Lip-Synching in music - What do you think?

News and Views: Added: 10/27/04
Lip-Synching, What do you think?
By Michael Allison - AngryCountry.com Staff Writer

Our recent article on lip-synching has generated a huge response from our regular readers, and first-time visitors. Just about everyone at this point knows about what happened to Ashlee Simpson during her Saturday Night Live performance... but we want to move past that one event now.

I feel that lip-synching is a much bigger issue than one artist and one event, and I really want to hear what our readers have to say about lip-synching in general, not as it relates to certain artists. Are you bothered by lip-synching? Are there times when you tolerate it? Should artists have to reveal when they are being "helped" by a recorded vocal track? Take our quick poll, then submit your thoughts and read the replies of others:

- Submit Your Thoughts -

Reader Responses:

I believe that lip-synching is lazy. if you are going to sing in a performance you do it because you want to. you do it for the love of music and for the reason why you have the opportunity to perform live - the fans. the ones who supported you and voted for you and requested your songs to be played. they deserve to feel that connection when something is sung from inside. Rachel
There is something really wrong with all this. Studio albums are for trickery. Just like movies compared to theater. If it is implied that it is live, than live should mean live, no exceptions. I wish concert goers would start demanding their money back when they go see these types of acts. This is why we have the same sounding music as well. The best songwriters and musicians are rarely models and that is OK! Go buy someone's music who actually writes & sings their own songs. Be an individual and listen to and support local bands and non-mainstream or pop music. You will live a better life and we will have better music and musicians. Forrest
I personally don't think it is right for an artist to lip synch. there are way to many artist that sound awesome on the cd but horrible in live performances (I wonder why) it seems they have many ways to make an average singer sound like a wonderful singer by pushing a few buttons. And then they lip synch to try and claim that pre-recorded perfect voice as their own? Candice
I am guilty of rewatching the clip of Ashlee Simpson's slip-up on SNL over and over again. Why? Because I am so utterly thrilled that the issue of lip-synching has finally been brought to everyone's attention. Other artists like Britney Spears have been getting away with it for far too long and I hope that this incident will help in preventing future voice fraud. In my opinion, musical artists should never use voice enhancement techniques. It is misleading, deceitful and quite plainly wrong. Fans do not pay good money to see their idol get up on stage and PRETEND to sing. Ashlee has hurt her fans that look up to her. She deserves nothing less than a tainted image. However, I would also like to point out that it wasn't Ashlee's talent that got her into the spotlight in the first place anyways... I think maybe the true problem may lie in the media and their version of a "talented young artist". Jennifer
I am a female vocalist who has been writing, performing, and struggling with my band mates for over 5 years. We have played in horrible smoky bars. We have played to crowds ranging from three to three hundred. I have sang with a sore throat, with a cold, while ill, and having not slept for 24 hours after driving to the gig. I have gotten changed in the backseats of cars, and in flooded bathrooms. We don't get cushy change rooms, an entourage of flattering companions, fruit trays. We usually have to barter with club owners for our cut of the door. My band plays with backing tracks which involve complicated synth and electronic drum tracks which are too hard for the live drummer and keyboardist to play (these parts accompany what they play). My drummer uses a click track. Some vocals are on the backing track to double if I am singing a part that should have a "spooky" feel or something... we are too broke for me to afford a vocal effects unit. But I sing live, the whole way through. The occasional double vocal is only a subtle backup for effect. These clowns don't write their own songs, play an instrument, or apparently even sing their own