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Where Art meets Politics - a bridge too far?
Stuart Neale • 28 October 2023
Both the music and film industries have primarily been established over many decades, being driven through the hunger of the consumer to be entertained. Of course nothing wrong in that (I hear you say), but when in the case of purely commercially released music and film production being used very effectively as ‘containers’ to deliver a variety of messages, which are not derived from genuinely altruistic but self serving motives, I begin to wonder is this really 'Art'?
When purchasing music or film (oh I mean streaming don’t I, silly me…see previous blog https://www.scnproductions.com/nobody-does-it-better-than-you) our appetite or desire to be entertained has the potential to be met with productions that cross different boundaries. It maybe a song with political content such as the Specials release in 1984, “Free Nelson Mandela”, which was then re-released in 1990 when in fulfilment of that song's campaign he was freed; or Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In The USA”, again a 1984 release which lyrically represented a soldier struggling with civilian life returning from the Vietnam war.
It’s certainly no new phenomenon where the highly successful artist achieves a status of such popular appeal that their voice extends outside the typical expectations of pure entertainment, one prime example being that of Bono from U2.
Clearly in the early years of U2’s rise to fame, the passionate protestation of unfair discrimination and victimisation shouts loud and proud (encapsulated in their song ‘Sunday, Bloody Sunday), but did Bono always have the ambition to become what some perceive him as being i.e. a ‘political superpower’? After all he just played in a Irish rock ‘n roll band right…
Another dimension to this train of thought reaches across into the corporate world of charitable giving, versus true philanthropy and altruism.
According to this years CAF report (Charities Aid Foundation), whose analysis of the FTSE 100 companies' giving for 2022 reports a total of £1.85billion. Now on the face of that figure (which on average has been the same since 2016), ones heart might be gladdened with the UK’s corporate effort in this area. My reason for penning this blog however was born out of the following question:
There are some amazing achievements done in the name of compassion by wealthy individuals, companies, musicians, singers, artists, film studios etc, but to what extent are these performed to gain more wealth or notoriety, versus the true sacrifice of an activity, campaign or even a life given over to the cause?
…and through all of that the entertainment industry is handsomely fed and watered irrespective of peoples motive and ambition.
I have been referred to along lifes journey as a ‘perfectionist’ and with some internal satisfaction I previously received this label with glee, but now I’m not so sure..
After having walked some distance on the journey of film and digital capture and dare I say photography, my eyes have indeed been ‘opened’ to some interesting concepts and realisations.
In an age where technological advances have resulted in artificially created ‘intelligence’, giving rise to automation on an unprecedented scale that previous generations would not have ever imaged.
Reviews
“Stuart has been producing my music and videos for a number of years now and I am always thrilled with the finished results. His wealth of experience in the music industry coupled with his above and beyond attitude is what makes his work special. He never fails to catch the vision of a project and his gift for production and arranging always takes my work to another level. Every song and video I’ve put into Stuarts hands has undoubtedly come back to me a hundred times better. He has a fantastic attention to detail and never hands a project back until it is perfect. Overall, an incredibly talented producer!”
Vicki Holden, Business Owner
“I had the pleasure of being introduced to Stuart to explore an innovative project I was creating which required some bespoke music for an animation. Stuart walked me through the process with ease and created an end product which pulled together the entire production, elevating it to a higher level than I could have ever imagined! I am so thankful to have had this opportunity and highly recommend Stuart’s work.”