I was on my Twitter and saw a video on one of my favorite blogs of Rihanna’s tour rehearsal for her single ‘Pour It Up.’ I was thoroughly confused because the choreography was scarce and Rihanna was barely even singing much less dancing. I guess I’ve been spoiled when it comes to concerts and video of concert rehearsals. I’ve seen Beyoncé at work, practicing until her foot would bleed. I’ve seen Michael Jackson rehearse for tours until 3 AM in the morning, obsessing over one move. I’ve gone to Coldplay’s concert and, fortunately and unfortunately, can never hear another one of their songs without wanting to hear it live.

I’ve been to a lot of concerts in my lifetime and one of the biggest deciding factors is whether or not I feel the music will sound better live. Often it must pass the car test and the club test, depending on the artist, but a true testimony to whether I am willing to spend money on the artist is rested on whether my love for their music will grow stronger should I hear it live. For Coldplay, I was sure that would be the case because I had a number of their songs that were performed live on my iPod. When I went to their show during the Viva La Vida tour, I was breathless. Every song and every note the band played sounded amazing live. I couldn’t hear their music anymore without thinking of how it sounded live. After that moment came MGMT. While I was moderately impaired for most of the show, I do remember hearing a lot of my favorite songs from them and it changed my listening experience with them forever.

That is the point of concerts is to change your listening experience with the artist forever. You’re supposed to have a newfound respect for them musically, and not go to the concert for the sake of saying you went to see said artist live. It’s hard for me to understand why artists like Rihanna go on tour. I know she cannot sing well live, and I know her dance moves are limited whether there is a microphone in her hand or not. Artistically, Rihanna is not valuable as a live performer and in my eyes shouldn’t be heard outside of the club. Unfortunately, the cost of having an artist who does not write, or produce their own music is trying to recoup the costs with tours. Such is the case with Rihanna, who doesn’t write or produce any of her music and whose profitable album sales are meant to pay off the cost of her albums.

Yet a few of Rihanna’s tour dates are sold out, and I fear that that is not because people are selective in the same way I am but in the superficial way that I previously described. They don’t want to see Rihanna live because it’ll elevate their respect for her music or enhance their listening experience, but because it’s Rihanna. This logic only worsens the already terrible entertainment industry, which thrives on gimmicks and not talent.

My aunt told me once about a time that she went to see Erykah Badu live for free at a park in Brooklyn. This was not when Badu first came out, but well into her career. I gasped when she began to tell me the story because I love her music and thought that this would be a great show to see live. She sighed as she began to ruin that dream of mine, telling me that it was one of the worst shows she’s ever been to. Her voice was cracking the entire show and she kept turning the microphone to the crowd so they would fill in the lyrics that she forgot. As a result, my aunt removed her entire album catalog from her iPod, except for her live album from 1994. It ruined her entire idea of who she was an artist, which rightfully so, is what should ruin your idea of an artist. It pulls into perspective the amount of “help” they really need in the studio or is a testimony to how lazy and disrespectful they are to their fans for not giving them their monies worth.

It shouldn’t be an artist’ personal life, relationship or personal choices that determine whether you listen to them or not, it should be their live presence because in the early days, that is what set the greats apart. Every major artist, from Donny Hathaway to Led Zeppelin had a live album, because they had a talent that could not be fully experienced in a studio. A lot of the artists of today shouldn’t even be heard outside of the car. Most of the artists, both hip-hop, pop and R&B only sound good in the club, the only reason why we arrived at this point is because of the way they are being marketed.

Concertgoers are attending these shows because of the image and not the talent, and tour managers and record labels know this. That’s why Rihanna and many artists like her are seen as sustainable because our standards are so low. Fortunately for the record labels, a majority of their costs will be recouped because I don’t see our standards elevating any time soon. But for the sake of our pockets, I do suggest that we really think about the quality of the artist before we spend money on seeing them live – it could ruin their reputation more than it would help it.