This article was originally printed in the 14th issue of Crawdaddy!

There is confusion afoot in the rock music world, a familiar confusion that arises from lack of understanding, lack of communication, and lack of common effort in a common cause. It is not surprising that rock musicians, record company executives, appreciators of the music, and radio station powers-that-be should each hold separate views of what rock music should be. It is not surprising that they have widely different opinions as to what rock music is now. What is perhaps a trifle unnerving is their curious refusal to even so much as consider the fact that they are all in the same boat together; each one clutches that elephant as though he were the only blind man in the world.

An outsider might assume that there is a fairly simple system in operation. The consumer, who has the money and exercises freedom of choice, purchases those records he or she likes out of whatever is released by the record companies. The radio stations play these same records that seem to be popular; the record companies seek to record more music of the sort that seems to be selling; the rock groups lucky enough to meet the public’s approval make a fair amount of money; and everyone knows where he stands.

The trouble with this concept (which has little to do with reality these days) is that it is not satisfying to any of the principals involved in these transactions. Rock groups who take their work seriously are not always eager to cater to what they believe is the public taste—and of course their direct contact is not with the public but with the record companies and the radio stations, who have their own ideas as to what the public taste might be. So even if you agree to appeal to the great unwashed, it is nigh-impossible to agree about what they really want. Problems: disparate goals (making music versus making money); disparate perception of the situation (“What does he know about what the public wants?”); and strained relations beyond the level of surface courtesy (“It’s impossible to talk to those freaks/money-mongers!”)

The performer, then, is in a difficult position. Should he (or she) try to please the public, the record company, or himself? Maybe he thinks he can please all three (it happens, but only through hindsight; doing your thing on records happens to give you a smash hit, and then the record company and the public cheerfully agree about what a great guy you are). Maybe he chooses one of the three, but meets opposition from another; perhaps he discovers that if he only pleases himself, he’ll never get near a recording studio… or maybe he does just what the company tells him, and ends up selling 37 copies of his well-behaved but unenlightened album.

The record companies, too, are caught in the middle. They’re businessmen, they seldom pretend to be anything else—all they want to do is administer the recording and manufacturing of commercial music, and how come things are getting so complicated? There aren’t so many arrogant men running record labels these days; these guys know they’re in a business that changes every half hour (that’s how it seems to them, anyway), and they’re simply trying to keep on top of the situation. They don’t much care what the public listens to, as long as it’s marketable.