Ageism in media is a big issue.The BBC is sticking to its policy, and says “we’ve moved on from Madonna”. They consider her irrelevant, and have effectively written off her new single, a major production number. It’s an interesting policy position, because the dictates of the market don’t necessarily match policies. Old media, in particular, is very vulnerable, with a host of alternatives available to audiences. The wisdom of this decision remains to be seen.
Madonna, at 56, may not be a teenager, but she still sells a lot of music. This policy decision effectively excludes that audience. By extrapolation, and also potentially excludes a lot of other major music artists.
Unlike the 50s and 60s, the music market has broadened enormously. Many long established rock band’s report that their audiences include a very healthy proportion of younger people two or three generations younger than their famous songs.
The music industry, which also has a vested interest in both repackaged artists and materials, has no reason to be pleased, either. A no-play rule really doesn’t help anyone. Whether or not this decision is absolutely realistic is another issue. The fact is that the culture doesn’t simply stop being interesting because somebody decides that it has on the basis of some sort of expiry date. On that basis, you’d have to close the Tate Gallery the Louvre, the Guggenheim, and just about every other cultural institution in the world.
Realistically, this seems to be a somewhat spiteful decision, unduly confrontational, and counterproductive in terms of addressing actual issues. Does this mean that everybody of a certain age gets relegated to easy listening? On that basis, Metallica, and just about every other heavy rock band will be getting played right next to Perry Como and Dean Martin.
The compulsive targeting of the younger audiences is also a bit of a nuisance. It makes sense from a marketing perspective, but ignoring the rest of the market doesn’t make any sense at all.
For artists, you don’t simply stop being creative because the clock keeps ticking. You don’t stop playing music and writing music on a seasonal basis. For audiences, you don’t stop listening to music based on your age, either. That really is unfair to artists and audiences, and the media perspective needs to change.
