Are Outsiders more ‘genuine’? cynicism


about packaging


This is arguable, and hinges on the measure of one’s


and


marketing as practiced by the music business. How sincere is Whitney Houston? Megaplatinum stars like Garth Brooks and Mariah Carey are often bad‐mouthed by jaded sophisticates as ‘shallow’ and ‘manufactured’ (though the same accusation [could be] leveled at a gangsta rapper who moves 12 million units and is considered an authentic ‘voice of the street’). Are we to presume that artists


who t have achieved


part to become rich and famou No one honestly believes that.


explosive


commercial success did so by accident? That here was no compelling aspiration on their s?


S o – no, I don’t feel that Outsiderdom is the exclusive provenance of authenticity.


Nor is ambition solely characteristic of ‘inside’ musicians. Most Outsiders would love to be certified gold. Some recognize the unlikelihood of such acclaim, others anticipate triumphant breakthroughs any day, and still others seem totally oblivious to the broader public.


The difference rests in the ‘fingerprint’ factor of packaging and selling music. For those


exploited through conventional music channels, by the time their product reaches the market, it will have been revised, remodeled, and re‐coifed; touched‐up and t weaked; Photoshopped and focus‐grouped. It’s Music by Committee.


Consciously commercial releases are targeted at an imagined audience that must be second‐ guessed: “What will appeal to them?,” and “Will they buy this?” If CDs acknowledged all the cubicle cattle who contribute to production, the list would be endless, like the f ive minutes of eye‐blurring credits that scroll at the motion picture’s conclusion.


Most outsiders don’t have a committee at their disposal – and many don’t have much of a target audience. Autonomy is often the prevailing modus, the process intensely solipsistic. Outsider efforts thus reflect greater individual control over the final creative contour. This is partly attributable to the low‐budget operations of many Outsiders, and in some cases to their unwillingness


to cooperate with or


inability or trust


anyone but themselves. It’s ironic that the less corporate money at an artist’s disposal, the m ore s ingular the vision.


— Irwin Chusid, from “Time and Curiosity: Journey to the Outside,” adapted from the


Afterword of Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious Universe of Outsider Music. Discussion Topic


What does the writer of this opinion piece believe about commercial vs. ‘outsider’ music, and do you agree or disagree? Do you think music artists today are able to express their own unique, authentic visions or are they ‘over‐ produced’ and ‘manufactured?’ Who are your favorite music artists and why?


Irwin Chusid ‐ www.keyofz.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9