Having discovered the information about the Gershwin Prize, which is awarded only to the outstanding representatives in the sphere of music for their great contribution to the promotion of this kind of art, I had also looked through the list of the musicians awarded. I assured myself that they were worth it, but, unfortunately, I did not see one of the most important and outstanding duo of our age among them. The duo which made the great contribution to the development of music in the world and which tries to involve some new ideas to this genre. Throughout their 20 years career they have been rejoicing their audience with the new songs, gathering millions of people on their concerts and the TV screens, constantly developing their style and music, doing their best. Being acknowledged all over the world, I think now they are worthy to be the owners of the Gershwin Prize. Daft Punk, this duet is to be rewarded with this award. Being one of the most famous representatives of the electronic music genre of our age, they are constantly criticizing for their strange sounding, though, disregarding it and continuing their bright career.
The first and the most obvious reason for Daft Punk to be rewarded with the Gershwin Prize is, of course, their musical career. There is hardly another duo in the world, which has achieved so big goals in the art of music – “evolving from French house pioneers in the ’90s to 2000s tastemakers to mainstream successes in the 2010s,Daft Punk remained one of dance music’s most influential and iconic acts” (Cooper para. 1). It is very impressive for the modern fast developing music. Their contribution to the music can hardly be overestimated. They have influenced the development of the French house as no one has before, totally changing the mans idea of it, helping the genre to obtain new quality and sounding.
The second reason, explaining their right to be awarded with this prize, is their insistence and patience. Daft Punk can be the bright example how the belief in the dream can help you to achieve the goal. Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter organized their duo called Darlin which, unfortunately was unsuccessful and collapsed soon after its creation. However, they do not give up and, having organized in 1997 the new duo, in “2001, Daft Punk returned with Discovery” (“Daft Punk” para. 4), new sensational album. Elated by success, they continued their career and managed to make a revolution in the French house, being constantly called “two of the greatest innovators in popular music” (Lynskey para. 2), permanently creating something new and getting different awards for their contribution to the sphere of music.
However, there are some opponents of Daft Punk in society, accusing them of creating cacophony instead of music. Their non-traditional approach to music is well known and they try to underline it in different ways, not only with the unusual sounding but also wearing specific costumes and shocking people with the way they look. Nevertheless, tastes differ, and their own preferences in music cannot deny the evidence of their great contribution to the development of absolutely new genre of music. By the way, the fact that “they had spawned a legion of imitators” (Petridis para.2) speaks for himself.
In conclusion it should be said, that it is the right decision to award Daft Punk with the Gershwin Prize. Being accused of their unusual sounding, they made the great contribution to the development of French house. Daft Punk, the Gershwin Prize honoree, is one of the best electronic duos of our age.
Works Cited
Cooper, Sean. n.d. Artist Biography. Web. 2014. Web.
Daft Punk. n.d. Web. 2014. Web.
Lynskey, Dorian. 2013. Daft Punk: the midas touch. The Guardian. Web.
Petridis, Alexis. 2013. Daft Punk: Random Access Memories – review. The Guardian. Web.