In the old days music artists could produce without ever having to be seen. But now, no matter
what kind of artist you are, you HAVE to have a music video to accompany your album. That's great for people like me who are looking to do video professionally. I can expect steady work if I want to make music videos - it's an industry that doesn't necessarily take much thought and can result in pretty decent money. But what does it mean for the future of aesthetic quality? Case in point, the video below. There is no doubt that Leonard Cohen is one of the great musical poets of our time, and that he has had a long and distinguished career.

He's not without his apologists who have to interpret his odd and deeply woven lyrics, my father being one of them. But look at this video for the non-single from his Dear Heather album, "Because of..."

See what I mean? I mean, what the heck! This guy has forty some years of producing and recording behind him and this is the best they can do? A couple of 13 year olds jumping on his bed while he sits on a roof and moans? (It's actually kind of funny. When he's walking around with the glass of wine I feel like I'm watching that "The Continental" character from Saturday Night Live.) On the other hand a legion of independent producers are creating some pretty creative stuff. Check out this one from a high school student. I was a supervisor for a high school video production class and only a few times did they make me laugh as hard as this video did.

Labels: bananas, Cohen, Leonard, music, video