Here is a link to an eye opening documentary from 2006 about the shape of the music industry today. What does it take to become the next great pop sensation? Practice, practice, practice? Well, in the words of Gershwin; “It ain’t neccessairly so’. Pop acts today are synthetic constructs more designed more in terms of bringing profits to shareholders rather than having any sort of artistic message.

As Bradford Marcellus points out many of our pop heroes of the past 30 years “wouldn’t have a chance today” in our music industry that now focuses on youth and good looks, rather than honesty and having soul.

Narrated by Academy Award® Winner Forest Whitaker, BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES is an unsettling and inspiring look at today’s popular music industry featuring interviews and performances by Erykah Badu, Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews, Branford Marsalis, and a wide variety of others. The documentary film has built a passionate following as “the most important film a music fan will ever see” (XM Radio) by providing “a balanced overview of the state of the rock scene of America” (The Wall Street Journal) and adding “passion to the eternal debate about the industry” (The New York Times). Last year, BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES filmmakers Andrew Shapter and Joel Rasmussen walked away from traditional Hollywood distribution to instead pursue a large-scale grassroots release with B-Side Entertainment.