important the music and arts programs are AND how much they contribute to the success of their students in their traditional subjects including Math, Science, English and History. As for CD and MP3 download sales, that fate was sealed when kids discovered they could play any song they wanted over and over (and over and over) again on YouTube. I mean I love Katy Perry's hit songs but I don't really need to hear the same Katy Perry song 30x in a row (I'm thinking of my daughters as I type this :)). Add to this the multitude of music streaming services now available Pandora, Spotify and Beats to name a few), and it pretty much assures the sales of prerecorded music has been forever changed. Although artists and writers are compensated for these streaming plays, the rate at which they are paid is not anywhere near what they used to be able to earn with actual sales.
The reason for my concern is that I believe these trends will ultimately lead to less and less kids taking up music and reaping the multitude of benefits that playing an instrument brings, especially when doing it as part of a group, band or ensemble. Less kids playing music will lead to less adults playing music and eventually lead to the decline of quality new music being available for everyone's benefit.
Beginning today, we at LoveSongs.com are making it our mission to get at least 10 Million More Kids AND Adults playing Music. Why adults too you may ask? Because adults also receive many benefits when playing music and every adult that plays music will help inspire children around them to play music as well. Music is the gift that absolutely keeps on giving. How are we going to COUNT how many new adults and kids start playing music because of us - Don't worry I've got our expert statistician working on an equation to help us figure it out :) Seriously though, according to the US Census about 8% of US adults play a musical instrument . This adds up to about 18 Million adults out of 230 Million adults in the US. Our goal is to make certain we don't lose any ground on this as less kids potentially start playing music.
To start us off, I'd like to share with you the "Legends of Liverpool"and their own "Help Keep Music Alive" cause they are helping with. Hand picked by the late George Harrison's sister Louise, these 4 lads are one of the finest tributes to a band that will forever live in our musical memories. Please listen and enjoy and I'll be back again tomorrow with a new post!
Music, Love & Laughter,
~Vincent James @ LoveSongs.com
p.s. I invite you to stop back daily as I began to share stories of music empowerment and inspiration from all over the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment