Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Quote/Music

Quote of the Day:

"The Germans must have a word for the heartbreak you experience when you see that some of your favorite music is on sale at Starbucks." --Spencer Ackerman

(Jackie, is it true?) Thankfully I haven't seen Fugazi on sale there yet.

5 comments:

Jackie said...

If anyone has a word for that, it's the Germans. I hope Eugene's not reading this: he likes the music at Starbucks and thinks that attitude is elitist. :)

t said...

Hey Jackie,

My point wasn't to demean 'Starbucks' music so much as to lament the use of good music to sell other things (coffee, cars, etc.). Lord knows I listen to enough Starbucks-y music and it's not like I won't listen to major label bands on principle. And yeah, the basic concept of "selling out" is pretty problematic.

Still, Fugazi and a lot of other bands pride themselves on being DIY and independent and turned down a lot of cash to do so. I think it really would break my heart to see them for sale by the cash register.

(Sorry Eugene!)

Eugene said...

I see what you did here!

Doug Rudd said...

Hey Tim,

Starbucks isn't using music to sell coffee, they're using coffee to sell music. That's what I really dislike, the commercialization of everyday living, including any and all public spaces.

It's not the bands who sell out, it's Starbucks.

t said...

Hi Eugene - heh!

Hi Doug - yeah, I agree with that. But, for me, its not just the "commercialization of public space" that I find annoying, but the feeling that lots of the culture I encounter is filtered through some corporation or other.

And I bet if you're some young artist trying to get noticed you feel pressure to play that game. Not that its not a legitimate choice to make, but it does skew things.