(Sorry for the delay.  I spent a vacation week at the beach, diving in a
tank full of sharks (I'm not joking).  This has little to do with music,
but I don't think I'll have the guts to do it again in my whole life, so
I won't let go the opportunity to tell it everyone...:-)

Robert Peters <[log in to unmask]>:

>>Hmm.  Have you noticed that it's very difficult *not to hear* Ricky Martin
>>nowadays?.  Mass media will do everything legal (or even illegal) in order
>>to make you buy a record of RM.
>
>Well, classical music companies will do everything legal (or even illegal,
>who knows) in order to make us buy records by Cecilia Bartoli (who I love)
>or Neville Marriner.  So what? They want to earn money, that's their job.

They may do it, but not in the same scale as pop music companies do it.
Besides, there's an additional problem:  millions of people likes Ricky
Martin.  Yes, this is a problem, because they will *force* you to hear RM
at every time (at the bus, at a party, at the streets, etc) no matter if
you like or not, if you are in the mood or not.  You may call this "musical
pollution", and there should be laws against it.  Perhaps those *laws* are
unnecessary at Europe, USA, Canada or Australia, but here in Argentina,
bus drivers are allowed to play their favourite music at loud volumes, and
the passengers simply must shut up and absorb the music as a part of the
"natural" sound landscape of the city.  In our wonderful argentinian way
of life, It's considered almost a show of bad taste to ask the bus driver
to stop the music or even to turn down the volume.  I forgot to tell you
this in my former message, and I think that it can explain somehow my
mania about "reactions".

>>But unfortunately, mass media have stolen us our right to ignore who is
>>that guy.  So, is there really a place for all kinds of music in the
>>world?.  Perhaps, but one could also say that certain kinds of music
>>have bigger places than others.
>
>To complain about this is like complaining about rain: it is a waste a
>time and energy.

Perhaps. But I think it's worth.

>>That's a legitimate reason for a reaction, I believe (no matter how
>>good/bad may one judge the music of RM to be)
>
>Legitimate? I don't know.  Is this important? I think it is a fruitless
>thing to complain about Ricky Martin's music being so dominant.  Would you
>like to live in a world where there is Bach playing all the time: in TV
>commercials, in the radio, at the Internet, on parties, in elevators? A
>nightmare.

Agree.  Even Bach can be a nightmare under that condition.  My point is
precisely that *no* music would be dominant at the point that you can't
refuse to hear it.  Some day I will catch a fan of RM (a bus driver, for
example), I'll tie him in a chair and I'll force him to hear the entire
work of Anton Webern.  After that, I'll ask to the poor guy:  "got my
point, partner?".  Some people will say that I'm a sort of monster, but
I'll just be giving back what I receive everyday.

>>I'm sure you would not find anything beauty at a
>>complete hearing (840 times!!) of Satie's "Vexations".
>
>Well, I wouldn't bet on that.

My compliments!!!

>So I have deepened our friendship with this reply

I really hope so... ;-)

Pablo Massa
[log in to unmask]