Monday Musings: Is death a cash cow?

There is much to be said about death. Where do we go? Will I ever see my loved ones again? Does Satan have a chair reserved for me? Those kinds of questions. But when a famous musician dies, a question pops up with somehow more cynicism than the Satan question I asked earlier: Is death a cash cow?

Now obviously I don't mean a cash cow for the dead performer, because as they say, you can't take it with you. I mean a cash cow for the inheritors, the family, and artists who try to capitalize on the death of a performer. Did someone say "Puff Daddy"?

Okay, that's a little harsh. Obviously Puff and Biggie Smalls were very close with each other, since Biggie was under his record label. Still, you can't deny the success that the song garnered. It's one of the best-selling singles of all time, in fact. So is someone's death, no matter how tragic, a good way to cash in?

Well, a prominent death in the music industry definitely shakes things up. And in that midst, there's bound to be some people that can benefit from it. Yeah, it is admittedly a really cynical point of view, but money is a huge part of what makes the world go round. And when musicians die, people pay money for their records in overdrive. Whoever is lucky enough to get that money really benefits.

So, is death a cash cow? Maybe not consciously, but there is an element of big profit from a musician's death. I don't really understand the mentality behind suddenly buying albums after a musician's death, but you can't deny that it\s there. And for whatever reason, mourning brings in the money. Sad but true.