How long do you reckon someone needs to be within the music industry for them to be influential or impactful to people of generations old and young? Do you have to be within the realms of music for ages and ages like U2 and release years upon years of chart-topping songs, or can you just be a year in your career, someone like Billie Eilish or Lewis Capaldi, and still have an impact on music and/or society as a whole? Well, I guess the truth is…I don’t really think it matters how long you’re in the music industry- 2 years or 20 years. What matters, I reckon, is the artist’s ability to create music of a nature that is able to inspire, impact, affect people, challenge societies, give hope and become a catalyst for positive change- if the song does that, regardless of how old the artist is (or maybe in artists like Billie Eilish’s case, how young the artist is!), then they are in for stardom quicker than anyone can ever believe. The trick is to maintain that grounding- physically, spiritually, psychologically and mentality, when you’re constantly under the microscope of the media, 24/7. The pressure can sometimes get to you, just understanding the full gravity of how outside people are always looking at you to see if you can slip up in your performances in any way. The stage is set, and people, no matter how kind or good-natured they can be, are often passing judgement, unintentionally, I’m sure. Nevertheless, more often recently, artists have been coming to the table which is ‘the industry’ younger and younger, and frankly, there seems to be a ‘throwing-out’ of these artists on a regular basis, as well. So to come back to my original question- preferably I reckon artists need to have a few albums underneath their belt for them to be called ‘influential’- otherwise anything less, I believe, is often framed as a ‘fad-of-the-times’- harsh but true.
Continue reading MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 44: ONE DIRECTION
