Re: Why Lady Gaga's " Born This Way" May Save The Music Industry
This isn't even about the music anymore (not that it has been for the last, say, decade or so...)--if anything, she (and others, to be fair) is furthering its demise by making it even more of a commercial abomination than it previously was. I won't even criticize her work because, really, it's everything one would expect pop music to be--repetitive, simplistic, overhyped, whatever else people say about it. She didn't sign up to make memorable/relevant music, quite clearly, so why should we expect any such thing from her or from the rest of the mainstreams?
Modernly speaking, mainstream music has seldom been deep/meaningful. Why would anyone expect Gaga to act otherwise? She's just continuing the already set trend of oversimplification and repetition-rich dance tunes sold to make instant club hits and nothing more. That's all. While there's nothing wrong with that, there's something mildly disturbing about the people who actually think she has an ounce of substance or is some sort of innovative, original, otherworldly being. It's simply an untrue and unrealistic image, given all the evidence we have of her work and behaviour thus far.
So, in short, she won't be saving the mainstream music industry at any moment, nor will any of her contemporaries. Even more talented pop stars like Beyonce are forced to conform to the cookie-cutter standards of mainstream--Gaga has thus far endured the same fate, despite whatever she and her fans say. She's just playing along like all the other pop stars with hit albums and matching perfume/commercial endorsements. Nothing new at all, but do we really expect anything new? History (not only of Gaga, but of almost everyone in the mainstream atm) tells us no to bet on it. On the converse, she won't be single-handedly destroying it either.
On that note, I'm sure her album will sell well, despite the hideous cover, because she really does have a talent for making club/dance music, and people associate her with that already. Moreover, she's the current trend, so there is no doubt we'll see the album reach some high places within the mainstream.
