While the whole Music 2.0 blame-game bread-and butter has largely centered around the usual gundyguts (labels, radio, etc.) — barring McGuinness’ ISP/fan-as-thief bandwagon — it would seem as though the culprits are clear: the rich guys are the bad guys. Easy enough.However, there are also the little guys. And as much as I hate to say it, by little guys/girls, I mean the artists themselves.

Don’t get me wrong, I like sinking my teeth into a good industry-bully finger-wagging just as much as the next blogger. Lord knows, I WANT the underdog to win. And badly. I’m a Red Sox fan, for Christ’s sake.

But you’ve got to admit that there is a whole LOT of really AWFUL music out there, thanks in large part to the anyone-can-do-it nowstalgia of Pro Tools, Reality TV, etc., along with what seems to be a flagrant disregard of quality in general.

Which brings me to my old college English professor who, while scoffing at subpar novels (those of empty-calorie summertime reading list ilk), would affectionately refer to them as “Fritos of the Mind;” the idea being that indulging in thoughtless art invariably leads to the creation of thoughtless art, thereby breeding a contagious, “junk-food” mediocrity. You can see how this might also apply to music… hence, this week’s Billboard stats touting songs like Bleeding Love and Viva la Vida. Muncha Bunch.

For sure, it’s by no means entirely the artists’ fault. With the music industry relentlessly spoon-feeding us sub-standard songs (so sub-standard as to now be presumed free) it’s no wonder that gobs of enthusiastic, somewhat self-indulgent, off-the-couch fledglings have been able to handily over-saturate the market.

But still.

We’re talking about a little accountability here. Because an endless Long Tail eventually devalues talent. Which is bad for everyone. Most importantly, the FANS.

So I’m not saying that we don’t all have an inalienable right to own a guitar… but don’t we also have a duty to then use it responsibly? To make mindful art?

Perhaps making GREAT music should still be the goal, no matter what the market exigencies, no matter how ridiculous your mustache…

Hot diggety.

© Outlandos MusicTM 2008