Roots Archives Forum

Lots of people used to say "thats commercial music , thats bullshit". Honestly i never can understand the meaning of commercial music. ¿ What is/mean it ?

bless

Commercial music is made pointedly for biggest number of people as possible (for various reasons: money, to spread out a message [like Bob Marley with rasta message), etc). This is possible making your music sounding more like past big hits, like pop... music quickly degenerate going this way...... very different than music made by and for musics.

Just my 2 cents

Making money acting like rasta... although you ain't one.

Smiley wrote:Making money acting like rasta... although you ain't one.

I think lots of the bands that are touring are making money , and they "rastas", so 4 u they arent?

False rastas act as rastas altough they ain't. Thats what I meant.

They act as rastas just to get money... You still don't get it? Thats the way I've understood the word "commercial reggae".

When it comes to discussions bout commercial reggae there's one thing which is not mentioned usually. That is the fact, that 99% of reggae music is pop music defining pop as "popular".
In other musical styles there're more people doing experimental stuff that might not appeal to the masses - in reggae it's not that way.
When time moved on and a stlye got out of fashion (say ska) almost everyone in the JA music buiz adopted the new style. So i guess reggae is commercial music.
Nothing wrong with that, i don't use the words "pop" or "commercial" as bad words.
I just think it's often overlooked..

very much tied to hypocrisy I think - in this particular case of the Reggae music.
If you're singing sufferah lyrics you might be expected to be one of the sufferahs - but if you sell a heap of records and look like you're living comfortably the lyrics/message don't fit anymore. If you continue to sing poor mouth songs then you're just commercial - only in it for the money. Empty message in the songs.

In a broader sense, commercial is really anything put out by the big 5 record corporate records companies. So far removed from real people's concerns that it is synonymous with excrement...

interested to know when and where it started as a put down.
I remember saying that about music around about the emergence of punk...