Local music of Berlin has a great opportunity to contrast with the boring national pop scene.
As more people wake up and realize that the pop charts have become mostly a
marketing game of the same redundant sounds, they are looking for alternatives
that can provide refreshing sounds. One of the most overlooked places is people's
own backyards where independent local artists are struggling to make a living.
Leading local acts in Berlin include Henrik Freischlader, Xelil Xemgin,
Kadhalviruz, Stranded Guns and Attack Karma.
Original melodies can be constructed in many different ways. One of the reasons for
the ongoing myth that music has limits is that it's controlled by limited sources
who want to keep it that way. As long as they can control a narrow scope of genres,
they can keep marketing the same product over and over. It's time for communities
around the world to denounce this archaic souless system that commercializes music
to its weakest possibilities just to make a handful of uncreative people rich. The
first step is for people to speak up about promoting local artists.
Germany has a rich history of offerning new sounds to the world, especially
when it comes to classical music, which has been a huge influence in shaping
international pop music of the past few centuries. Germany has also played
a huge role in the development of electronic dance music, but German artists
now need to break away from the sounds that the world continues to imitate to
the point formulas are being overdone.
One way to break away from the predictable formulas of the music industry is for
musicians to free themselves from click track based recordings. Click tracks are
metronomes that musicians hear in their headphones when they record. It ensures
that everyone plays to the same timing, which ultimately is established by the
drums. This electronic element alone limits the possibilities of thoughtful
storyteller music. In poetry there are no rules about meter or rhythm
other than words should flow nicely.
There's no reason why three companies should control most of the music that sells
in the world. That's not capitalism or a free marketplace at all. It's just a bully
system that shuts out most musicians. A better system than for worldwide music is
to let different sounds organically develop around the world so that hundreds of
companies can thrive. Berlin is in a good position to be the epicenter of the
next music revolution. Some of the important venues where this revolution is
flourishing include Admiralspalast, Quasimodo and Max-Schmeling-Halle.
