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Michael Greene, former president of the Grammys, discusses the perils of political interference in the arts industries, the continued lack of government support for the arts in schools, and argues for the defense of artistic expression.
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E!JPRESIDENTI
n an election year where even the incum-
bents are calling themselves agents of
change, it's no secret that the self-satisfied
smugness of the '80s has fallen out of
fashion. But while the images are being over-
MARSHALING hauled and the sound bytes rewritten, please rest assured
that we are not nearly as directionless and adrift as the
commentators are claiming. Rather, our country and our
culture are being aggressively sold down the river by a
cadre of opportunists who see America's most precious
A DEFENSE traditions - cultural diversity, public arts education,
free expression - as so many sacrificial lambs to be
slaughtered by self-invested political zealots.
How has the public conception of our musical and
cultural traditions become so distorted that the arts are
FOR THE ARTS now regularly spoken of as either an unnecessary indul-
gence or, in the most cynical rhetoric, an enemy within
that covertly undermines America's value system? Has
our artistic community truly become a cultural elite that
preaches to the converts rather
than to society as a whole?
Notes on While these charges are obvi-
ously part of an effort to use the
arts as a political scapegoat, they
do underline an uncomfortable
a Culture truth that our cultural commu-
nity has been slow to acknowl-
edge. Practitioners of the arts too
often mistake isolation for inde-
In Crisis pendence, resulting in a break-
down of communication that al-
lows politicians and bureaucrats
to position the arts in America's
agenda.
What can we as a creative
community do to ensure that we
both preserve our rights and meet our responsibilities in
1992 America? The stakes here are high and there can be
no thought of losing this battle.
To begin, we need to step back and take stock of
BY MICHAEL GREENE where we are today and examine some of the events that
President, The Recording Academy have gotten us here. There is no question that, in today's
society, music has become the primary means of commu-
nication between our children and parents, BlackAmerica
and White America, and the status quo and the socially
forgotten. As such, it is more important than ever that
these lines of communication remain unencumbered and
that freedom of speech is vigorously protected.
Not surprisingly, much of what our kids, our disen-
franchised and our socially disconnected musical provo-
cateurs are saying, singing and rapping stings and irritates
those who own the franchise of the current order of things
in America. And it's no coincidence that this same music
is now being subjected to the most vehement campaign
against free expression since the McCarthy era. While
Daryl Gates and Rodney King's assailants enjoy lucrative T The resignation in protest of two NEA advisory
publishing contracts, the musicians who deal most di- panels.
rectly with contemporary themes of America's injustice T The resignation of three of the agency's top directors.
and inhumanity run the risk of being silenced. T f.. shift in decision-making from artist peer panels to
Let's look at the pattern here: government bureaucrats.
T On June 13, Washington put into effect the nation's
first lewd lyrics law. The state that gave us Nirvana, Pearl All this is a mighty high price to accommodate the
J am and Soundgarden, now has "Sell a Record, Go to Jail" artistic tastes and hidden agendas of Jesse Helms and Pat
legislation that promises fines of up to $5,000 and jail Buchanan. And while the NEA's notorious indecency
sentences as long as a year. Governor Booth Gardner, who test was finally ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge
received 4,000 written protests, signed the bill into law last month, rest assured that the battle continues. At the
only a few weeks after proclaiming himself - and I quote rate we're going, the NEA will become such a tepid,
- "Governor of the home state of Nirvana, the hottest watered-down arts agency that, if Helms and company
new rock band in the country." finally succeed in pulling the plug on them, nobody's
T Last year, a Florida jury convicted Charles Freeman, a even going to care.
small record retailer, on obscenity charges for selling rap Our government's total disregard for music educa-
records. In a scenario fit for Simi Valley, an all-white jury tion is another symptom of the same problem, and runs
decided what does and does not constitute artistic merit completely contrary to the will of the American public.
in a black, inner-city music form. This took place in a A recent Harris poll revealed that nine in every 10 people
community that has topless donut shops - no racism
here - no sir.
"PRACTITIONERS OF THE ARTS
T The media, politicians and others have tried to turn the
most recent situation with rapper Ice- T's "Cop Killer"
into a polarized sound-bite issue. The dynamics which TOO OFTEN MISTAKE ISOLATION
fostered the LA riots are far too complicated and multi-
faceted to be viewed in such superficial and simplistic FOR INDEPENDENCE, RESULTING IN
terms. Rather, we need to examine this controversy in a
much broader historical cultural context: Fact, we live in A BREAKDOWN OF COMMUNICATION
a racist society, and now, more than ever, artists must
continue to be allowed to express the rage and sense of
THAT ALLOWS POLITICIANS AND
hopelessness that led our society's underclass to riot.
