The Bad Music Movement…..
Since the dawn of popular music, there was always movement; a constant “progressing” in a fashion that defined each movement as an era. Generally speaking, these eras could be viewed in five to ten year spans. The musical difference (musical difference meaning the general sound of the recordings and artistic message) was obvious from 1950 to 1960, 1960 to 1970, 1970 to 1980, etc. But something peculiar happened towards the tail end of the 90s: It appears that since then there hasn’t been much progressing. So in 15-20 years from now how will we define the signature sound of the 2000s? Probably something like “the era of hyper-compressed, way too distorted, ear fatiguing music that is now classic because the music today in 2020 is so much worse.” Haha, I really hope not, but certainly a song coming out today doesn’t have a sonic fingerprint that, say, couldn’t be heard in 2001. Indeed there has been great music in the past 8-10 years, but we all know that something has changed. There is a reminiscing in the air- passionate music lovers; people of all walks of life longing for a time when they could buy great CDs- new releases- every week…remember those days? For those who say that there is just as much great music today, well then they also have to admit one of two things along with that theory:
a) This multitude of “great” music is not getting out to the masses anymore, or
b) The masses don’t like great music anymore
The term “masses” is not to be taken with a negative connotation; I’m speaking of your average music lover, your everyday passionate listener. I guess they are gone because this “tremendous” amount of great, inspiring music is going unnoticed. The more likely scenario is that great music has greatly diminished.
All right, so if that’s the case there must be a reason, or perhaps several reasons all coming together to create the perfect storm for the invading bad music movement. I’m not saying there is anyone specific to blame, it is simply a cultural shift. I don’t claim to have any solutions but without trying to be too cynical, I would have to say that musical movements the way we once knew them could very well be part of our human history. Music will go on just fine and I’m sure plenty of great bands and artists will emerge in the future, however their relevancy on a pop culture scale will most likely be very limited (except for the very few). Let’s hope that’s not the case.
I have heard several people who are of the opinion that music and creativity has maxed out because there is only so much you can do and it’s all been done. Is music like a natural resource? Can it be depleted? If so, can it grow back? If it can, we need to start some music cultivation farms (oh wait, they used to be called major labels). But seriously, I do think it is harder to be original today than it was in the 70s or 80s. Also, great acts almost always take many years to develop and in today’s culture of people only wanting to be famous, the object of creativity has dramatically shifted. The mentality is more in the form of “let’s just throw it down quick so we can go get famous.”
The modern digital age has enabled bad music to be mass-produced very quickly and the wannabe famous “artistes “ in the basement are flooding the airwaves. Great art is a long labor of love that few people have the time for these days. Add to that the fact that there are fewer live venues for budding artists than ever before. Many of the great acts we’ve come to know in the past honed their craft by gauging the reaction of real people. They could see the faces of the audience when they tried out their new material. If your audience were falling asleep during that new song, maybe you would think twice about ever recording it. Bands and artists are at a huge disadvantage who cannot perform live or don’t have venues to do so. Instead of playing their instruments they’re at home playing with their computer mouse.
To summarize, here are some points, which most likely contribute significantly to the great decline of music:
- Too much information. People don’t have time to sift through a billion myspace pages
- Music and arts programs have been removed from our public schools. So many children have been growing up without ever having a chance to not only learn and study music, but understand its history
- Music is free
- Live venues are dwindling
- Fame has become the ultimate goal
- Music has become devalued…why? Because it’s free
- Anyone who can play 3 chords or rap a line has the ability to record it and post it on the web for the whole world to hear, though the world is hardly paying attention anymore (you better have AMAZING songs)
- It’s harder to be original and it’s harder to stand out
- Sonically, music is waaaay too compressed and loud, making it very fatiguing to the ears for any extended period of time- the burn-out rate is fast
- People don’t even buy stereo systems anymore- most people I know listen to music only on their computer speakers
So in conclusion, it seems most likely that we need a cultural movement if we ever hope to see another big musical movement. I suggest we make some truly inspired music for the love of it and turn away from this ego driven, fame lusting, sick sick culture of ours…and may God bless America! (I’m not just saying that rhetorically, I mean it .
Written By John Degrazio
Age is definitely a huge factor. I’m nearly 60 now. I was around for the very first feedback, for Woodstock, for Elvis, for everything no one ever heard before that you now take for granted. I made –and still make–my living in the music biz, spent ten years on the road as a guitarist, and have watched it from both the inside and the outside. Once thing for certain: unquestionalby, it’s all about youth. When you’re young and untried and untested, not yet whipped by social constrictions or conventionalism, your innocence, naievity and hopes and dreams still shining and intact,not yet crushed by the machine or simply too jaded, the music is EVERYTHING; it is the soundtrack of your life. It speaks to you, with you, at you, and most of all, for you, in more ways than you can imagine. It both creates and reflects your style and your pathways and your attitudes. You literally NEED the music, and because of that undeniable need, regardless of the industry or the condition of the business or the phonics or sonics or sound engineering or who’s out there doing what, that unquenchable need drives you to find the music. It’s always been that way and it always will be. After a few decades go by and you’ve hacked your way through the jungle of life and forged your own path and created yourself, the music is like a trusty walking cane instead of a total suit of armor. You’ll still love it, but it will be less important, and that will be OK, too. You’ll see; beleive me, you’ll really, really see.) So what I say is this: the Impact of Music today is NOT lost; youth keeps the impact eternal and evolving. Nothing more, nothing less.
