[Article] Put your music where your mouth is, Canada (Ayu mentioned)

[nmskalmn]

Excerpt:

Over the long weekend I found myself at a party. As the latest rap single wound down to the last explicit lines, someone put on something different. The words were low, rasping and in a different language entirely; German, I think. I was astounded at the reaction it incurred. People all around booed and jeered, "Turn it off! Who wants to listen to that?"

After my shock at the crowd's reaction had worn off, the situation raised some concerns for me about how we perceive ourselves as a country. If we can't even appreciate another country's musical preference, are Canadians really as open-minded as everyone seems to think we are?

In today's modern age of corporate music, there isn't anywhere you can go without hearing the latest flavor of the week. There are radios, television commercials, stores and that person beside you humming the chorus. Is there any variety? Is there any escape from this tedious repetition? It isn't very often that you hear anything that isn't mainstream North American. Have you ever heard of Ireland-based Celtic Thunder, Japan's very own Ayumi Hamasaki or Germany's Wir Sind Helden? Although each band or singer is famous and hugely successful in their home country and throughout some of Europe, they have yet to be heard across the pond in either Canada or the States.

The language barrier could be seen as a cause of some of this musical xenophobia if it weren't for the fact that many European artists are having their songs translated. In fact, many of them record in English in the first place. Examples of this include German band Tokio Hotel and Japanese-American singer Hikaru Utada. Utada has had very little actual success in the States but is hugely successful in Japan, despite having songs in both English and Japanese.

Read it: Put your music where your mouth is, Canada

Ergh,I hate when people say that listening to foreign music is weird.The irony is,that those people listen to music in German and in Spanish.

[Maxker]

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Source: #1 | #2 | www.ayu.no

[Possessionless]

So so so very true

This was already posted:http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86604

[yoshino]

oh yeah I like that pict of Ayu! ^_^

thanks for the article. Smth abt the language barrier eh.. Guess it's still kind of a 'big' issue when it comes to music. Like wat the writer say abt Hikki.. oh.....

[Aisha_Angel]

Very well said. I completely agree with this article.

I can apply to any close-minded country, especially the United States.

[dreamland2.0]

I agree completely! I once told a girl that I listen to Japanese music and told her it's very accessible to North American listeners but she just said, "Ya but I can't understand it." Yet she listens to rap and hip-hop where lyrics mean nothing in the first place!! (IMO)
I'm glad this person wrote this article
(and so close to home!)

[noidea]

Two of my favourite artists(Ayumi Hamasaki and Wir sind Helden) in one article, great! The language barrier really is a big problem, many people listening to songs with just pointless, meaningless and boring lyrics say they don't like japanese music because they don't understand it, it's a bit of racism in it(not liking something because it's different)

[emi♡]

ugh I hate the "yeah, but I can't understand it" response.

I just accepted long ago, that there are people that are not musical, and just don't appreciate it. And you'll find that everywhere, and in every country.

[jbrat2219]

Originally Posted by emiko

ugh I hate the "yeah, but I can't understand it" response.

I just accepted long ago, that there are people that are not musical, and just don't appreciate it. And you'll find that everywhere, and in every country.

I get that response all the time D:

[thinkingoutloud89]

yay vor Wir sind Helden
they are soooo goood!

[Lanz16]

Im completely agree with the article!

In my country where the Western stuffs, musics, and value rules, they didn't know how to appreciate songs with the eye-opening or thought-provoking lyrics even the home-country-grown artists here.

Yah, we didn't understand what Ayu said on her music (or other artists), once we read the entire content of the song, we can understand what she/they're saying towards to us.


Lyrics is the one music article that was ALWAYS forgotten to look at.


Maybe we can understand English in western music, but if we read the lyrics VERY CAREFULLY, sometimes it contains filth or non-sense or NOTHING AT ALL.

I didn't mean to critisize but I want to everybody know how to distinguish good music from the "rotten" ones: by reading the lyrics.




In my case, whenever I try some new Jpop artists to listen and like, I usually try to search the translated lyrics of their entire music discography.



If I found out that the lyrics are totally bad, I will not continue to listen it.
If I found it very nice, I'll continue.


Ayu influenced me even more on lyric reading and even writing some of it.


*breathes in*

That's it...

Two of my favourite artists(Ayumi Hamasaki and Wir sind Helden) in one article, great! The language barrier really is a big problem, many people listening to songs with just pointless, meaningless and boring lyrics say they don't like japanese music because they don't understand it, it's a bit of racism in it(not liking something because it's different)

EXACTLY!
Language barrier is one of the major factors why they didn't know how to appreciate good music from good artist.

[Chibi_Venus]

Great article. Thank you so much for sharing.

[sora-kara]

interesting little blip there.

however, for someone who is complaining about people not being educated in the area of multiculturalism, you'd think they'd pay attention to details like...oh say....Cradle of Filth is NOT an American group.

hahaha

[ayumixfan]

I think this article is a little silly :S ~! uhhh what does our identity have to do with our taste of music... like maybe people just don't want to listen to that song?! I find it kind of offensive. So what if people don't want to listen to a foreign artist its their choice. You can still accept other cultures but not like their music.... Plus the musical styles of one country is different than anothers... I just felt like this article is bashing North American music listeners just because they don't like the same music this person likes... If the people like rap let them like it >_>! if they prefer music in their own language than they do. And I love how they complain about the radio playing north american music... is that really a surprise o_o you do live in canada, and they're only going to play music thats popular here...

