Here’s the secret formula to being a mega star in today’s pop culture: attractive person – talent + auto-tune = Big Success. Some of the more famous examples are Katy Perry, Britney Spears, T-Pain, and the entire cast of Glee. Don’t get me wrong, Katy Perry’s music is catchy, but it’s all augmented. I’m sure you’ve heard “California Gurls” on the radio which means it’s flawless, but did you see Katy Perry on SNL? She should have stayed a Christian singer because they’re supposed to be a forgiving people.
So what exactly is Auto-Tune? It’s an audio processor created in 1997 by Antares Audio Technologies that auto-corrects vocal and instrumental pitches – pretty much a musical spell-check. The first artist to ever use Auto-tune was Cher in her single “Believe” in 1998. After Cher’s huge success with the program, many other artists began to use Auto-tune. Probably the most famous example of Auto-tune use is T-Pain with his robotic voice. It has been so catchy, there’s now a T-Pain iPhone application. Yes, there really is an app for that ®.
Auto-tune is ruining the art of live music. It creates a false sense of perfection and as a result, it’s killing the art of the live performance. Today’s generation has no idea how to appreciate the natural flaws in a live performance. Humans are not perfect and by extension, the voice isn’t either. While I would prefer to not listen to off key singers, I don’t appreciate being lied to. I’m not asking for much, just actual talent.
Like Jay-Z, I am calling for a campaign to stop the use of Auto-Tune! Auto-Tune is steroids for singers. We’ll have random pitch tests. If artists test positive for traces of Auto-Tune, they should be banned from commercializing their music. We need to stop selling lies! We have to keep performers accountable!
--C
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