The Oscars: An Annual Reminder of What Music Could Be
Tonight is the annual Academy Awards, arguably the biggest, most important night in all of American entertainment, if not in the entire world. And during the presentation, and in the list of nominees and winners, you will not see a parade of the movie industry’s most flashy personalities. You won’t see anybody judged on looks or popularity. You will not see the most commercially-successful endeavors given exclusive billing and opportunity for accolades. No, what you will see is the best and the brightest of the industry highlighted based mostly on the creativity and artistic integrity of their works.
It’s not that The Oscars completely ignore commercial viability or success. When a movie like Titanic or Lord of the Rings emerges, the industry recognizes the importance of these legacy films and gives them the proper nods, but not without regard to the artistic integrity of these movies or the talent displayed by the actors in them. Film understands that the most financially-successful movies have their legacy cemented by the strength of their box office numbers, and don’t need to be buffered by accolades better suited to those films that did not enjoy as much commercial attention. And this does not just go for The Oscars. From The Golden Globes, to Cannes, to a myriad of smaller film festivals all across the country and world, in the film industry there is an insistence on finding the most important works in a given year, and shining the spotlight on them.
Contrast this with the music industry, especially the country music industry that is flush with award shows now to the point of being redundant, and the differences are nothing short of embarrassing. In the film industry, low-budget and artistic films regularly find their way to the very top of the award show itinerary. In music, low-budget and independent albums, songs, and artists are completely shut out in favor of the same cloistered group of franchise-caliber names on an annual basis.
A perfect example is country music’s dilemma of finding a 5th female for the “Vocalist of the Year” category at both this CMA Awards and the ACM Awards for the 2012 cycle. The CMA’s, struggling to find a name of similar caliber to the top 3 ladies of Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, and Taylor Swift, reached completely outside of the country world to nominate Kelly Clarkson. The ACM’s also drew a blank beyond Martina McBride as a 4th candidate, and gave the nod to Kacey Musgraves, who despite being an interesting up-and-coming name, hasn’t even released a major album yet.
Meanwhile in 2012, a consensus built throughout music–from The Rolling Stone, to CMT’s editorial chief Chet Flippo, to right here on Saving Country Music–that Kellie Pickler’s album 100 Proof was an album worthy of accolades that balanced artistic integrity and commercial sensibilities. But Kellie and 100 Proof went completely ignored by the award shows, even though they were actively looking in the ranks of unknowns and outside the genre for a female name to fill out their candidate list. Along with the disparaging current outlook this paints for females in country music, it also illustrates the pull the industry has on what are supposed to be independent awards. The reason Kellie Pickler was not nominated is because she enjoyed no support from her label; a factor that is virtually superfluous in the movie world.
The point of awards is to promote the industry they cater to, and if they only consider commercial success, they become a self-fulfilling prophesy and feed a cloistered, creatively anemic environment. When the Academy Awards “Best Picture” nominees are announced, each film gets a sizable boost that helps re-focus the industry on the artistic integrity of the medium. A couple of years ago, The Oscars increased the amount of “Best Picture” nominees for this reason and others.
The Grammy Awards of the music world tend to include a bit more focus on artistry compared to the genre specific shows, but Oscar night every year is a reminder of how behind the music industry is compared to its peers in putting its best foot forward, and promoting the brightest talent.
February 24, 2013 @ 7:28 pm
Shirly Bassey just knocked it out of the park. Not bad for a 76 Dame (literally)
February 24, 2013 @ 8:40 pm
She’s not country, but Adele is badass.
February 25, 2013 @ 3:24 am
my gf had me sit through the terrible oscars
February 25, 2013 @ 4:00 am
The day Lionel Richie committed a so called country album with an adaptation of his own hits, “I hanged my head and cried” 🙁
It’s in this same mood I consider that this INDUSTRY serves country music at all sauces with a great part of pop something.
It’s the time to stop this “machine” and boycott these “legendary” associations / academies and their stupid awards.
Just one more word about the Oscars. If I agree with your thoughts, I remember the last year session with the choice of “The artist” that can let us perplexed when we know that this movie was promoted by one of the biggest producers of Hollywood. If I could be happy because it’s a french movie (and I’m french), I keep a critical eye on arts … and especially on country music 😉
Outlaws in foooorce !!!
February 25, 2013 @ 6:34 pm
Adele and Shirley Bassey rocked, and even Barbra Streisand’s tribute to Marvin Hamlisch was a sweet surprise. But as a bit of a “Mizhead,” I especially appreciated the ‘Les Miserables’ medley (aside from some uneven sound mixing). 😀
March 1, 2013 @ 9:51 pm
You do realize that the Oscars is all about campaigning right? It rewards films that do not deserve it because of relationships and star status all of the time.
March 2, 2013 @ 6:28 pm
That’s not entirely true. There’s campaigning, for sure, but every year there’s at least a few movies/performances nominated that were not even remotely on the radar when first released (like Frozen River, Winter’s Bone, A Better Life). The politics take play in who wins, but as far as the nominations go they put the spotlight on movies that don’t have the promotional budget that blow-em-up movies have. It’s a popularity contest but their intentions seem to be benevolent if you expand your view to the total range of films they nominate in all the categories.
Plus the Academy does good work in other ways. A lot of people don’t know that the award show is a vehicle for raising money to fund their work in restoring and archiving film. Does Grammy academy do that?
March 2, 2013 @ 6:47 pm
Triggerman is right. If the Grammys are supposed to be music’s biggest night they seem positively low-rent compared to the Oscars. While the Oscars will nominate a Sean Penn-like person for Best Actor and a Robert Deniro for Supporting Actor, the Grammys nominate Justin Bieber for best new artist. The film academy are a bunch of snobby old white men but they aim for projects with longevity and excellence (or at least the appearance of it). What exactly is the aim of the recording academy? To toss awards to flavor-of-the-weeks and one hit wonders in virtually every category and then make a pretense of being reputable with Album of the Year?
March 2, 2013 @ 6:47 pm
Looks like they do some good stuff:
http://www.grammy.org/grammy-foundation/preservation
http://www.grammy.org/grammy-foundation/grammy-in-the-schools
http://www.grammy.org/musicares
March 3, 2013 @ 1:42 pm
Then they should be concerned about their longevity and reputation. If not for their own sake, then for the sake of their cause.
…And stuff like this? http://hellogiggles.com/im-not-okay-with-chris-brown-performing-at-the-grammys-and-im-not-sure-why-you-are/2#read
Is a DISASTER for longevity, credibility and reputation. The Oscars would never be this stupid. The Grammys aren’t playing the long game and perhaps this a reflection of the music industry as a whole.
March 3, 2013 @ 1:55 pm
Actually, I was only responding to the question at the end of one of your posts. I had heard of Music in the Schools program in a discussion thread on No Depression. Surprised me, as I pretty much ignore the Grammys other than to find out who won in the roots music categories.
December 6, 2013 @ 10:15 am
Carrie Underwood and the Sound of Music. She was Carrieable. I think she Carried it off….Live performances are a pressure cooker.