For a
while now, I have analyzed the importance of awards shows. I know which ones
matter, those that do not, and which were simply created to publicize
celebrities who are doing things that the mass media cares about. For example,
the Oscars clearly matter and winning one is a top honor for anyone involved in
a film. However, the Golden Globes do not matter and exist solely just to
capitalize on the fame of popular movies and raise awareness that the Oscars
will be in a few weeks.
The Grammys, what many consider to
be the Oscars of music, is an award show that absolutely does not matter. It’s
essentially the equivalent of MTV’s Video Music Awards, only with a trophy that
is not completely ridiculous. The same undeserving and untalented “artists” are
there trying to promote their latest single, only this time they are winning
awards that the general public finds important. But the general public has
proved again and again that they seek only what comes to them easily (such as
music from the iTunes Top 100 or any horrible Top 40 radio station). In a
sense, the artists at the Grammys appeal to the least common denominator and rarely
challenge their audience. This is all good and well until you realize that
there are musical artists out there who actually deserve to win these awards.
When considering all of this, anyone
can see that the Grammys are not a measurement of talent and are instead a
measurement of popularity. However, the most frustrating part about the Grammy
Awards is the fact that they tease people who actually know of good music by
nominating a couple artists who actually deserve it…and then making sure that
they lose. For instance, I cannot understand how anyone can honestly think that
Mumford & Sons’ “Babel” is better than Jack White’s “Blunderbuss” or Frank
Ocean’s “channel.ORANGE,” two albums that appeared near the top of every “Best
Albums of 2012” list. Though Mumford & Sons are not exactly the worst band
ever, they are not entirely worthy of winning an award with a title such as
“Album of the Year.” “Babel” sounds absolutely no different than 2009’s “Sigh
No More,” has received very mixed reviews from critics, is musically and
lyrically boring, and even more pretentious than this article (Mumford &
Sons apparently think they are the saviors of music). And let’s just be honest
here. Mumford & Sons never have and never will match the level of
excellence that Jack White achieved in the days of The White Stripes and is
currently achieving in his solo career. Notable songs from White’s
“Blunderbuss” that are better than everything Mumford & Sons have ever done
include “Love Interruption,” “Blunderbuss,” and “On and On and On.”
Disregarding the fact that “El Camino”
is probably The Black Keys’ worst album, it was still miles ahead of “Babel”
and FUN’s “Some Nights” which honestly has no place being nominated for any
musical award. However, the committee who chooses the winners know nothing from
“Blunderbuss” has received any Top 40 radio play and, even though there have
been many popular singles from “El Camino,” it still has not made The Black
Keys into a huge successful mainstream band yet. Frank Ocean’s
“channel.ORANGE,” though decently popular, is much too “strange” for the
committee who nominates Bruno Mars and Rihanna for awards. And they probably
realized that there would be an uproar from anyone over the age of 12 if FUN’s
“Some Nights” nabbed the “Album of the Year” award; thus, Mumford & Sons
were the only choice.
This is just one example of how
horrible the Grammy Awards are. I could honestly go through each category,
choosing the artists who do not deserve to win due to their lack of talent
(which is sort of my opinion, but still) and replacing them with those who
actually deserve to be rewarded for their achievements. But this would be
useless because the Grammys won’t change until the public opinion on what is
good and what is not changes. Until then, we will see artists like Rihanna,
Katy Perry, and Nicki Minaj being rewarded for horrible pop songs that require
absolutely no thought on part of the listener. These “artists” realize this and
will continue exploiting the stupidity of the least common denominator and giving
them exactly want they want, pure trash.
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