As far as radio is concerned it’s always been about one in ten songs were O.K. and the rest sucked.As far as live music is concerned my band gave it up a few years ago,We Got Tired,but we still write and record thru the magic of the interwebs.Bottom line the cream will always rise to the top and rock music isn’t going anywhere,
Bob
I quit listening to radio over a decade ago when I heard the SAME SONG on my morning commute, at lunch when I drove out to get a burger, and then on my evening commute home. I switched over to the classical station and never looked back. The passage of time and the march of technology, however, have made it increasingly easy to find music of all stripes that I enjoy, thank god, because the radio stations sure weren’t doing anything in that regard. Look, your big culturally relevant acts were a product of the technology and the culture present at the time. Instead of millions of fans being fed what some record company executives like, we now have millions of fans able to seek out and listen to what exactly suits their tastes, why shouldn’t this mean a far greater number of less well known acts? I’d be surprised if it hadn’t come to this.
But I think it says a lot about the state of music today that I found a band’s myspace page in this very thread (Fleet Foxes) who I had never even heard of before today whose tracks I’m about to purchase from Amazon.com’s MP3 service. They didn’t have to engineer their sound for radio play, or to impress “the masses” or by extension some dude at a record company. AND I’M GLAD THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO. They got to make exactly the record they wanted to, the kind of music they were passionate about, and they stuck it out there so that me, the guy who ultimately gets to determine what I like and what I don’t, could hear it and judge for myself whether it strikes a chord with me. And I love hearing what they made. And to top it all off I’m going to leave a comment on the band’s page about how much I like their music. Yeah. I think I, as a fan, like this modern music industry just fine.
Honestly I think it is a lot to do with the major record companies being on a severe downwards slope, as they have been for a while. I feel that the problem is that as record companies profits continuously drop, they stop taking any kind of risks with the artists they sign because they’re worried that if they sign an artist that is going to try and innovate and do something different then they won’t sell records and they’ll end up losing money on them. As a result they end up signing a bunch of one-hit wonders that don’t buck the trend but instead just latch on to what is popular, maintaining the status-quo and lending to the situation we have at the moment. Of course that’s not to say that record companies haven’t always signed one-hit wonders and trend followers, but it’s become much more abundant than previously, because they can be sure of at least making a quick buck off of them, because nowadays for the major labels it’s not about the music, it’s about the bottom line. And of course, the music industry is dominated by three or four major record labels, if they all follow the same trend and refuse to sign original and interesting new bands, then the industry will continue to be flooded with mediocrity.
Thing is, I get very tired with people saying that claim the problem is that the mainstream music listener can’t appreciate genuinely in-depth and interesting music, but that’s rubbish. Some of the highest selling and most enduringly popular artists of all time have experimented and innovated in their music, for example The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and in recent years the likes of Nirvana and Radiohead. All of these artists are hugely popular and have sold millions of records yet they are/were all innovators. They way I see it, most people are capable of appreciating “quality” music, it’s just that the major labels aren’t putting any of it out there anymore so unless you’re willing to trawl through your local record shop or the depths of the internet looking for genuinely exciting new artists, you’re probably just going to have to put up with what the mainstream has to offer.
Essentially, I blame the record labels. But that’s just my opinion.
This entire discussion has provided some pretty thoughtful and intellectual criticism about popular music today and I am thankful that a world of critics like myself exists. And it is because of people like us that good music will be safe and there will be room for good music in the future.
One of my main contests with music today is its consumability. Some of you have touched on it already but music today has been packaged and prepared to satisfy America’s insatiable apetite for another ite on the dollar menu. However, I hate to think that this is a generational problem. This is not something that just jumped onto our radar and it isn’t even something that happened in our lifetime.
The late 50s and 60s saw some of the worlds greatest music, but it also saw the beginning of packaged and processed rock. The formula was simple: Take rock chord progressions, a cute teen idol type singer, and have him sing a (now aforementioned) cheesy love song. For a quick reference google calendar girl by Neil Sedaka. This was the product of about 30 men in a room with keyboards at their office at RCA records. (I’m not intentionally pointing fingers, but this is what began the pop culture mess as we see it today, but for further examples, examine the rise and fall of blues music and Sun Records). It was an interoffice competition to see who could produce the most consumable pop song. This is not what inspired John Lee Hooker and Robert Johnson to write songs. At any rate this was just one example of rock’n'roll gone pop and it was successful so it caught on.
The point is that this awful, uninspired, and really just awful music has been produced and consumed for us, the farm animals, who line up and eat whatever slop is in the trough. It began far before Neil Sedaka and all the other pop/rock junkies in the 50s. The rancid, off-rock, unemotional music that arose just after the advent of rock ruined “good” music. Miles was still in his prime, but jazz had come and gone. Rock was the new pop music and it was becoming more popularized. It was this formulaic music that inspired John Cage to write his famous piece 4′33″ in 1952. He saw very early on that listners had forgotten how to listen and began to simply hear whatever came out of their radio’s speakers.
