Ageism and the music industry

Originally Posted to 'Roar of the Beaver' by Raine

I had posted this on a new blog, but decided to post it here too. I would like to hear some people's thoughts on why the music 'industry'/business worldwide, as a general rule, does not value musical talent over the age of 28. Other industries value their talent/workers over this age i.e. business, medicine, lawyers....but not the music industry. American Idol, for example, with its 28 year age limit is a prime example of the music industries view on age. Canadian Idol, I think is 30 years age limit. In 2005 American Idol upped the age limit from 25 to 28 because they couldn't find enough talented people....at least that's what it said on their website. Watching Larry King the other week, Bucky Covington commented that now he is 29 he was reaching 'near the end' of any opportunity to have a music career so now was the time for him to make it. So that means if you're over 29 you'd better forget pursuing a music career? This is sad and not something unique just to American Idol/Canadian Idol but to the music industry as a whole. My past experience is that if you're over the age of 28, you have next to zero hope of obtaining a record deal or being taken seriously on a mainstream level regardless of how talented you are. I am a much better singer and songwriter than I was when I first started out....and isn't it a given that you should get better as you get older, learn from your mistakes and learn new techniques and skills? Out of curiosity, I recently had a professional critique done of my music by a music consultant. On a scale of 1 to 5, he gave me the following ratings:RATING SCALE "1" Indicates the Lowest Score"5" Indicates The Highest ScoreRecording Quality/Production: 4 to 4.5Lead Vocals: 5Musicianship: 4Lyric Writing: 4 to 4.5Music Composing: 4Overall Melodies: 4.5Song Arrangement: 4 to 4.5His response regarding the problem of ageism in the music industry was as follows:"I agree with you regarding the age thing in music.So many great artists don't get the respect or interest they deserve all because of their age. That drives me crazy when I see that happening.To me, talent is talent. I understand image and marketing, but where did talent get lost in the equation on this industry? I could go on about that for hours....." This is a problem affecting all musicians because we all get older every day and ultimately all of us will experience it....you can't turn back time! Some may say that the cutoff of 28 years old is because the majority of record buyers are under 28. This is not true. Many studies I have read indicate, suite the opposite, that the people with the extra income are people over the age of 30 and that legal downloading of music online is by customers over this age range....illegal downloading of music is by the 16 to 24 year age range.As someone over 28, I want to buy records from artists that I can relate to and have experienced what they're singing about (i.e. lost love, hard knocks of life etc).....not somone that's 16 to 21 singing about something he/she is too young to have experienced yet. I think the music industry needs to start promoting older musicians which will inspire higher quality musicianship and songwriting....and not something fired off by a team of producers/writers packaging music for the teen signed to a major label . Maybe Taylor Hicks, with his gray hair, has paved the way and the American public is voicing its desire....that age doesn't matter....only the music matters.