I wouldn't say the music industry is out to do anything but make money - however - 'shocking' makes more money. 'WAP' - was designed to break through the noise

I wouldn't say the music industry is out to do anything but make money - however - 'shocking' makes more money. 'WAP' - was designed to break through the noise by being crude and shocking - a title that I literally cannot write :), and almost on cue, had a 'GOP Congressman' talking about the 'Godlessness' of it all, playing perfectly into the hands of the labels. Like comedy. But it's a horrible song, because it's not meant to be one - it's more of a 'audio meme' meant to accompany the visuals media stars who made it. The press was more than happy to glom onto it for social reasons. This is pretty toxic to music and 'driven' by the labels, though not specifically for any purpose other than making money. MTV however - has always had a 'social change agenda' as part of their ethos. Most of the best music is accompanied by something 'new' and possibly a little bit rebellious, but generally not 'shocking'. It seems every big artists curates an image, but usually it did not overshadow the music. Since social media however, I'm not so sure. LadyGaga, however talented, seems to have always been 'visual first'. The top 40, while always mostly crap, did have a lot of gems, it was guarded by people with 1/2 decent taste in music and there were always indies. Now there's much, much more noise.