Parvati Magazine February 2014 - Sobriety1 | Page 22

MUSIC

SEX SELLS
(Unfortunately)

B

eginning with the twentieth century, First World society became consumed with consumption of goods and products and people began to pursue material goods with the
goal of gratifying desires rather than using goods as a way to support one’s needs. This big
shift started a pattern that has continued into the twenty-first century and is the single biggest reason why people are now mostly unconsciously driven by impulses and desires.
One only needs to study first world society during Christmas time. It is a confused amalgam
of celebrating the birth of the Christ and a manipulative commercially driven consumption fest designed to create perpetuate constant wanting in our young ones. Regardless
of recessions and other economic slumps, Christmas mass has become more like Christmas
few, and the mass is more about the masses in the shopping centres. Why has this shift
occurred? Advertising and exploitation of our wants and desires has led to a society that
seems to revere Santa and his presents more than Christ and his presence.
The music industry is one of the largest consumer driven industries. It got this way mostly
through exploitation. Even the Sex Pistols gained extensive national news coverage from
calculated marketing tactics. Notorious for its exploitation of the arts, the artist, the consumer and focus on a healthy bottom line, to a record label, money is more important