A new phenomenon has been sweeping through the music
industry as of late. It is the ultimate sign of hate and disrespect – a jab
straight to the heart of some of music’s biggest names. It’s called a petition.
Thanks to change.org, which makes petitioning anything
simple and pain-free, music fans have begun taking to the Internet to voice
their opinions on controversial lineup announcements at some of the world’s
biggest music festivals.
First we had the announcement of Kanye West to perform
Glatsonbury Music Festival in the UK. One petition and more than 130,000
signatures later, guess what? Kanye is still playing Glatsonbury. Now, to me,
this is a little unsettling. Trust me, I loathe Kanye just as much as the next
person. He is horribly obsessed with himself and would probably cry if the
spotlight weren’t on him for longer then 30 minutes. But, if you strip down all
the egomaniac bullshit that embodies Kanye’s personality, you will find a hard
working musician with a ton of creativity. He’s one of those celebrities that
everyone loves to hate.
Next, we had a petition to remove dubstep duo Krewella from
the Summer Camp Music Festival lineup. Historically, the central Illinois
festival has always been very jam band friendly, so it was a given that people
were going to be upset with the addition of an EDM headliner with as much
controversy surrounding them as Krewella. But even with all the social media
anger, guess what? They are still playing Summer Camp. If you don’t want to see
them, there will be 4-5 other bands playing at the same time, giving you plenty
of options in contrast to seeing Krewella.
Do you see the trend here? Petition or no petition, the
people who run these festivals make the final decision – fact.
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| Screenshot taken from change.org |
Most recently, DJ Paris Hilton was announced as a headliner
for Summerfest Music Festival in Milwaukee, Wisc. Yes, you heard that
correctly. Paris Hilton – the billionaire heiress to the Hilton hotel chain and
the same woman who gained most of her fame from a leaked sex tape – is
apparently a DJ and for some unknown reason, a headliner at one of the world’s
biggest music festivals.
Of course, this sparked Internet outrage, including apetition for her removal from the lineup, almost instantly. Although, it is a
pretty negative and hateful practice, can you really blame the fans for being
mad about this one? I know I can’t. There are so many good artists out there
who work their tails off trying to make a name for themselves. They have work
ethic and talent – the driving reasons behind their success. Ms. Hilton has
money and a lot of friends…
Here is what the angered message on the Summerfest petition
had to say about DJ Paris Hilton. ---->
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| Screenshot taken from change.org |
But no matter how big of a five-finger Rick James’ bitch slap
this is to music fans and musicians alike, Paris Hilton is still probably going
to press play on her pre-recorded crap and she is still probably going to rake
in an ungodly amount of money for it.
So if these petitions don’t really work, what is the point in spending
so much time hating on other people’s work? Maybe it will send a message to
music festival promoters that there is a large group of paying music fans that plan
to keep musical integrity alive. Maybe this is the beginning of a change from
the system already in place to one where fans have more of a say in who plays
their favorite festivals. I guess the answer to that remains a mystery. For
now, do yourself a favor and quit worrying about these headliners. Go support
someone who is lesser known instead. Don’t bang your head against the wall in
negativity towards these unfavorable artists. Be a positive influence in
another artist’s future.
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