Good Music, Bad Attitude

With more and more musicians unveiling their big egos and bad attitudes to the public, is it time for consumers to boycott the music of those whose actions we disagree with ?
Azealia Banks is starting Twitter fights with everyone in the industry before she has even released a studio album, Rick Ross is writing date rape lyrics and Nicki Minaj is renowned for her over-dramatics and diva tendencies. Maybe it's time these artists faced some consequences for their disrespectful behaviour...

This is a debate that emerged most recently after the horrible violent attack that Chris Brown endured on his then-girlfriend, Rihanna, in February 2008. As a result of this domestic abuse, Chris Brown faced an onslaught of abuse from the media, criminal charges and a lot of making up to do to his fans around the world. Many consumers decided to boycott his music for a while, but most chose to stick by him and over the years he has garnered even more fans, which is made obvious by his continued success in the industry, without even having to clean up his image.
It seems as though there is a new negative story about him in the blogs every week, from fights in nightclubs to hit and runs, and even though it's obvious that there are a few people who are out to get him and paint him as the villain of r'n'b music, he does make it really easy for people to hate on him.

Kanye West is another artist who is constantly exposing his anger issues and oversized ego to the public yet he continues to sell out arenas, top the charts and win awards no matter how often he compares himself to Jesus or attacks paparazzi.
Some may find his behaviour entertaining and harmless but there have been many occasions when this is not the case, like his infamous Taylor Swift VMA award speech interruption where he publicly humiliated the young winner and ruined her moment on stage. It was rude and obnoxious behaviour that clearly upset Taylor but Kanye's abuse from the watching world was brief and there were no real repercussions for his actions as it wasn't long before he was back to making millions and releasing critically acclaimed music. Has his attitude improved over the years ? No, just like Chris, Kanye has remained egotistical, annoying and rude yet shows no signs of slowing down career-wise.

There are endless names that come to mind when I think of bad attitudes in the music scene and some, such as Keri Hilson and Keyshia Cole, who have faced such a huge backlash for their criticism of Beyonce, do end up ruining their music careers.
But most artists are unaffected when they start unnecessary beef or find themselves hitting the headlines for despicable behaviour (like peeing in a mop bucket, Justin), whether it's because they are too talented and their music is so great that we disassociate the person from the product or that they have enough support from the music industry and endorsers that they can overcome any negativity in their personal lives.

Although I can appreciate the moral reasoning some may have for boycotting an artists music; in the 21st Century, we, as consumers, don't have that much of an effect on the profit and success of musicians by refusing to purchase their songs. In fact, record sales are probably the least profitable sector of a performers income since most of their earnings come from sponsorship deals and endorsements so it isn't until big companies and media corporations decide to separate themselves from an artist that we will see any impact on their career.

Personally, I believe that listening to/enjoying Chris Brown's music, for example, does not make you a supporter of domestic abuse neither does it mean you accept his volatile behaviour or forgive him for what he has done in the past. All it shows is that you appreciate good music and talent. There really is no need to delete music off your ipod or sit down in a club when the music of a certain artist comes on in order to make a point. The only person that will lose out is you, not the artist.
Obviously when they start receiving hateful messages on Twitter and can't sell out arenas any more because the public aren't buying the tickets, the artist may begin to feel some type of remorse for their actions as they see it affecting parts of their career. But, when it comes to the enjoyment of their records, we have to be able to separate the artist from the art and appreciate the music for what it is, good music, without attaching it too heavily to the artist behind it with the bad attitude.