We all agree that they exist.  We debate over who has them, who might use them, and how great of a threat they really are.  But we all agree they exist.  Weapons of mass destruction – no, not the album by rapper Xzibit, and not the nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological type either – I’m talking about what’s in the smooth jazz arsenal - those weapons poised to change the musical landscape.  What are they, and how great of a threat do they pose?

Cover albums - Covers have been around probably as long as music has.  There is nothing inherently wrong with musical covers of great songs.  Sometimes the cover is better than the original.  The danger lies in the sheer volume of cover albums being released right now.  They are everywhere, not just in smooth jazz.  And the end doesn’t seem to be anywhere in sight.  What is the threat?  Obviously, if a large number of artists are recording cover albums, they aren’t recording original music.  Without original music, there is no growth in the genre, and it becomes just another oldies format.  But the other threat comes from mistaking people’s fondness for familiar music with their desire to hear it all the time.  Everyone likes to reminisce from time to time, but if we live in the past all the time, what happens to the future?

National radio stations – This one is a bit of a double-edged sword.  Clear Channel debuted its national smooth jazz stations recently in twelve cities.  It’s less expensive for a station to operate a nationally syndicated format, so in theory, more stations will exist and more people will be able to hear smooth jazz on their radios.  With that, more local concerts can be promoted, and artists will have more exposure.  But the threat lies in the death of the local station.  Calling in a request to your local station is already a thing of the past in most markets because they already use canned playlists.  And the days where a local DJ could play a track he really liked and wanted to promote are long gone.  Time will tell, but "interactive," "responsive," and "innovative" are nowhere to be seen in this corporate landscape.  It's hard to conceive of that being a positive driving force in the music world for any genre.

Cruises, exclusive packages, and ever increasing ticket prices – Again, there is nothing inherently wrong with these.  Unless you get seasick, who wouldn’t want to spend a week at sea with a dozen or so of their favorite artists?  They are great.  It’s almost enough live music to last you the entire year!  But at around $2,000 per person, the threat is that a great number of fans are priced-out of the fun.  The same thing goes for some of the exclusive travel/ticket packages, and high ticket prices.  If the average smooth jazz fan can’t afford to participate in these activities, the result is that live music is taken away from the masses.

And that’s the real threat.  Saturating the market with cover albums is a lot like spending the year with that guy who can’t talk about anything else but “the good ole days.”  After a few days, you want to run away the first chance you get!  National radio formats that play canned play-lists that contain more oldies and covers than original music, do the same thing.  In both cases, the average fan is alienated – the attempt at “mass-appeal” becomes mass exodus.  Add to that the inability of the average fan to afford a lot of the live performance opportunities…  “mass” destruction. 

But before we all start stockpiling cases of original music so we can ride out the impending musical famine - the future of music belongs to the creative, adaptive, and innovative.  There are still creative minds at work – both musicians and industry people.  Look for them.  Support the work they are doing.  That is the best weapon of all.

- Elizabeth Ware