music. How sad is it that Ashlee's backup band knows the music better than she does? It's her stupid doe-eyed face plastered all over it. And she can't even handle herself with grace when something goes wrong. She walks off? And blames them?? Then backpedals later with excuse after excuse? Idiocy. She'd never even have to sing the song perfectly one time in her life, as in the studio, effects and editing can piece together a perfect take. I know too many musicians who deserve that chance to play. Who have dedicated years of their lives to writing and playing and trying so hard for anyone to care. Who perform honestly... and actually feel their music and lyrics, because they wrote it. The music "industry", at least in North America, is a joke. It makes me sad to watch so much talent go unseen, and watch so many spoiled kids just DECIDE they'd like to be "rock stars" and the red carpet just rolls out. It's so unfair it makes me seethe. Let us know if they're faking. And that way, when mess-ups happen, the fakers can just blame the tape instead of the actual musicians forced to accompany and tolerate them. Sara
I have read through some of the comments, and I do have to say as a Songwriter, Producer, and Engineer. I am glad that this has happened for someone like her. She has been given a easy ride to the top with no experience as a true singer. This doesn't mean she can't sing, but it does reflect what she lacks in experience. I know plenty of amazing singers with much better songs that can easily perform them LIVE without a help of a guiding track, even if it is an important show. I hope this helps weed out the real singers from the ones who want to win it in a contest or a reality TV show. Ashley Simpson's music is nothing new and she needs to re-evaluate what she has to offer the public. Sure it is easy to ride the coat sleeves of many others with terrible songs, but would be great for her to dig down deep into whatever musical talent she has and put THAT out for people to judge, otherwise save us and stay home and sing to the mirror. We have enough clutter on the shelves.. DBLC
I think we need to look at ourselves, the fans, and say, why have we been supporting artists who lip-sync, when it obviously makes us feel cheated? Isn't it time we put the bar back where it belongs and demand REAL talent instead of product and stop the greed machine in its tracks by boycotting these so-called performances and not buying their cd's while diverting our cash to support artists we genuinely feel are authentic--such as Clay Aiken and others? Kathy
As a performer myself, the only time my band or I have ever lip-synched, was when we were shooting a video. (Most videos are filmed this way to take advantage of superior sound and of course, be mistake free. However, to go on SNL (which stands for Saturday Night LIVE!!!) and do it is garbage. I don't care how many other people have done it before Ashlee, they were wrong too!! When you are on SNL, you are not shooting a video, you are performing and you should be able to do that LIVE!! Yes, there is a lot of pressure performing live in front of millions of people, but if you can't handle it, GET OFF THE STAGE!!!! Oh and if you mess up like you did, be accountable and don't blame the band! Marty
I believe show promoters and venues should be legally obligated to provide warnings in their event advertisements and promotions if any part of the performance is not going to be live. The warning should be simple and prominently displayed - "this performance contains pre-recorded material". Just as we protect consumers from a wide range of fraudulent occurrences related to products and services of all kinds, so should the concertgoer be informed as to the true content of the performance. That way, he or she can make an informed decision on how their hard earned money should be spent, without having to guess as to what aspects of the show are actually occurring in front of their eyes. Don't have a specific problem with lip synching per se, as long as I know it's going to be part of the show before I buy a ticket... Paw
I personally think in most cases it is lazy and wrong for an artist to lip-synch. However, it may be warranted in some situations, when doing high-powered dance moves onstage or performing in a venue with terrible acoustics. However I hate it when it is used to disguise un utter lack of talent. Lindsay

