A Buzzless Year

Who's really behind all the excess of buzz that many, in my opinion, undeserving bands get? Somebody must be paying off Spin magazine to push some of the most watered-down, substance-lacking groups I've heard in years. I read music publications in hope to to get a better idea of what is out there, maybe discover a band that I might not otherwise have heard of. I usually leave mostly unsatisfied after checking out the many suggested bands, the "must-hears".

Buzz has fucked over the industry in many ways. Bands have learned to rely on it; fans have looked to it. Buzz builds up anticipation, evokes curiosity, than, more often than not, drops you and leaves you hanging there with musical frustration. Perhaps the greatest bands out there have a sense of integrity and are avoiding this thing called "buzz" and are trying to pave their own way; let the music speak for itself, let the fans do the praising, never allowing press to dictate what they will do next.

I propose a Buzzless Year. I'm not sure how this could happen... it's more of a fantasy than reality, but bare with me. Imagine this:
2009 arrives and MTV is silenced, all major music magazines are banned (except Paste perhaps) and small, music-loving indie zines and blogs take the forefront. Record labels are in a frenzy and don't know what to do with all this extra money that they used to spend on assuring that their bands get plenty of buzz in the press... we no longer have to filter through music magazines trying to find two good articles, skipping past what musicians are wearing these days, what parties they were at, countless ads, what they think the top 50 albums were... you get the drift. Small, genuine, music-appreciating publications start to get attention, than maybe we will hear honest, buzzless, non-paid-for opinions on music of all sorts - not just the "next U2", or "the saviors of rock 'n' roll". We might find our new favorite bands; bands who are working hard, making great music and not conforming to something that would give the guys at Pitchfork a boner.

We could all use a little less buzz and a little more music. The reason all the bands sound the same is because if they want a piece of the spotlight they feel they have to fit in the boxes that the press has crudely fabricated. They have to be "the next U2". The world doesn't need another U2. And please, we don't need a savior of rock n roll. We need to move forward to a future where musicians can genuinely feel the freedom to make the best possible music they can. That could end up being something completely different than what rock n roll ever was.