Some folks credit Motown with helping to unite people and bridge the gap between races, primarily White and Black people, during Motown's golden era from the late '50s to the early '70s.


I sort of think 9/11 Truth, or being a "conspiracy theorist," as the modern day divide. Just like there were many people who knew racism was wrong decades ago but didn't really do anything because of social pressure to ostracize different races, so too there are many people today who know us "crazy" conspiracy folks are actually telling the truth -- but to admit that is a social taboo, the cost of which is very high (being excommunicated from society).

So, the question: what can we learn from Motown?

The answer may in fact be nothing -- particularly for those who don't think Motown did anything to bridge racial divides.

I agree that that may in fact be the case. But for the sake of conversation, let's assume they did contribute to bridging the divide. How did they do it?

A few ideas:

Be commercial. The Motown formula was shamelessly commercial. There were a few cornerstone concepts to their pop music formula:

1. Keep it simple. The songs were typically between 2 and 4 minutes, involved simple chord progressions, and often standard progressions that were known to be conducive to creating popular and catchy hooks (for music theory people, I'm referring specifically to I-IV-V and I-vi-IV-V progressions). It was about creating simple, catchy stuff that could easily get stuck in your head.

2. Talk about stuff that everyone likes. Notice they did NOT talk about how much the racial divide sucked. Romantic love was the primary theme, as that is about as universal as it gets. In Western society especially, romantic love is like religion; it is idolized more than anything else. This, as well as a professional and friendly appearance, helped Black artists acquire crossover appeal.

Be real. While Motown was shamelessly commercial, I think it would be a mistake to think of it as selling out. That is still some of the most passionate music; its simplicity let the emotion shine, allowing everyone to relate to the authenticity of the passion.

Sell a solution. Motown helped sell people on accepting each other, and seeing that as a good thing (i.e. "hey this Black guy makes good music and seems like a nice person, maybe I should like Black people"). I think conspiracists need to sell a solution, or present themselves as bringers of good news, not bad news. Don't get me wrong, I'm a cynic and critic by nature; I love talking about problems, and about the dark side of life. But I know that most people don't, so I'll have to adapt.

Fortunately, there are plenty of positives associated with being a conspiracist: the glamour of being anti-establishment; we're much healthier people, given our awareness of how horrifyingly awful and unhealthy most food is, as well as our awareness of the criminal agenda within the medical industry; we're more informed; we're doing what we can to make the world a better place, and can take pride in that; we're tolerant of diversity and celebrate creativity; we're anti-war and in favor of chilling out and having a good time without hurting anyone. Pretty cool, don't you think?

Girls! Girls are great for selling an uncomfortable message -- largely because femininity can take a bit of the sting out of the stigma, and because girls are less likely to attract haters (because in many cultures, particularly Western cultures, guys don't look too cool for hating on girls, especially if the girl is reasonably attractive by mainstream standards). Intentionally or not, Motown exploited this quite skillfully. Also, many guys, particularly young, single, and heterosexual guys, design their whole life around trying to get girls, and while this is very comical in a way, it sets up an environment where females can be used to sell almost anything to this niche of males. For more on girls and branding, see our previous articles on the babe-ification of brands.

Creating Motown 2.0 (Take 1)

Operation LoveSong is my experiment at creating something like Motown 2.0, but perhaps more ambitious regarding social change and selling an alternative lifestyle -- one rooted in the Truth. See our previous discussion of the rationale behind it.