I'm surprise at some of these comments =_= ! good music depends on lyrics? I don't think so. Music depends on the melody,beats, etc. not the poetry and meaning of the words =_=! People are partly racist because they don't want to listen to a language they don't understand? isn't that overboard. Its not like they hate japanese people or japanese culture. I know people who love japanese food, watch anime but NEVER listens to japanese music cuz they can't understand it. Are they not liking it out of partial racism?=_= And plus I know a lot of people who say they can't understand it as an excuse cuz they really don't like the music , but its nicer to put it that way. Many of my friends listen to ayumi and never comment, but then when I show them a new japanese artist, they say that they don't undersatnd it so its not preferable.

I just feel that many people attack north american music listeners just because its the biggest market in the world. Would you like it if people called you these things just because u don't like american music? because you're insulting american music listeners.

Sorry for the long response, I'm just very offended by such an article. My friends might not like international music, but they're not closed minded people who don't accept other cultures =_= !

[ArchangelLegend]

Yay! Ayu in an article....HOWEVER.....

I listen to foreign music because I like the music, not the lyrics. I also listen to a lot of techno as well as classical, and they don't have lyrics (so language barrier is not an excuse here). If I really want good writing, I'd read a book. I'm not saying lyrics are not important, they are, but everyone has different tastes. They are songs that I do listen to because the lyrics are that good, but in general most of the music I listen to is mainly for the music.

Also I love rap music, yet I usually don't like the lyrics (some lyrics are so typical that it annoys me sometimes). But that's not stopping me to listen to it. For one thing, the beat is something I can move and dance to regardless of what the lyrics is about.

This article also failed to realize that people simply just listen to music that they grew up with and that has nothing to do with being close-minded. It took me years to get into Japanese music. The first time I listen to Japanese music I couldn't really get into it, and I'm not being close-minded. If I grew up in Japan, then yeah I probably be used to it and love it right off the bat. I grew up with American pop and rock so the "good" music for me was built on that and that's what I was used to. I also grew up with 50s-70s oldies music because my parents play it all the time and I actually love it and still am. However, everyone else in my age group hates that style, simply because they are not used to it, did not grew up with it, and NOT because they are close-minded.

So this article is talking about Canadians not being open-minded musically? Wrong, this article provided flawed reasoning. For all I know, they are still open-minded. It is true that the people in the party did had some kind of close-minded response to some degree. However, it is a party and the music choice is normally something that should appeal to them as a whole. If I were to play Japanese reggae music in a Jazz club or disco hall or wedding party, I'll just be doing something not fit for the occasion, or just inappropiate. Or coarse I'll get negative reactions! But I'm not going to blame them for being close-minded.

[hpg23]

I find the language barrier thing quite stupid. As the article mentions, American music is heard all around the world, even when a lot of people don´t understand English well or even at all (I mean... even when English is a world language most of the world´s population can´t understand a song). So why is it heard still? Because of the amazing voices and the amazing musical compositions of it? Well, no (not saying that American music is all bad, but you understand my point, right?). I´ts because marketing. And the thing is, we, the fans, are not going to make good publicity of J-Pop, because it´s just not enough. It´s Avex and the other record labels who have to invest money on it and give people a chance... C´mon!!!

Apart from that, yes, people are very CLOSE MINDED and sometimes RACIST. I am so tired of them when they say, here in Spain, "Oh, stop listening to chinese "music" " (refering to J-Pop, that´s it). I would just shot them down, really, it gets on my nerves. And the fun thing is, that those people get extremely offended if they get confused with Mexicans or Latin Americans by foreign people. Really, stop being hypocrital and get yourselves a life.

[ArchangelLegend]

^ It's not marketing (at least give your reasoning since I'm not sure where you're coming from), it's because they simply like or dislike what they heard. The article talked about people just listening to music, not buying them. The article does not talk about sales numbers nor gives any correlation of marketing to Canadians being close-minded. The author just reflected on the responses given by people who heard an unfamiliar song at a party, not if there's a marketing effect on these people because there really is no way to prove that. She wanted Canadians to open up to new music regardless of any marketing. Besides, there's always music unfamiliar to someone (that is, it is impossible to market every song to that person), and the question is just whether or not the person is willing to listen to that unfamiliar music.

And American music has many amazing voices and musical compositions just as much as any other country. Music is just a taste (with marketing or without).

[hpg23]

^Read my post well and then voice your opinion.

I never said that American music didn´t had amazing music compositions or great voices, I just meant that it doesn´t has a larger number of it than any other musical industry. Of course there are amazing artists out there, but I think the writer of the article wasn´t talking about people listening those artist that base their work on musical quality, but on those artists massively known and that most people consume. And that´s marketing on its maximum expression. Obviously someone who listens to indie bands or who searchs music basing it on their musical/artistic values is much more willing to listen to music from other countries that the casual listener that only listens to what MTV feeds them.

Although it may sound sad for some of you, art, without promotion relies unknown. I was just saying that maybe if J-Pop (or K-Pop, or C-Pop, or Spanish, Arabian, Indian or Hungarian music for that matter) got more promoted people would be willing to listen to it and would see it as more familiar. I know many people who were extremely surprised to know that countries like Japan had a music market to start with.