Editor's Response to Lindsay: You make an excellent point, and several people have brought up the obvious inability to sing while dancing. For me though... I want to know a singer can sing before I care about the prancing they do on stage. Some of my favorite singers barely move at all, but their voices are so great you don't care. Then there are artists like Weird Al who mimic the dance moves and styles of Madonna and the like, and do it while singing better than most of the non-parody artists out there.

I hope this is a sign of better times to come for music... Maybe people will question the integrity of music once again and compare it maybe to fast food? Do you want to fill your head and our airwaves with temporary ear candy that doesn't stand the test of time? Or would you rather benefit from the nutrients REAL music made by REAL talent offers you in the long run. I seriously think maybe the Ashley fiasco may make our young generation stop and think, contrast and compare. Good ridden to the Ashley Simpson's of the music industry and to any industry where true talent and ability should hold precedence above any carbon copy. Lead SINGER of Unknown Boy- Adam
I have to be honest, I was not at all surprised that she did that! What I am surprised of is her lame excuse and her conduct since then, yesterday she cancelled a concert at a high school in Salt Lake City that the students had won as part of a radio contest and she didn't even bother to issue an apology or give a reason! She sucks! Thank you for letting me vent! Susana
I totally agree with the Author here. Shouldn't singers be accountable to their fans? We make them rich and famous, yet they lip synch at concerts, award shows, ball games, etc. It's unfortunate that a large majority of today's musical talent is 'studio magic'. Isn't that what this really comes down to - whether or not they can actually sing? Crystal
Well at least now we all know that all singers really do lip sing when their actually on stage. Drea
I'm in a rock band. We have 3 singers. 1 female, 2 male. We don't make a lot of money, but we're real musicians. I'm the drummer. I can tell you that everyone in my band has played while sick. All the singers have sung while suffering colds, flus, laryngitis, etc. I've played 3 hour gigs with diarrhea, fevers over 103, I played a 7 hour new years eve gig with a strained rotator cuff and bursitis in my elbow. When you're a true musician, the show goes on. When you're a true musician, and you're on live tv, with an opportunity like SNL, it'd take probably 5-6 shots from a desert eagle to stop you from playing. Ashlee deserves what happened. She's a fraud. I hope it happens to Hilary duff next. Bitches. Bryan
After all these years as a working musician, singing and performing on nights where my throat was trashed by club smoke, bad monitor mixes and overuse, to know now that all I had to do was lip synch to a pre recorded track and I could be famous... God... what a fool I've been :) Seriously, it let the "common people" (non musicians) finally see what most of us real players have known for years... the music business has virtually nothing to do with talent or hard work, or honing your craft. It's all about selling the commodity, period. Simpson proved her lack of talent, but she also proved her lack of class when she blamed her band (The only real musicians on that stage I might add).. They had the professionalism of trying to recover the abortion; and further, they certainly didn't have the luxury of just leaving the stage. She left them hanging instead of standing there and trying to help. How easy it would have been for her to just jump in and improv...but wait.. I check myself. This is something only a REAL musician would have attempted. My mistake. Look, there isn't a real musician out there who hasn't forgotten words to the song they start, or who hasn't had other on stage anomalies happen (broken strings, blown tubes, bad cords, broken sticks, etc..) but we all adapt and improv and go with it. The rub is, it's pretty tough to adapt and recover when the CD player or Sampling Sequencer you are relying on to sing your parts for you glitches... It's fine to use synths and sequencers to provide padding and textured background to your performance, Performers like Peter Gabriel, Beck, etc do it all the time, but when it comes to singing, the difference is that they do and she doesn't, plain and simple. What a moment to see! A wannabee pop star with daddy's money crashing and burning in front of the world... Thanks to Lorne Micahels for arguably the most hilarious skit I've ever seen on SNL! Donny
I have to agree with everything. I am a music student and a very prestigious school. lip syncing is totally uncalled for. It saddens me to see wonderful singer's in my classes who will never make it because they aren't "the whole package". Well let me ask this, is a lack of talent part of the package? I have seen so many "singer's" who don't deserve their status, and the only reason they are famous is because their pretty. Well I want to tell America and whoever else reads this, that there are amazing singer's out there, and they will never go anywhere because of superficial reasons... so unless you all shape up that attitude, you'll have to deal with the lip-syncers, and miss the opportunity to hear some beautiful voices. Andrea
I feel tremendously fooled and empty when singers pretend to sing. But as much as I would love for these artificial artists to stop their fraud, they won't because they'll lose money from potential cd buyers. Nowadays it's all about eye candy rather than genuine artists. If Louis Vuitton can sue those who copy their products, why can't we sue those knock-off singers? Brem
My students and I took this poll and think that the artist shouldn't lip sync at all...you either can sing or you can't...she obviously can't... Giuditta
A good friend of mine and myself have had a long running discussion of the problems in the music business. We're both musicians and play in a band together. We've been angered by this type of event for quite some time. We both grew up in an era of pop music where there was no safety nets in live performance. You could either play and sing. or not...PERIOD! We enjoyed performances where there were band miscues and vocal glitches. The problem is now, we've opened a Pandora's box. I don't know that you can close it and go back. I think the the prophetic Buggles song, "Video Killed The Radio Star", sums it up best. Dave
I've been watching the lip-synch champs as a spectator sport in the last couple of years and I have absorbed the various opinions and arguments for and against. My conclusion is that music has deteriorated into something that is NOT real music. Technical engineering has taken over to accommodate those that have a certain look or a certain flare for shock but who have no vocal talent to really speak of. On TV I have seen Usher 3 times, Janet Jackson, Beyonce & Brittney numerous times but I still have no clue whether these people can actually sing although I know that both Janet & Brittney could when they were little. I don't completely agree with the folks who think that you have to play an instrument or write your own songs in order to qualify as a real artist. Some of the greatest singers didn't/don't write for themselves and many great songwriters can't sing. It may be more advantageous for the ticket sellers to have up front info as to whether an entertainer is going to be lip-synching an entire program. This could help weed out the faux artists more quickly who can then get a more suitable job as a Vegas dancer. Claymates have a saying about American Idol: "In an effort to find or create a Pop Star, they missed the Birth of a Legend." Real talent is out there and it doesn't matter how we find it as long as we find it. It doesn't matter whether you arrive on a comet or work hard to refine your craft for years; keep trying and we will find you somehow. For the rest of us, don't be silent about the fakers who make a mockery of music and talent; insist on quality. Sherry

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