Unfortunately, much of the discourse that emerges from
this situation is far from constructive, whether it be the BUREAUCRATS TO POSITION THE
stereotyping of law enforcement people by Ice T or the
chants of "Ban rap - it's all crap" by Time-Warner ARTS IN AMERICA'S AGENDA."
demonstrators. Nevertheless, people must be allowed to
foster their own forms of artistic expression and, within
the boundaries of non-violent activities, call attention to believe the arts are an important part of a child's educa-
the systemic factors which have disengaged so many tion. 97 percent feel that learning about the arts makes
Americans for so long. Express your outrage in public children more creative and imaginative, 90 percent feel
forums, but don't shut down the lines of communication; exposure to the arts in school makes them become
isolation and the failure to promote dialogue will only tolerant of other cultures, and nearly 70 percent feel the
serve as fuel for the next riot, damaging both the underclass arts are as important as learning to read and write well!
and law enforcement agencies. So why are we embarking on a systematic course of
gutting arts education in this country? Again, I feel that
Meanwhile, back in the other Washington, the NEA is we as an artistic community, along with our arts educa-
being dismantled one grant at a time, sacrificed in a tors, share in some of the responsibility. For too long we
campaign overture to the most ultraconservative forces have failed to organize and communicate the importance
operating in this country today. In the last six months, of the arts to the public. And now our children and our
we've witnessed: society are paying the price.
T The firing of NEA commissioner John Frohnmayer in Obviously, neither the constitution nor our country's
order to appease Pat Buchanan. cultural heritage. are immune to the ambitions of our
T The hiring of new commissioner Anne- Imelda Radice; politicians. and special interest groups. They have known
while the jury may still be out, she is widely recognized as for decades that music and art bashing is an easy way to
a watchdog for the political right. garner publicity. Artists are being scapegoated for all of
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our society's ills, from drugs and crime to teen pregnancy tions.
and suicide. By censoring music, arguably the most inter- Don't get me wrong, coalitions have been assembled
pretive form of artistic expression, it will become easier for to fight the good fight. But, the RIM is expected to
the ugly hand of censorship to reach other forms of artistic combat record piracy, police parallel imports, design and
expression as well. lobby DAT legislation and INS regulations, monitor the
We, as a recording industry, have found it very hard to statistics of the industry and fight the record labeling and
react with enough speed and marshall our people to censorship battles as well. Their efforts must be sup-
facilitate the transition from reacting to acting. While ported by every sector of our industry, and where possible
successfullyputting out a few fires, the industry down played we must orchestrate our activities and work toward
the importance of the Washington bill and was critically common goals.
late with our efforts in Florida. Which brings us to the root Music, media and literature have alwaysbeen the most
of the industry's problem: its short-sightedness. The same accurate mouthpiece for a society. It shouts what the
short-sightedness that allowed it to make its own pact with political power structure, the status quo, would crush to
the devil back in 1985 by caving in to the demands of the silence. The musical anthems for the civil rights struggle
PMRC. and our country's exploits into Southeast Asia are ex-
The prospect that you can negotiate with these would- amples and I suggest that they would have been stickered
be arbiters of American taste and morality is simply out of existence if the politicians of the 50's and 60's had
ridiculous. Only an industry which has such a poor sense been as quick to exploit the vulnerabilities of our Bill of
of its own history would have ever given up such sacred Rights as the state and federal legislators of today.
ground. Unfortunately, our record industry's preoccupa- It should go without saying that the music industry
tion lies in what the next hit will be -- how to justify the needs to get its own priorities straight in the months and
next quarter's P&L report -- certainly not in the under- years to come. We also need to take a long hard look at
standing of the importance of the arts or having the what we are releasing into the marketplace and be willing
historical perspective to preclude such shortsighted ac- to differentiate between the authentic voices of social
consciousness and the marketing opportunists. We must
learn that freedom brings with it an equal measure of
responsibility, not a license to go around selling, in
THE ISSUE AT HAND Michelle Shocked's words, "cartoon postcards of other
people's misery to tourists who never get around to
he era of "one world, one music" may not be upon
T
visiting."
us, but the last few years have definitely seen a The fact is that to adequately protect our music and
renewed enthusiasm for experimenting with and, in our art, we must raise the consciousness of the American
many instances, breaking down the barriers between people at the grass roots level. Rights are not removed all
musical genres. at once -- they are chipped away a few at a time,
In this issue's cover story, six prominent artists consider the generation by generation -- so gradual is the erosion that
implications of this genre-bending. Their stories, observations those who will follow will have no frame of reference to
and opinions add up to a thought-provoking inquiry into the gauge what rights they are missing. That is why we can't
difference between musical growth afford to wait to make our stand on an issue we are
and calculated crossover, the role of comfortable with. Every issue of freedom of expression
musical authenticity in a postmodern must be seen as the mother of all issues. All who create,
world, and the prospects for diversity support or profit from art are within the crosshairs of this
in a music environment that rewards menacing gun.
We're hearing a lot of talk about wake-up calls,
assimilation.
commitments of change and new covenants from our
Also in this issue, we're introduc-
politicians this year. But we must demand some answers
ing an expanded Academy In Action
to some very specific concerns:
section, which now incorporates the ..•. Where does music and arts education fit into all the
latest news and events from NARAS vows, pledges, oaths and covenants? Will they once again
Chapters across the country. And, become a staple of our educational system rather than a
elsewhere in these pages, two depart- poorly-funded elective?
ments that went on hiatus during ..•. Will the NEA remain a political ping-pong ball or be
May's Grammy Awards issue make re-established as an independent agency?
their comeback: Tech Digest returns with its user-friendly sam- ..•. Will artistic freedoms be supported?
pling of the major studio trades, while our Genre section brings As an artistic community, it is imperative that we
you the artists who form the heart and soul of our organization demand the answers to these questions and become
and industry. viscerally involved in the rebuilding of our nation's com-
mitment to its cultural future. e
6/
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