I do not believe that it is fair for a famous artist to lip-synch during a performance. If you pay money to see a band perform live and they are lip-synching, it is unfair to you as someone who bought a ticket when you wanted to see a live performance. Also, you don’t really get a good opinion of the performer considering they clearly aren’t good enough to sing live. I say, if you can’t sing live, don’t sing at all.
I’ve never gone to a concert and had a band lip-synch(which is probably because all of the bands I listen to are mostly underground and lip-synching would be kind of pointless), but if I did, I’d be disappointed and write it in the review of the concert because I write for music blog. As a journalist, if I write that a band lip-synched during a performance, hundreds of people would read it and become disappointed or laugh at the fact that a band can’t sing live. If I read a review of one of my favourite bands and found out they lip-synched, I’d be sad and my view of that band would change completely. Imagine that you are entranced in the stunningly incredible performance of your absolute favourite band, the one that has inspired you all your life with their beautiful lyrics, great vocals, and untouchable melodies, and you catch them lip-synching. It’d be crushing at best.
With people like Britney Spears, who are famous for lip-synching, it’s a whole other story. Those people had their prime, and are still making money no matter what they do. For bands today that are current and new and hip, lip-synching would lead them down a path of failure. I’d rather see a singer forget the words, stop singing, laugh it off and have the crowd sing the words instead than have the person step away from the mic while the track was still going.
On the other hand, if you’re going to a hardcore show where the majority of what comes out of the singer’s mouth is screaming, it’s obvious that their voice is going to get tired. Sometimes they lip-synch but a band like Alesana, who sing and scream, do not. When I saw them live, I knew that they were actually screaming and singing because the screaming was quieter and had a different tone than on the CD. If you compare Alesana to a band like U2 or Coldplay, who have lip-synched before, it’s a drastic difference. Not only are U2 and Coldplay huge, but they can lip-synch and get away with it because they’re in a large venue and have the ability to have the cameras to only shoot them at deceiving angles. At the Webster in Hartford or Toad’s Place in New Haven, you can tell that a band is lip-synching in a matter of seconds. In secluded areas, you see the singer better and the speakers give away the fact that the singer is faking it.
Lip-synching is most definitely not fair for a famous artist to do. It’s disappointing, sad, and useless.