Artist Bashing Trend.....

danktat

danktat

Award winning tattoo artist ... Amateur guitarist
Joined
Nov 5, 2018
Messages
1,547
Location
PA, USA
This was from a post I put up on Facebook after spending an hour or so on some facebook pages. I had to get it out. Some to the stuff I hear there is ridiculous....

"
Why do people who work in creative fields spend so much time BASHING and deliberately DEMEANING other people in that same industry [who are actually successful] ? IE: Tattooing, music, acting, etc ......

There are plenty of tattoo artists (PROFESSIONAL ones are who I am talking about to be clear) that I wouldn't let tattoo me. And there are plenty of musicians that I wouldn't CHOOSE to put on in the car. But, just because they aren't appealing to may particular tastes, doesn't mean that they "suck", or "couldn't pick a note to save his life", or is the "worst artist I've ever seen". And, lets face it, those who say those kinds of things are usually expressing them to large crowds of others in an attempt to get them to say degrading stuff about that individual. Get everyone else to pile on with the bashing.

Everyone who works in a creative field has to figure out what their lane is, what niche they are going to fill. And, often, the people catching the most sh*t, have learned to fill that lane better than most. Perhaps it is the jealousy of the success of someone who knows what they do, and just does it, that sets other people [in that same industry] off so much.

I don't know. Whatever it is, it is a bad look. We all have a space to fill. Everyone can't be trying to occupy the same slot AT THE SAME TIME. And there is something that is appealing to EVERYONE. If it ain't for you, what is the need to talk so much sh*t? You don't have to choose to listen to them, or to go get a sleeve done by them, or to watch a movie they are in. Constructive criticism is one thing. Trying to trash someone else's work WHILE TRYING TO GET OTHERS TO DO IT TOO is a whole different thing. Might be time to check your self esteem."

Anyway, figured I would post it here to see what others think about this phenomenon.
 
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Well, if you were a better music fan, we wouldn't have to explain it to you, would we?

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There are people who aspire to raise themselves in the world by praising others, working with people to better both themselves and the other people, with the idea that a rising tide raises all ships.

Then there are people who figure the best way to elevate themselves is to tear down others.

I've long subscribed to the theory that there are only two kinds of music (and really, this applies to all art) - stuff I like and stuff I don't. If I don't like it, it only means it's not for me. I may think it sucks, but there's someone out there who likely loves it. And neither one of us would be wrong, because it's subjective. And while I believe there is value into convincing someone that they might like something I like, there is none in convincing someone to not like something simply because I don't. It's the difference between putting positive and negative energy into the world. And while I definitely have my moments of adding to the negative, to paraphrase Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, I'm trying, Ringo. I'm trying real hard to put more positive energy into the world.
 
Honestly, the simple answer is, the internet allows and maybe even encourages people to be a$$hats. It's WAY too easy to sit behind a computer screen and run your mouth about someone, than say it to them in person and get punched in the mouth. And no, that doesn't mean I'm ok with punching people who insult, bash, etc., it's just that the internet allows it with pretty much no recourse. I think it really brings out the worst in some people. The "filter" one needs to use to get along in society, is not required when you're safely behind the computer screen. Someone can not only bash or insult you, they can flat out lie about you, and people who don't know they are lying won't know whom to believe.

Specifically to the OP, the Artist Bashing thing is fueled by what I said above. People who don't know their butt from a hole in the ground can get online and tell the whole world how bad this artist is. It's weak. It get's old. Some dork at TGP was bashing PRS a couple weeks ago, and after about 4 insults he got to the one that PRS owners were just rich guys who couldn't play guitar. He even went on to say "most never get past beginner level" and just buy them to show off how much money they have, but are embarrassed to play them in front of real guitar players. At 1:00 in the morning, my filter is getting tired... I fired back that if he was such a bada$$ I'd gladly cut heads with him any time for a $1000 bet for the winner. I did promise to donate his money to a good charity. :p:p:p

By morning his post was removed by mods and I removed mine. I just get sick of reading that crap over and over and over. After a while, it's like "put up or shut up." But that serves no purpose either. Just fueling the idiots. It's best to ignore the trolls. It's hard sometimes though.
 
Because sometimes folks don't realize that sending their regards to others via FaceBook really is designed to be one of a supportive kind. Sadly the fighting and feuding doesn't address anything other than forcing one's own viewpoint over another, instead of accepting the former view and respecting it.

And that is the problem. Many are unthankful, disrespectful and unwise. It's been the way of mankind since the beginning. People trying to dominate one another. Why not accept someone else's view and see beyond our own narrow view? Doesn't mean we need change our own view, but at least be open to hear or read someone else's.
 
