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'Sexual favours were the norm in music industry'

bbc.com

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Re: 'Sexual favours were the norm in music industry'

#181

Post by dang »

texasbigdata wrote: post #101

This is probably the most interesting comment here. Especially (as a moderate to liberal) with the cancelling of Parkor which was deeply troubling. Is anyone speaking publicly and/or thinking deeply on this future of everyone in the value chain being able to deny freedom of speech? Obviously in some cases it's warranted (violence), but in others where the attack is very pointed (heard instances of cloudfare being pet…

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26166493 since it's taking the thread on a generic tangent that's been argued to death and back many times recently.

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

Re: 'Sexual favours were the norm in music industry'

#182

Post by nicolas_t »

texasbigdata wrote: post #101

This is probably the most interesting comment here. Especially (as a moderate to liberal) with the cancelling of Parkor which was deeply troubling. Is anyone speaking publicly and/or thinking deeply on this future of everyone in the value chain being able to deny freedom of speech? Obviously in some cases it's warranted (violence), but in others where the attack is very pointed (heard instances of cloudfare being pet…

Who is Parkor? Tried googling but couldn't find anything about that?

Re: 'Sexual favours were the norm in music industry'

#183

Post by dang »

MichaelMoser123 wrote: post #7

what interests me is: how do people maintain their integrity in such a foul environment? I mean if you can't look yourself in the mirror then how do you keep on creating anything?

The article is interesting because it seems to be an example of just that.

Re: 'Sexual favours were the norm in music industry'

#184

Post by tabtab »

fulafel wrote: post #107
api wrote: post #14

Any time you have an industry where the number of people who want to do the work vastly outstrips demand and where there are gatekeepers, you are going to get a culture of abuse. It comes in various forms: sexual or other inappropriate favors for advancement, verbal abuse, or just abusive working conditions like sweatshop hours and burnout culture.

I wonder about game development, it shares a lot of the traits.

My body doesn't qualify me for access to "alternative routes" to success. I can see many game devs are in the same boat.

Re: 'Sexual favours were the norm in music industry'

#185

Post by timthorn »

tchalla wrote: post #11

> However he left the music business in the mid-90s to become a teacher and is now president of Saint Louis School in his native Hawaii. Interesting career choice :)

My chemistry teacher was in a top ten pop group in decades past. Could be a more common career ladder than you might think.

Re: 'Sexual favours were the norm in music industry'

#186

Post by tabtab »

alexashka wrote: post #136
api wrote: post #14

Any time you have an industry where the number of people who want to do the work vastly outstrips demand and where there are gatekeepers, you are going to get a culture of abuse. It comes in various forms: sexual or other inappropriate favors for advancement, verbal abuse, or just abusive working conditions like sweatshop hours and burnout culture.

> Any time you have an industry where the number of people who want to do the work vastly outstrips demand and where there are gatekeepers, you are going to get a culture of abuse. You've perfectly described capitalism where every capitalist state consciously constrains the number of available jobs, maintaining a stable unemployment % among the populace. Once they've done that, people are always fighting each other a…

I would qualify this by saying many want to be in specific entertainment industries for the (potential) glamor and fame, and will sacrifice a lot to reach that goal. Many may have more practical alternatives, but are driven by a goal. This is the land of opportunity, and many dream of taking a shot at the big-time while still young and attractive. That window of time closes fast.

The idea of possibly being the next Elvis or Madonna if you accept being boinked by a pig with money is hard to turn down for many.

One of the reasons the game dev industry has more abuse (mostly non-sexual) than other software endeavors is because games are seen as more fun or cool to work on, rather than say a sales proposal tracking CRUD system. (I'm happy making sales proposal tracking systems myself, although I admit I have dabbled in the pop music writing industry, and still dabble in neo-renascence tunes.)

My daughter found the clothing fashion industry is similar: high pressure because many want the job of designer and scrape and claw to get it. She changed careers after some nasty office skirmishes among competitors.

Re: 'Sexual favours were the norm in music industry'

#187

Post by Consultant32452 »

MichaelMoser123 wrote: post #7

what interests me is: how do people maintain their integrity in such a foul environment? I mean if you can't look yourself in the mirror then how do you keep on creating anything?

I'd have sex with a rich and powerful woman in exchange for millions of dollars and I wouldn't feel the slightest bit of shame.

Re: 'Sexual favours were the norm in music industry'

#188

Post by bluGill »

My understanding is this was more common in years past. Up to the 1950s it was understood a good looking secretary got her job in bed. The really ugly ones got and kept it by being good at the job, with a possible side of the wife doing well in bed. Even then it was understood as not always true, but it was true enough. Secretaries at the time demanded the ability handle boredom as a lot of the job was doing the simple repetitive work we have automated machines to do: a girl who got her job in bed could probably do it nearly as well as the ugly secretary who was good with only a little training. The slightly more complex repetitive work would be given to a computer - which was a job title for a human not a machine.

Note the sexist language above. Females were generally "kept in their place", which meant little opportunity to get to do anything interesting or high paying.

Re: 'Sexual favours were the norm in music industry'

#190

Post by lurquer »

Consultant32452 wrote: post #187
MichaelMoser123 wrote: post #7

what interests me is: how do people maintain their integrity in such a foul environment? I mean if you can't look yourself in the mirror then how do you keep on creating anything?

I'd have sex with a rich and powerful woman in exchange for millions of dollars and I wouldn't feel the slightest bit of shame.

But would a rich and powerful woman want to have sex with you? For millions of dollars?

I salute your inflated ego, sir!

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