You read your music magazines, a band's website, a biography, and something may/should strike your attention. That is the amount of bands with the "the only thing that matters to us is the music" attitude. The bands that don't give a cuss about their image, or what people think of them, or whether they're a commercial success etc. They just want to make great music.

To you, this will probably seem very honourable, and chances are that this band's music sounds better than the one next door. Their honesty flows through.

But to me, this attitude is a little strained. And untrue. I have to say: "Music is not the only thing that matters to a band". And it shouldn't be the only thing that matters.

Image

So, you don't care about your image, do you Slipknot? Don't care what people think about your boiler suits, masks and Adidas trainers?

Now, hold on. Slipknot are an easy target for the matter of image, and rightfully so. I think they're our best example.

Now, these guys are honest. They're the real deal. But, they have an image and everyone knows about it. Even the most ignorant person knows Slipknot as the band with scary music and masks.
According to the band, this is due to their anomnity (remember that each member is either referred to as a number of by their first name) and the fact that they come from S**tsville USA so nobody cares who they are. But the fact is, here is their image and I don't see them losing it any time soon. Same for every other band.

Commercialness

If you beleive everything you read, then only pop and dance stuff (plus sub-genres) is the only music aimed for commercial success. But the fact is, every band dreams of being a hit, of being popular and getting in the charts. If they didn't, then they probably wouldn't release singles and albums.

I'm v young, so I don't quite know about attitudes in the 50s and 60s. But I guess that in the early dark ages of music, and album was release because it meant that fans could listen to their favourite music whenever they wanted. I guess that was the idea. Nowadays that element is largely forgotten. A succcesful album is a band's opportunity to make more albums, and then more money. Getting it into the charts is like free advertising, so that more people find
their music, enjoy it, and make them money etc.

This is a rather cynical view. It is true that the charts provide an opportunity for somebody to see what's new in the music world. If they find some music that's life-enhancing for them, then the charts have served their purpose. But the fact is, nobody looks at it this way.

The bottom line: Music is not all that matters. Any questions?