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All of us recall a grandparent who sat us down and proceeded to tell us a story about how much better things were in his or her day. Apparently no one ever locked their doors, everyone knew each other, children were respectful to their parents, and big businesses made reliable products.

Industry is a word we throw around a lot these days, mostly because big corporate giants have platinum dipped the term and turned it into a symbol of success and immense wealth. For all intents and purposes, they're right. But these days we also see a strong relationship between big business and sub par end product. Products are cheaper, faster to create, and most time and effort is spent on marketing the product itself. Unfortunately the music industry is absolutely no different. As opposed to other forms of industry however, the music industry is going the way of the Dodo Bird, and not a moment too soon.

All big businesses began very small, sometimes birthed right there in the owner's garage. With the best of intentions and the desire to create a symbol of quality and integrity, a business owner will pour his or her heart and soul into their product in an attempt to gain success and respectability. Too often though, companies that grow to become powerful corporate entities lose their focus in an attempt to further their cash intake. Is the music industry the same?

Big media moguls have always sought to make money off of an artist that they can market correctly. We saw this with Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and countless other bands who not only laid the foundation for the music industry, but also made it a viable empire. Nowadays however, the choice of true musical talent has been replaced with image. Somewhere down along the line the music industry lowered its standards, and the public accepted it. Bands sound like copycat clones of each other. Music companies pay radio stations thousands upon thousands of dollars to continuously play their songs over and over again in an effort to maximize artist exposure. True talent is pushed under the carpet, ignored by the mainstream media. But the real culprits are the public, who have become quite hypocritical in their views towards today's popular music.

If one doubts the validity of the statement, all they need do is think back to the early 90s when we witnessed the hilarity of the Milli Vanilli fiasco. Two male models were hand picked to act as visual stand-ins for the true songwriters and vocalists that made up Milli Vanilli. The facade

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