I think one of the core problems with this type of situation is, people care too much about what others think ;~)) The "you can change the channel if you don't like it" works both ways! I know for a fact that many think a player of my mediocre level (complimenting myself there) does not NEED or should not HAVE or does not DESERVE the guitars I own, but I have what I want (well, some of it) and that is all that counts for me! As for the music I produce, I am in the same boat! I love what I am doing, and that is what counts for me, it is endlessly entertaining me (in both doing it and listening to it after)! If others like it, that is great! If others hate it and want to cut on it, that is to be expected, and I will simply move on from such comments unless of course it is constructive criticism, which I welcome with open arms! Long and short from me is, just shake your head and move on! It is not worth your time to educate an idiot and you will not succeed nor will you vanquish that scourge!
 
I've never once been on Facebook. Been told repeatedly in the past how much I'm not missing.

As far as criticizing others musical ability, I am in NO position to do so. Reminds me of a story Glenn Frey once told. He said back in the old days in Michigan, he and Bob Seger were driving around one night with Bob behind the wheel when a certain song came on the radio. Glen said I started bashing the song left and right. He said Bob never once looked up from driving and said "lets get one thing straight. They're on the radio and we're not." Glen said "I just sank into the car seat after that. "
 
danktat said:
No real way around it for me. With what I do, a social media presence is almost as important as the work itself.
Click to expand...
I understand, and what I said sounds kind of harsh to be sure.
That said, their "business model" does more than just rub me the wrong way. I do not have any negative opinions regarding those who use it.
Heck... I've had to have 2 accounts. One for work, and one I created before I understood what they really do.
I've dumped the work account.
Anyway, I apologize if I have offended anyone.:)
 
Moondog Wily said:
I think one of the core problems with this type of situation is, people care too much about what others think ;~)) The "you can change the channel if you don't like it" works both ways! I know for a fact that many think a player of my mediocre level (complimenting myself there) does not NEED or should not HAVE or does not DESERVE the guitars I own, but I have what I want (well, some of it) and that is all that counts for me! As for the music I produce, I am in the same boat! I love what I am doing, and that is what counts for me, it is endlessly entertaining me (in both doing it and listening to it after)! If others like it, that is great! If others hate it and want to cut on it, that is to be expected, and I will simply move on from such comments unless of course it is constructive criticism, which I welcome with open arms! Long and short from me is, just shake your head and move on! It is not worth your time to educate an idiot and you will not succeed nor will you vanquish that scourge!
Click to expand...

I agree with you that you can "change the channel." The problem is, it's one thing not to like something, but it's completely another to get online and bash it and insult people. When I played sports (basically all my life) my dad taught me early on that no matter how intensely you compete, you NEVER talk trash. You never belittle your opponent or make "Show" to show him up. Let your playing do the talking. Respect the game. I can't begin to tell you how many times teams or players tried to get in my head with trash talk and can't even repeat some of the things that were said. But other than an occasional sarcastic reply that was never directly at the person, I never said usually said much of anything back. Usually it was nothing more than "bring it on" or "lets see what you got"

It's that way with music, with the exception of the fact that music is not a competition. I don't care if you're Yngwie Malmsteen, if you hear a beginning level player stumble through something simple, you have a couple choices. Offer encouragement, and assistance if asked, or shut your mouth. There's no place ever for people demeaning someone's playing or singing. EVER.

My problem is, I don't like to hear people or things I like get insulted by these idiots. If people start bashing PRS guitars, I'll probably say something back in defense of what I know to be true about them. If they start bashing, I may even get sucked in and throw a few comments back. If it's about some pro band, I usually laugh it off, although I may have a little fun with it. Example, not 10 minutes ago some guy dissed Winger at TGP as "irrelevant" and my reply was something like "any band with Reb Beach and ANY member of the Dregs is way more relevant that some guy on the internet who's insulting them."
 
RickP said:
Repeating…

Giving a voice to every moron with a cell phone was never going to end well.
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Can't argue with that, and y'know, I did think once upon a time it was going to end well.

Back in the early 90s when I was first exposed to the internet, it was populated mainly by university and science people. There was amazing knowledge, experience, and wisdom to be found in all corners, along with lots of humor and glorious biting sarcasm (and yeah, smutty JPGs if you knew where to look).

Naive me, I thought it was going to be amazing when anybody in the world could be heard by anybody who cared to listen. The first sign that things were going south was the infamous (at the time) "green card lottery" in which some horrid law firm spammed every Usenet news group that existed with advertisements for access to green cards. Literally every one of the 10,000 residents of the Internet cried out in pain because the sanctity of their topic areas had been violated, violated, I say with this commercial trash!!

That was the beginning of the end of those halcyon days when a certain level of education and funding was the ticket to communicating with the entire rest of the wired world! <shakes cane at kids>

So here we are in our new world of global electronic enlightenment, and it turned out that word didn't mean what I thought it meant. Social media is trash at best, and manipulation towards somebody's agenda at worst. And like somebody said earlier, there's always some troll out there feeling free to tear people down or even cause them physical harm because there's no accountability. We're way better at creating new technology than figuring out what good/harm it does. And I have a feeling I'm repeating myself...
 
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