OT Piped in Music

Submitted by Rattlesnake_Pete on
Anybody else get frustrated by the piped in rap music at the Spring Game? My 8 year old nephew is there and the crap they were playing (one song in particular was filled with profanity) I thought sucked. Also, if they are going to play it, the volume could be a little lower too. Call me an old fart if you want to ("if its too loud, you're too old", right?), but I thought it was really unnecessary, especially with the band there. A guy a few rows in front of me turned around yelling "Turn it off, the band is here!" and started giving the middle finger towards the press box (I was right below the press box about half way down to the field). I can handle the AC/DC Thunderstruck when the team does their circle deal but come on. Any way, let me know your thoughts. I also wondered about sending a comment to Bill Martin or someone in the athletic department to at least tell them to keep the volume level more reasonable and be a little more selective in the song selection if they feel the need to do this. We pack the largest stadium in the country every time M plays. NFL teams would kill for this kind of support. The MMB is all I need to hear when I'm there. Do we really need to play canned music over the crappy speakers? Rattlesnake

jg2112

April 14th, 2009 at 8:38 AM ^

...but I'm certain that the supporters of the athletic department who donate the money that allows the players on the field to attend school for free don't enjoy having to listen to music filled with profanity and references to drugs or murder, no matter the musical type. If my kid was there I would have had a lot of questions to answer.

Rattlesnake_Pete

April 13th, 2009 at 5:59 PM ^

He was actually yelling at them to turn it off because the band had taken their place and was actually starting to play. He just wanted to hear the band instead of the loud speaker music. I was the one unhappy with hearing the F-bomb and about "tattooed bitches". You are right. Would be ironic to protest swearing in rap music by flipping the bird. - 8 year old nephew, "Petey, what does that mean when a guy puts up his finger like that?" - Me, "Well, err, um, it's kinda hard to explain, buddy".

marco dane

April 13th, 2009 at 6:29 PM ^

the MGOBLOG's *Whats in your cd player* thread. I don't recall many *commercial rappers* on that listing...mainly underground or non unit-pusher rappers. However you must understand this point...*mainstream* has embrace rap music...make no mistake about it. Your distaste for rap music is noted...however rap music dosen't suck when sooo many are profiting from it. Maybe some ear plugs would serve you better the next time...

david from wyoming

April 13th, 2009 at 5:53 PM ^

It's the spring 'game' which is just a practice open to the public. If you are working out at the gym, is some kind of music that gets you amped up okay to play in the background? I don't understand the logic about having a full stadium during the season. I think there is a clear difference between practice and a regular season game. Just because one practice is open to the public and is mean to half-way simulate a game doesn't mean there should be a half time show from the marching band, in my opinion.

skeet

April 13th, 2009 at 5:54 PM ^

I really doubt that we'll be hearing the piped-in stuff come fall. This seemed like more of a one-time/spring game thing, so not a big deal to me.

Terminate Carr

April 13th, 2009 at 5:59 PM ^

You were right. You're too old. So a few swear words got through same thing happens on every radio station in the country. If this is something they continue I'm sure they'll get a little more strict on the language, rather than just using the standard practice cds. Remember that this was a practice. Nobody forced you to go. Nobody made you pay. Nobody forced you to take your nephew. Chances are he's already downloading internet boytaur porn anyways.

Disgruntled Townie

April 13th, 2009 at 6:21 PM ^

Either you want Michigan stadium to be a louder, more active venue (and hope that they end up choosing 'the right way to do it', whatever that is) or you stfu and just sit there next to the alumni because you got shushed due to your excessive loudness, which may or may not have been because of those last couple shots of snakebite before hand (true story). It seems you just can't win.

jmblue

April 13th, 2009 at 6:27 PM ^

I agree that the PA should make sure to turn the music off when the marching band starts to play. I was surprised they didn't do so, although I chalk that up to a spring-game mistake. On a related note, they really need to mike up the band (or if they already are, turn up the volume). During a typical game, it's tough to hear the band if you're seated on the south rim of the stadium.

brown

April 13th, 2009 at 6:27 PM ^

Yeah I agree w/ most people here. You're old and culture has changed. I wasn't at the spring game - the music was warm up music right? That means its more for the players, and I guarantee about 90% of them prefer Lil' Wayne and Rick Ross over AC/DC or band music. Just sayin.

octal9

April 13th, 2009 at 6:36 PM ^

the music was warm up music right? That means its more for the players, and I guarantee about 90% of them prefer Lil' Wayne and Rick Ross over AC/DC or band music. I completely agree. I know damn well that when I'm in the gym I'm pumping Metallica or Breaking Benjamin through my iPod, and most certainly not Jason Mraz or the MMB. $.02

WolvinLA

April 13th, 2009 at 6:38 PM ^

Your opinion contradicted the part you quoted. The quoted portion asserted that rap was preferred to hard rock, yet you go on to say that you prefer hard rock. What is your point then?

Ernis

April 13th, 2009 at 7:06 PM ^

are my main concern. Live pop-ish/rap/etc. music would be better, I think, with a good sound system. Lots of bass. I mean a mountain of bass. I mean build-a-coal-plant-behind-the-stage-to-power-this-monstrosity kind of bass. That would be cool. I've often advocated for live thrash metal at football games. We have a marching band, why not a heavy metal band? Seems fittingly brutal. It would also need to be extremely loud.

Disgruntled Townie

April 13th, 2009 at 7:13 PM ^

good speaker system. I would also be very surprised if they made music a regular part of the games. If they did the folks living in the adjacent neighborhood would probably have about enough of that. It was a similar issue this last summer with the proposed lane closure for stadium construction. The people were already complaining about the noise so the lane issue was just another jab. Start playing loud music and that will get axed much quicker than Tom Goss' Halo.

