Peter Maxwell Davies, the Queen's composer no less, has spoken out against 'dumbing down' and the commercialisation of culture, blaming bankers and politicians for it all. He made the comments when addressing the British Academy organised 'Composers: Who Needs Them?' conference, which took place this week.
Davies cited the example of Damien Hirst's dead cow piece going for £10.3m at Sotheby's last month as representative of where the arts are going. "I think we can all learn from a recent auction of art as an instantly recognisable iconic commodity, where it has become part of the entertainment industry, crossed with investment banking," he said. "The artist had wit to sell a golden calf and other bejewelled trinkets, but all creative artists, in whatever branch of the arts they work, must ponder the implications of so much money scrambling after manufactured artefacts without content - with just a brand tag supposed to guarantee market value".
He continued: "Over the last decades, since Thatcher, every commodity, including culture, not only has to be approachable, but, above all, have a measurable market, or commercial value, and must be demonstrably accessible to the largest spread of public. My main concern is how this is changing the face of our musical culture. As creative musicians, we can help make people of aware of such things that threaten our future. In all styles and types of music, we must bring awareness of that upon which the politicians turn their backs, while they engage in circumscribed, schoolboy mini-debates".