How To Fix the Entertainment Industry

I hope you, my precious cult followers, read the previous post concerning the entertainment downfall, because this is my solution to fix the industry's problems.



I was searching hard for a couple days to re-find this video from JUMPOFF and I'm so glad I can use it for this post. So, please, take the time to check it out, because I think what Serius Jones had to say can be said for the industry as a whole and not just rap and hip-hop music.

What Serius said throughout the video is pretty much my mentality on purchasing CDs since they became the big thing over cassettes and downloading was a mere toddler. I didn't have a job, I was just a kid. Occasionally, I would get an allowance or simply saved all my birthday and Christmas money to buy what I wanted. As I grew older, my guidelines for what music to buy steadily had a more concrete criteria that hasn't changed much now.

1. The artist/group has to be reliable as in I trust that what they make is going to be amazing because their previous works have been great.
2. If said artist/group is reliable that means I feel connected to them in some way.
3. If there's a strong connection and their promotion efforts through music videos and live performances (back in the day when MTV and BET were good music sources) are mostly positive, then I would buy their album.
or 4. If I have sampled their work online and I like at least half or more than half of the tracks, then I would buy their album.

Watching that video proved to me that people still have standards when it comes to music and this can be applied to movies as well. If the movie doesn't have a positive impact on me, especially a strong one, then I'm not going to bother buying a hard copy.

I say, if you want to decrease piracy, then I believe the industry should go back and resume making more quality material that is worth buying. Like Serius said, he's not going to waste his money on an album that only has 2-3 passable tracks that you can hear anytime in a club or on the radio. I'm on the same boat. If I'm not enjoying more than half of the promotional tracks or whatever, then I'll just get the tracks I do like and not bother with the full album. This logic works very well for me as a jrock fan too as they're even more of investment than American CDs, meaning the price is more. At the moment, I'm an unemployed, college student that has student loans to look forward to in the future, so that $40 or whatever better go to the most epic album ever~

People might think that's a cheap way of thinking, but seriously...would you spend your hard earned money on Lady Gaga's Born This Way? What about anything Soulja Boy or his crew has produced? Would you spend money on him? In my eyes, they're both two extremes in the industry. Lately, I feel Lady Gaga has been trying too hard and Soulja Boy and the gang don't try at all. All their fame and fortune has been coming from endorsement deals and publicity lately. Think about Adele's success this past year. I'm not a big fan of hers, but I can admit that she is quality music and that is why she had positive sells for her album. Why do you think Japan has a strong CD market?

As for movies, an industry I'm going to try to get into in the future, I can honestly say that my theater visits have decreased over time. It has nothing to do with the ridiculous ticket prices either. Honestly, I can say that I've been quite lucky in that area. Before I moved to university, tickets where I lived were about $4.50 matinee and $2 extra after 6. If you drive an extra 15 minutes or so, it's $1.75 less. Quite a deal, right? But I know other places are way more, like when I visit my family out of state it's like $7. So, my reason for my declining interest to attend movies in the theater are the movies itself. Everything is a remake of something old or overseas, is a carbon copy of the generic movies that are already out, or terrible horror movies. Even more annoying are those pointless 3D movies that are only created to make extra money.

In the year 2012, there's probably one, maybe two, movies I'm really looking forward to seeing in theaters and that's it. Everything else will be ignored or I'll rent it when it comes out on DVD; another reason I reach out to overseas for my movie needs. Now not every movie has been crap, there have been a few gems out there, but they're few and far between.

Sure, technology is evolving and it's part of the reason that the industry is failing, but perhaps the industry should look at itself as well instead of placing all the blame on the fans. We deserve quality as consumers and we want to be entertained to the fullest so we can support the work we see or hear. From all my years of living, I've remembered that music and movies are a work of art and should be viewed and treated as such. When the makers hurriedly make these works just to make a quick buck, then we'll just as quickly dismiss and forget it. But when they take the time and effort, then everyone wins.