Disgruntled Townie

April 13th, 2009 at 7:30 PM ^

because I want it to be louder when the other team has the ball but the chances that the music will be something that I'll enjoy are slim. Then you start doing sound effects and bring in an organ player, t-shirt cannons and thundersticks are next and before you know it's The Final Countdown and fire juggling clowns. I expect that at pro games but not at UM football games, call me old school.

UMxWolverines

April 13th, 2009 at 8:23 PM ^

"I want it to be louder when the other team has the ball" Totally with you on that one 100%. But I hope they never resort to organs, t-shirt cannons, or thundersticks. I especially hate those stupid "key play" signs. Whoever started that should be banned from all athletic events forever. I really hope they stop showing those and start flashing some "GET LOUD" or "MAKE NOISE" signs on the scoreboard. And it shouldn't be just 3rd down. Fans should never let up when the other team is on defense!

R_mahorn1974

April 13th, 2009 at 7:13 PM ^

Is the marching band gonna stay next to the tunnel? I like that more, it gets rid of more old farts over there. Its right behind the visitor bench. And, it gives us more students over there in the corner.

Other Chris

April 13th, 2009 at 8:14 PM ^

There are radio-friendly versions of pretty much everything they play, and they *DO* care. A couple years ago, we were at gymnastics with a friend who is pretty connected in athletics and my daughter said, "Wow, that song has the MF word in it!" during warm-ups at a meet. By the time we got home, she had mailed and gotten a response saying they had gotten music suggestions from the girls on the team and no one had thought to check for that, but would in the future.

StephenRKass

April 14th, 2009 at 12:02 AM ^

I'm not a rap fan, nor country music, but I get tired of the same old, same old rock music. Won't complain too much about volume, think they should use radio friendly versions, and like a real mix (rap, rock, pop, MMB, country, metal, whatever.) Actually, I'd rather have some of the "best of" each of these genres, instead of just one kind of music.

dankbrogoblue

April 14th, 2009 at 3:29 AM ^

I find it ironic that a lot of you have more of a problem with what music they were playing rather than the fact that they were playing music. It won't be a part of gameday experience, so it won't matter in the future. If I'm wrong, I'll eat crow, and make sure it's alive cause I'll be pissed.

jblaze

April 14th, 2009 at 7:55 AM ^

this was the same thing said on Mlive by a troll and now the infection is here. I may be incorrect, but the OP did join yesterday.

Tater

April 14th, 2009 at 9:03 AM ^

If you are too old to allow newer generations to have their "say" as far as music goes, you might as well be dead. I am 56, a Blues/Americana singer/songwriter/guitarist, and pride myself on keeping an open mind to other art forms. I can't relate to a lot of hip hop/rap/alt stuff, but it would be the height of arrogance for me to criticize it just because I can't relate to it. Whether you like a generation's art form or not, that generation has every bit as much of a right to their own art as yours/ours did. If I were growing up in this era, I would probably like rap, ska, and punk, and see "alt," which is now mainstream, as "lame." I'm sure I would be into Blues, Alt Country, and Americana, too, but I would probably laugh at mainstream Country. That rambled a bit, but my point is this: When younger people stop creating any art, especially music, it becomes stale and goes into what I call an "artistic coma" until young people wake it up. As for the obscenity thing, I can understand it: sorta. The problem is that many of those who are the most offended when their kids hear obscenities from outside sources don't apply the same standards to their home lives. Kids already know all of the obscenities after a few months in school, anyway. I knew them all in first grade: even the dreaded "c-word." While you might have an argument as far as public decency standards, no eight year-old is going to hear any words in a rap song that he hasn't heard at school. So, it may behoove you to be more tolerant of the music of other generations. It is natural for most of us to think that our generation did everything right and others don't, but those other generations think the same about you. Transcending this attudude and replacing it with tolerance is one of every generation's biggest challanges.

Bando Calrissian

April 14th, 2009 at 1:27 PM ^

1. Canned music=bad. Leave it for schools like MSU and Northwestern, where everything has a corporate sponsorship (here's your Belle Tire replay!) and mascots reign on the sidelines. We're Michigan. We have a band that's worth a shit, let's honor that. 2. The MMB needs to be louder, more in tune with things that aren't dorky (songs from the musical Wicked do NOT a great pump-up cheer make), and did I mention louder? Scott Boerma, I'm looking at you. I realize Saturday was a smaller band than usual, but good god, I was sitting 2 sections over from them and couldn't hear a damn thing. I marched 4 years. I know what a 100-person band is capable of doing. That wasn't up to snuff. Musicality is important, but not if no one can hear it. But, then again, myself and many others have been screaming our heads off about that since the second Boerma showed up, and he still hasn't gotten the point, so I suppose he never will. 3. The MMB needs to grow a backbone and tell marketing where to stick it if they decide to pipe in the music. If I'm Scott Boerma, I'm taking the kids out of the stands and marching them back up the tunnel the second the Stadium staff decides to rock out to some Thunderstruck during a TV timeout. Penn State made their band completely irrelevant with canned music, and marketing has made the basketball band equally irrelevant at Crisler. I know, I'm a band kid, but I see this as a problem from both athletics and the band program. Neither of them has a clue what Michigan stands for anymore. I don't care what some johnny-come-lately "OMG we need it to be louder!" folks say, this is Michigan. For those of you concerned about this stuff, keep those cards and letters coming [email protected] and [email protected].