Forgive me if I’m wrong but what Simon Cowell doesn’t know about the music industry isn’t worth knowing. He has created a grind factory of certified Christmas number ones that irked his opponents so much that they launched an internet campaign to wring it from his grip. At first glance they won, but what the vast majority of people failed to grasp was that: A) Simon Cowell runs the BMG part of Sony BMG and guess who Rage Against The Machine are signed to? B) Joe McElderry was a ‘lowly’ Christmas number two, as well as number one in the singles charts leading up to Christmas. C) He gained free, and frankly amazingly spun, publicity. It didn’t matter who won, he won.
Since its original incarnation as Pop Idol this franchise has gone from strength to strength, piggy backing off the reality TV craze of the late nineties. The TV show is an even bigger hit in America with American Idol, thriving on the American Dream and its dreamers. Along the way Simon Cowell has successfully branded his personality doing everything in his power to become recognisable, and consistent in his character.
Now if you’ve stumbled through this praise and you’re scratching your head wondering why anyone would heap it on an ego that is larger than human achievement, I simply wish to make it absolutely clear that it is not a contrite criticism where I rave on about how I could do it better.
Motown Records founder Berry Gordy revolutionised the music industry by creating the manufactured record. By compartmentalising the production, the song writing and singing, he created the musical black hole that is single talent artists. Idiot savant pop artists now populate our air waves like flies on flesh. Now along comes Simon, seeing the ready ease at which we the public are willing to prey at the altar of celebrity, no matter how manufactured so long as the hype was right. Most people who “hate” X Factor will talk for days about how it’s just a popularity contest, and has nothing to do with music. Now that’s not strictly true, you need a modicum of singing talent to hype otherwise you’ve got nothing to sell.
Simon Cowell, like the man who turned opium into heroin, made a bad thing worse. He doesn’t make bad music (hard to do singing other peoples songs) but rather steals the soul and meaning behind these songs. When music means something to the person who produces it you can’t help but relate, take this away and music is just noise. So if you wonder why it is you should join the band wagon and hate X Factor, it’s not the popularity contest, it’s not Simon’s on screen persona and it is most certainly not the singers themselves. What’s not to like in my opinion is the product Simon sells, not the show that sells it.
By: Jill Scott
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