Ian Watkins has been jailed for 35 years and has proven to be a sick, paedophile monster. My question is this though; does this mean we should stop listening to his music? Putting aside personal tastes and getting to the actual question - should Lostprophets fans who appreciate their music now refuse to listen to it because it's emerged that their lead singer is a child sex offender? I personally have no idea. I wouldn't call myself a LP fan like I call myself a Foo Fighters fan, but I liked a couple of their albums and plenty of their songs can be found among my playlists, and I must admit that I'm a bit conflicted now. They're still good songs in my opinion, but there's a bitterness to listening to them knowing that the person singing the lyrics abused children, but then again the other members of the band performing on those records have great musical talent as well and they were as shocked as the general public to hear of the charges against their bandmate. Should the person behind and outside an artists persona influence our opinion of their musical talent? Another way to look at it is to ask the question of whether it's healthy for musical artists to have a celebrity persona in the first place. Shouldn't they just be themselves all the time? They're not actors or actresses - surely they don't need to act. /tangent
I personally don't think it should make a difference. The guy wasn't very nice, doesn't mean the music is suddenly evil. I think I've heard it put something like: 'You should separate the art and the artist, they are not the same'
My issue here now is that I can't help but think about the story when the music starts playing, so its not that I've stopped liking it, its just that listening to the music brings nasty connotations now, the same way that fresh cut grass makes me think of home and I can't take the smell of fabrize sprays because I once used it to mask the smell of a neighbors waste pipe leaking.
I don't like their music, but if I did, I reckon Lance has pretty much nailed how I would feel about it.
I don't think I'll stop listening to their work in private, but the public image of playing their music could be tricky.
Did you see the BBC article where they said that after admitting the charges Watkins said in a phone call "it was mega lols. I don't know what everyone is getting freaked out about" I wonder if it was still "mega lols" after getting the 35 year sentence?
it's a weird one. I just hate the idea that the person can make money off royalties still. Also, obviously the first people I feel sorry for are those who were abused by Ian Watkins; next though, his band mates will suffer immensely from this. Financially and I imagine a crisis of confidence in themselves to see within others. Very tricky for all involved who were close to Ian Watkins. Story is still unfolding also with the alleged blind eye being turned by the police on occasion. No matter what anyone says, it must be hard being a police officer and having someone accuse a person of a) considerable fame and fortune and b) public adore and accolade. I bet a lot of claims are made about famous people and, if followed up, end in nothing but lengthy, expensive legal battles that, potentially, ruin innocent police men and women's careers for doing what they thought was right. I don't condone ignorance though, let me be clear, but the amount of variables that play on others judgement is immense, as ever. Time to get our 20 20 hindsight goggles on.
It kinda taints it. Not listened to them for years but don't think I would now. Most people have thoughts provoked by music and if one of those thoughts is "I am listening to a child rapist" then I will prob give them a miss tbh.
Same with Gary Glitter. The rare time I hear one of his songs I cringe. Not that I was ever a fan though.
Michael Jackson had spectacularly poor boundaries but was probably not a paedophile. Still, it is good to enjoy the music but not glorify the artist too much. They're people too --warts and all.
I don't feel so strongly about MJ. Maybe its because it was always dropped, maybe its because it was so long ago and maybe its because what was done/alleged by Watkins was just SO bad, he was clearly a predator and its disgusting.
'Earlier he said the investigation was large scale because the amount of data involved - 27 terabytes - was "four or five times" the size of the databases held by South Wales Police.' BBC News http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-25412675 27TB = 4 to 5 times the size?? No wonder it takes so long to catch theses scum bags.
Good question Uni. Personally I believe all his music should be boycotted now. His crimes were absolutely sick. I hope he gets what's coming to him in prison, I really do. On the other hand, what if someone like Einstein was found out to have done the same (or even worse)? Are we supposed to suddenly stop using all his work and everything derived from it?
Considering that Lost Prophet's sales have gone up since this happened and he stands to be sitting on a huge pile of cash when he gets out in eighteen-ish years then yes, he might do, which is a lovely thought... As for the music, Lostprophets over the years has had eight members, only one of which has turned out to be a creepy scumbag, I can still listen to the albums and enjoy them, although the video to Town Called Hypocrisy takes on a whole new level of disturbing imagery now. As for the future, the rest of the band have already declared Lostprophets dead, but I hope it's not the end for them and music making. Find a new singer, sing themselves, get a new name, they were always great live so I want to see the rest of them back.
I don't overly get this point of view, I'm guessing you don't want anyone to buy any of their music because he would get money from it? I can kind of understand that, although that's also punishing the rest of the people who would benefit from it which I feel isn't good. When it comes to listening I don't see any problems in listening to it, wherever you are. You can like the 'art' without liking the 'artist'.
I'm having the same personal dilemma with Rolf Harris... Stick with me, I'm actually being serious. I have young kids, and there's a couple of Rolf tracks on some playlists that get dug up occasionally. Now every time the songs come up I can't help but think of the charges he's facing. Now Rolf, I know, is a bit of an oddball character but in the public eye I think he's done more good than harm. His approachable style of painting and art was a good introduction to the possibilities out there and while his music isn't for everyone I think it deserves a place in some hall of fame somewhere (Or was that hall of shame?). Anyway, but what if he gets found guilty? Do I stop remembering my fondness for Rolf's Cartoon Club? No. Personally I won't boycott listening to Rolf, but I think I'll be more likely to hit skip if one of his tracks comes on. It's not that I'll be making a moral stand, just that I don't want thoughts of such crimes coming into my head when I'm listening to music. If I was a LP fan, I think I'd delete everything. I wouldn't want to be reminded of the guys crimes every time I listened. I feel real sorry for his bandmates. If they genuinely never had a clue then they've lost a friend, a bandmate and a life long source of income. Their songs are not going to get the airplay they once had.... Well I hope they won't, in reality I think via services like Spotify I think they're probably getting more plays now than ever. Such is the world!
So many kiddy fiddlers the internet didn't create them it just makes it easy to catch them. You just don't know these days celebrities are a reflection of the popultion into this sick stuff. If you have kids your be watching friends relatives carefully.
