In England's Prospect Magazine, Stephan Smith-Said has penned a brief but decent take on the status of "protest" in popular music today. His mention of MTV's motives in refusing to air any anti-war video or paid commercials while simultaneously decrying the lack of protest voices in modern music on their website is especially poignant.
From the article:
"Just two days after my article came out, MTV, which has refused to play anti-war videos even by the biggest stars, published an article addressing the need for political consciousness in mainstream music. In a flourish of Bush-like hubris, one of the country's chief purveyors of military recruitment ads to youth posted the article, "Where Is the Voice of Protest in Today's Music?" The webpage boasted an Army video game in the bottom right corner. Where's the voice of protest? It's in MTV's trash can."
As someone with intimate knowledge of the numbers migrating between the two entities, I can attest to the reasons for the content blackout on MTV. Indeed, they are entirely fiscal in nature. Not that it necessarily takes my corporate clearance to verify, though. It's straight outta Business 101. And therein lies the roots of the problem. It's once again all about the corporate-federal circle jerk, the common interest, due diligence and the bottom line. The citizenry's sold out once again. The fruits of modern hyper-capitalist America grow more bitter with every bite.
Read Why Neil Young Is Wrong by Stephan Smith-Said.
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