Here’s what I want to say about Glee:
Clearly, the success of Glee says a lot about the state of remix in popular culture. For a generation raised on televised karaoke contests judged by failed record industry insiders, and Paula Abdul, Glee is the latest filter from which they are exposed to music. The thing about Glee is that its cast sings popular songs and thus re-contextualizing their meaning in order to address the themes presented in a given episode. While many TV shows incorporate popular music into their soundtracks, Glee does so by stripping the song’s association with the artist who made it popular. By releasing the cast’s recordings, even before they appear in televised episodes, Glee serves to remix all cultural connotations associated with the original versions of these songs.
Obviously, this is a problem!
Clearly, the success of Glee indicates that people like their brand of musical remix. Except Kings of Leon. For those that are unaware, an all out war ensued in the media between Glee creator Ryan Murphy and Kings of Leon. See an excellent recap of the verbal feud here:
http://exploremusic.com/wtf/glee-vs-kings-of-leon-it-gets-better/
We often talk about our freedom to create within remix culture as empowering. Clearly, Ryan Murphy has grown accustomed to the power of re-contextualizing popular music to benefit his own show. For all intents and purposes, Glee is one of the voices of a generation raised on the ideology of free music, Guitar Hero and American Idol, unable to fathom an artist exercising their copyright and limiting the remixing and re-contextualizing of their art. Murphy’s public reaction towards Kings of Leon, whose music he clearly admires, really says a lot about the state of popular music and a generation entrenched in remix culture.
