The issue of appropriation of culture in music is
controversially discussed raising concerns for the use of culture as
backdrops. The argument goes that as an
artist unveils the video of music scenes appear of a particular culture and
people of that particular region. The
criticism is with the prop effects of the scene in and of itself without any
voice as to the culture and potential input.
The concern as well is the possibility of creating stereotypes when
using a culture or region as background to the displayed video. Indeed digital media has become highly
creative.
Related to appropriation is the message impact of choreography. What value do we give music artistry without
choreography, where the choreography is intended to pass on a message or be expressive
of an idea or even a point of view as Beyoncé’s choreographed Super Bowl L half
time performance? Could one argue that
the artist is “appropriating” a message that can be misconstrued by listeners
and viewers of the video or the live performance or both? Seldom does one see a digital or live
performance devoid of some form of a background or a choreographed component of
the whole performance augmenting to the value of the artistry.
An artist can be standing in a desert showing dryness along with
lyrics implying lack of human responsibility.
Can one argue that the artist is appropriating the issue of climate
change for his or her financial gain?
The same can be said of an artist with the back drop of famished dying
young children in Africa with lyrics of the need for love. Could one argue then that the artist is
misappropriating the plight of hungry children in the world?
A lot of care is evidently taken by all these artistic examples
to either embellish a performance’s appeal to the masses, elevate discussion of
an issue, bring meaning to a subject of our time, or conversely just being
creative and doing something for the sake of it being novel. The artistry is without saying the central
valuing aspect of the performance itself as a whole. The meaning and the implications is not what
gets copyright attention. The line that
should not be crossed is when the performance is offensive, disrespectful, and
an exaggeration. Digital musical
performances will continue to appropriate particular themes, cultures, ideas,
and messages to void the risk of otherwise being banal.
Lorenzo Law Firm is “Working to Protect your Business, Ideas, and Property on the Web."
Copyright 2016, all rights reserved Lorenzo Law Firm, P.A.
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