Sunday, March 29, 2015

The petition phenomenon and its effect on the music industry

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.
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. ---->

Screenshot taken from change.org
Strong words from a pissed off fan, huh? Well, Thomas Neill, the person who posted the petition isn’t the only one who feels this way apparently. At the time of this post, the petition has more than 6200 signatures.

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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