Let's dance on this industry's grave ...

So music videos are a dying art form...

With the music industry in crisis from falling sales and file sharing, labels have less cash to subsidize elaborate videos that will mostly be seen in miniature on computers. The result has been a major shift in the art form, as artists increasingly embrace the YouTube esthetic with cheap, stripped-down, low-production videos.

Too bad, so sad. It's an industry that deserves to die. It has created such an incredibly jaded attitude of indifference towards women's dignity that pimps have become fashionable and what they do apparently not only acceptable but worth emulating.

Even Kanye West - one of the most video-conscious artists in music - experimented with a small, quirky clip ... [starring] white comedian Zach Galifianakis.

Pimping an orange tractor on a country farm, he lip-syncs: "Homey, this is my day."

What the hell does that mean? Pimping a tractor??? Is that cool-speak for selling a tractor? Or earning money by working on one? Or just a laughable attempt by pompous urbanites who consider themselves cool to glamourize farm work?

Of course, the imagery is so ridiculous that you might wonder if the unnamed writer(s) of this article and/or the editors at AP are so desperate to be considered cool they are trying to to re-create the English language in the entertainment industry's image. In which case, how pathetic is that?

By using such deplorable, lazy writing, they are being irresponsible and are just perpetuating that blasé attitude of disrespect towards women. Not to mention our society's growing idolization of those who trash even the idea (let alone display) of respecting the dignity of women. (And less importantly, but still deplorably, respect for the English language and good writing.)

However, no doubt that arrogant attitude is considered ultra cool in the media/entertainment industry, and I'm just not. Anyway, who wants to be responsible? That's no fun. And, I'm told, it doesn't sell papers.

Whatever. At least every now and again there is justice in life, thanks to the force of the marketplace (and no thanks to those who try to manipulate it).

... a longtime producer of videos for acts ranging from Britney Spears to Will Smith, doesn't expect to ever see another $2 million video: "The record industry as a whole has shrunk. There's not as much money to throw around."

[He] sees the effect particularly in hip-hop, where sales declines have been the steepest ...

You can read the full article here. I, for one, am not weeping over this news. With any luck, publications and newswire services that sacrifice quality to be "cool" will soon follow.