Music has no borders.
This is a famous universal language. There is no country that doesn’t have this proverb in this earth. Music has the power to unite people across languages, nationalities, races, sexes, religions, politics, and beliefs. Music has beauty to make human beings cross our shoulders and sing together. Music has the power to heal burnt out souls. Music gives us the strength not to give up. Music can bring a new dream and passion No matter we can’t understand the language of a song, good music is good music.
Music is always good.
Advanced internet technology gives music fans expanded methods to experiment a variety of music easy and quickly. No need to go to Virgin Megastore for listening samples. No need to go to bookstores for reading magazines to search the freshest artists. Smartphone or PC is everything. Now young fans can even enjoy old school twice before their age on the streaming, not only chase current chart toppers. YouTube allows fans to check a variety of international musicians instantly. Roxette became a sensation in the U.S. after a student brought “Look Sharp!” album from Sweden and requested a radio station in his hometown Minneapolis to play back in 1988…but this kind of long-distance analog myth might not happen anymore in this digital era, that only methods needed are typing and click. No airplane ticket or shipping required. Search results come with the speed of fiber. The internet made a lot of contribution to music being more global and all-around.
Really?
Unfortunately, humans are the species like to create boundaries, including music.
“I don’t like this shit because it’s not rap”
“I don’t like that music because she/he ain’t trendy/underground”
“I don’t like this musician anymore because I can’t dance/vibe with this music”
Et Cetera, Et Cetera.
Bullshit. Another prejudice. Everybody has the type of music they like and don’t like and nothing wrong about that after listening to the music. But if the reason is just by judging the genre, outside, or popularity, the reason narrows your vision. Why can’t we be more open-minded about music? How many limitations do we need more?
When is the last time do you really trust your ears? Other people’s opinions shouldn’t be the reasons to doubt your ears because you are you. The internet makes it much easier to share our feedbacks on various sauces, but it doesn’t mean each opinion is valued. Hateful comments in streaming apps shouldn’t affect your opinion about a favorite album. Positive reviews shouldn’t discourage your reasons you don’t like. Unfortunately, the feedbacks tend not to respect other people’s opinions. The majority might win, but that’s not right. We’re all independent. We don’t have to be same.
Reality check. Music isn’t in the good state now. That has been told every year but the recent situation is critical. This is the era that music has lesser value. Technology has been destroying music value in contrast to adding convenience. New music doesn’t sell much anymore. Even popular musicians have a hard time to sell a million unlike 20 years ago. Many old albums and songs remain on the Billboard charts while it was rare prior to the streaming era. One side of views is good because those albums and songs are long-lasting. Loving great legends is definitely amazing, and good music should be inherited across generations. But is this era really lack of new music now? And the current hit songs are more biased, not comprehensive with a wide range of genres.
Steaming and unlimited music give listeners very easy access to a variety of music instantly. Those advanced technologies allow numerous aspiring musicians to release more brilliant ideas freely for their dreams and hopeful success and definitely makes a process easier than pre-internet era. They also help to cut actual demo tapes and production costs for struggling musicians. But wait, um, how about their profits?
Paper magazines, that used to be the important sauce of new music information, has lesser and lesser pages, and some magazines are even gone. There are many internet music magazines, but there are very limited numbers of magazines that handle both major artists and underground artists together, as well as both street artists and pop idols who have amazing talents. Vision is focused? Sounds good but there is another boundary there. Music is music.
Those were what I wondered for a long period of time until recently.
I saw Elle Varner’s concert in June 2017. There, I saw the fire. I witnessed her music made one beautiful union across the fans, passion, emotion, laughs, and dreams. Elle offered fans what the music could do at the best with only her voice and acoustic guitar. Elle proved that she was undoubtedly a very talented musician on that night. But the former major artist is an independent artist now. She hasn’t been able to release her second album for a long period of time. Still, Elle created massive magic and chemistry with what she got. And her ultimate message to her fans was not to give up no matter what.
Elle’s live performance gave me a more focused vision about TRIPMUZE: music. Music is what I love since I was a kid. Finding and introducing the great music on the globe is what I would like to do. I do believe my ears. Music is what I want to do with my own web magazine though originally started as the venture of travel and music website (oh, don’t worry, TRIPMUZE definitely continues the popular music-trip series). And TRIPMUZE will be the free spirit independent web music journal to keep searching the true value of music without minding genre, popularity, feedbacks, and standard.
And this statement is sincerely dedicated to Elle Varner and a nameless mother who helped to ignite a positive fire at the small music hall.
