Sharps ‘n Flats

Most of our days are spent on work and other serious endeavors. Humans are creative by nature and so they need an emotional and non-logic based release though in order to stay sane.

One of the top two ways of doing that is via music. Humans have been attracted to music almost since the beginning of mankind. The reasons are very clear. Music is very soothing and helps evoke emotions.

The Internet has helped advance music even further by giving people access to an incredible variety and depth of new music on the cheap. People have developed an incredible infrastructure around music and the ability to consume music. The latest songs all have very popular music video renditions.

Music news is widely followed and musical artists are held in idol like status. The reason for this is clear. They fill a very important need in our lives. Top artists produce tunes that we are drawn to and tunes that entertain us. They also lead seemingly interesting lives and so we want to know what is going on in their lives. Music is such a big business exactly because it fills an important human need and given the central role music plays it is bound to remain important for generations to come.

Hollywood and the music world in America are known to leave no stone unturned when it comes to kindling the imagination of their fans and retaining their presence in the popularity charts. Kanye West, the popular rapper is trying out new strategies to remain in public limelight. He has decided to cast his new girlfriend in the next music video, to mutual advantage.

Amber Rose, his girlfriend accompanied him in all the shows at Paris Fashion Week. The shining pate model has been cast as robotic police official in his next video release “Robocop”, making the people wonder, if this latest relationship of theirs is only a ploy to promote their video. The waning popularity of Kanye West could very well be the reason behind his going around with her and having her in his video, to arouse people’s curiosity to watch the chemistry between the two. Whatever be the doubts in the minds of the public, Amber Rose seems to be rating Kanye high and her friends seem to approve of their relationship. They feel that both of them being popular figures, should be good for each other. A typical case of who is promoting whom. Her friends also opine that travelling with Kanye all the time is not going to be easy, what with the gossip-hungry paparazzi surrounding him wherever he goes. But knowing the nature of Rose, she will take them in her stride and remain unaffected and they felt that since she shares good vibes with him, she is not going to complain. Here is wishing the two of them good luck.

The Internet has made sharing just about every type of content far simpler. One such type of content that has had its distribution method drastically simplified is new music. Music is very easily converted to digital format and in fact most of the music you buy today is already in digital form thanks to the fact that until very recently CDs had been the primary distribution method. Today of course the most popular distribution method is via files downloaded to an MP3 player and sold via retailers such as Apple through their iTunes store. The music news is full of new distribution deals and unique twists on the models used to sell music online and to play it on unique and new technologies.

From Led Zeppelin to Rhianna to Kenny G, the downside for artists has been the fact that it is now much easier to distribute their content illegally. In the early days of music distribution on the Internet almost all transfer was illegal and a simplified method of making a profit by selling music online was out of reach. Services such as Napster that allowed users to distribute music were king, and so the new paid methods are a business savor for the studios. That being said there are still those who try to distribute music illegally and the music recording studios pursue them vigorously use the legal means at their disposal.

The term soul music refers to a type of music with distinct rhythm and tone. Trumpets, pianos, guitars, and vocals are the main instruments used in soul music. This may seem like merely a few instruments, yet the foundation of soul music is rhythm and lyrics.

This style of music became popular in the 1960’s when African-Americans began to publically express themselves in a musical manner. Soul music is often associated with gospel and blues music because it frequently combines the two genres. The most common feature of soul music is the African American cultural influence of the genre. Soul music originated during the time of African Americans’ fight for civil rights. This is evident in many of the lyrics of soul music songs. However, African Americans proved their perseverance through tough times with the upbeat, positive nature of soul music. This style of music became the precursor to funk and rock and roll in the 1970’s. A few famous soul musicians include Ray Charles, James Brown, Arthur Conley, B.B. King, The Temptations, Otis Redding, The Supremes, Aretha Franklin, and Etta James. Many of these artists’ albums are still widely popular among music enthusiasts today.

Very few television shows manage to catch the attention of a large percentage of the population and to hold their interest for a long period of time. Shows may have strong niche audiences or they may be wildly popular for a short period of time but it is rare to find a show that hold people’s attention for several seasons. To reach such an iconic status a show must stay fresh and must appeal to a wide range of viewers. One such subject that holds people’s attention and that has almost universal appeal is music. Even better is the fact that people are drawn to music superstars and are very interested in their lives and backgrounds. These are the motivations underpinning the tremendous success behind American Idol and it is for this reason that the music news has been full of stories of both American Idols and past American Idol contestants since the show took to the air.

This popularity has meant that those who do well on the show become nearly instant household names. They are guaranteed stardom and large recording contracts. Their name recognition and talents on display during the show help catapult them into the spotlight. This however couldn’t help the stars from the show in winning Alabama’s Top Music Icon vote. Several stars from American Idol were featured in the vote but the best seeding was number 7.