Separating the art from the artist: an introduction.

With all the publicity surrounding the R.Kelly scandals, I thought this would be a great time to bring up something that has been weighing heavy on my mind for a while now.

Socially conscious music consumption.
The idea that the consumption of particular artists come with social implications. Implications that can undermine, silence and hurt certain social groups.

Now I’m not asking you to become the music police but as a society, we seem to be getting a hold on this socially conscious citizen thing. We’ve banned plastic straws, plastic bags and we all have reusable coffee cups. Surely it’s not too much to start applying these ideas to our music consumption as well?

I recently held a poll on social media about whether I should be listening to the new Chris Brown single, with the full knowledge of his crimes committed in the past. This instance of Chris Brown is significantly different from other artists in nature. I mean, he physically abused one of the most popular women in music and his case is widely known by the public. So with this in mind, I asked the question “Should I stop listening to him [Chris Brown] because of his history with domestic abuse?”. I found the results super interesting and out of the fifty people that responded thirty people responded with “No”. It really surprised me that people were still okay to listen to Chris Brown. I mean we all saw the photos, right?

Often, music can be simply described as a product created for mass consumption. However, you and I both know it is so much more than that. Music has the ability to change lives, to impact moods, to spark romance and draw out anger. Music can creep into your soul and be stuck in your head for days, months, years. So tell me this, with something that is so personal and formative, shouldn’t we be more careful about who we let into our mental and emotional space? I believe we should. In the same way that we allow musicians to be catalysts for positive change, we must hold them accountable for the negative. I believe there needs to be a consciousness to our listening because I believe we are better than just mindlessly playing anyone that pops up on Spotify.

Starting a trend of social responsibility could spark positive change surrounding situations like those outlined in my article about R.Kelly. If we can accept that music is a deeply personal experience that needs to be taken seriously and protected by each individual we can stop toxic people from being in positions of power. Because when you listen to an artist you are not only supporting their music, you are supporting them, literally. Music streams translate to dollars and when you listen to the artist you are donating time and more importantly, money, to help fund their way of life. All the while, there are plenty of hard-working, talented artists who haven’t committed heinous crimes against others that you could be supporting.

By the way, before anyone starts to get defensive, you should know this piece has no agenda. I understand that each person has a different relationship with music and for the time being, this is mine.
I will leave the definition of what is socially acceptable and what is not up to each individual but at the very least I think we should stop just mindlessly consuming and become our own catalysts of social change.