In short this is not a new problem. There have been “musical droughts” as long as music has been around, but out of these have emerged great artists and musicians. Hendrix emerged from the early fifties pop/rock and Zeppelin from the Neil Sedaka crowd, so there is hope. But it is we who are in control of the fate of music. If we support (financially and morally) great musicians, record companies will invest in good musicians. Once again we have to bow at the feet of the industry, but I would rather bow on hands and knees than suffer through one more Pussycat Dolls album.
I haven’t read all the comments, but I’ve been wondering the same thing. I grew up with “big” artists… Elton John, Billy Joel, Rod Stewart, Bowie… Even in the ’80s there were “big” artists… Depeche Mode sold out Dodger Stadium in 6 minutes, I believe. I was a huge fan. Can’t take more than about three songs today, and I’m done with them, but still, whether they “sucked” or not, they were big. New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Nine Inch Nails, Duran Duran. They had multiple albums and huge fan appeal. It seems like there hasn’t been a new band with such huge fan appeal for a long time. I like a lot of different songs, but I haven’t really gone nuts over a band to the point that I bought an album without hearing even one song, but just because of who made it.
I hear everybody ALWAYS pushing the blame onto something, someone, somehow:
“the music sucks”,
“labels suck”
“radio sucks”
“A&R sucks”
“internet sucks”
“myspace sucks”
“illegal downloading sucks”
“gas prices suck”
“clubs suck”, etc.
I could go on forever. The negativity on this blog can be overwhelming at times. But I’ve never heard anybody ever say “I suck.” Because, ask yourself, “What am I doing to change the industry?” “What am I doing to make a positive impact?”
…All very good analysts, but not very good “do-ers.”
You think music sucks? Go ahead, Einstein, pick up a guitar and you write/design the next ground-breaking style of music. Post it on here when you’re done.
You think gas prices suck? Write to your local politicians, and protest, etc. If you don’t do it, I don’t want to hear you bitch. That’s your democratic choice.
You think clubs suck? Go open one.
You think Myspace sucks? Don’t go there.
Get the drift?
The voice of this blog can be decently powerful, but all I hear are problems, not solutions. Everybody is pointing the finger.
Imagine if half of the time that was spent bitching was spent on trying to make a positive impact. The results might be staggering.
Hell yea Oilyfishhead!!!!!!!!
Oh, and to throw in my two cents…. the fuckin “Politically Correct” movement has crushed all kinds of creativity…
you have one group who tries very hard not to offend anyone or anything
and you have another group that solely goes out to offend and shock people and things
Who gives a crap about who is/isn’t offended, what people do/don’t like… Just do what makes you happy.
You need to shut up. There is plenty of new music and experimental things going on. (Especially in electronic music.)
Anyone who is a teenager or in their early 20’s will tell you that music is not dead at all. I’m 19 and I know for a fact that in high school and college almost everyone listens to music and identifies with a genre or trend that is related to a genre of music.
The truth of the matter is that music HAS changed. The ways we listen to music has too.
Fact of the matter is, I bet the guy who wrote this is 30 or older and has no idea what the music scene is today.
Music now isn’t about having a hand full of mega selling artists. (Like The Beatles or Led Zeppelin.) Kids have a nearly limitless selection of artists and sounds to choose from.
In my opinion its all a generational gap. People think the music industry is supposed to be the way it was when you were a kid. This also relates to the sound. If you think music hasn’t progressed in sound. WOW. Sorry I can even say anything to you except:
http://www.myspace.com/thefalloftroy
http://www.myspace.com/teramelos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkZV7DIXsRM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ps7trr_EbM
Sorry but if I am not mistaken… People weren’t making music like this even 10 years ago.
Finally, GOOD “pop” or, “popular music,” is dead. It is made for people who don’t have the time or don’t care to listen to music actively. However, for everyone else who wants to put some time into finding good music they can definitely find something they like. Try a music site like lastfm.com and you’ll see what I mean. I think the electronic music age is a good thing.
Maybe you haven’t noticed but this kind of argument always comes up between generations. For example, when swing and swing dancing first became popular kids listened to it. Not their parents. Their parents thought it was the devil. Years later we have those very same kids now acting as parents. They then express their distaste for their Jimi Hendrix, Beatles, Elvis etc. and the cycle repeats. I have two examples from the present. Rap music. Kids love it and parents hate it. Why? Violence? Promiscuity? I’m sorry but those were probably the same arguments your parents made to you as kids. (Elvis’ hips, Jimi Hendrix and drugs, John Lennon and the “Jesus” controversy.) The other is music that involves screaming. I have heard some parents even refer to it as “not music.” HA and what about when you were listening to the beginnings of rock music and your parents said the same thing? Are you anymore right then my generation?
I am ‘WAY over 30 (try 71) and I agree with the generational arguments. I can’t stand most ghetto-derived music, especially the anti-life aspects of it. I have, however, drifted away from the “classical” music of the period with that name, finding the less regimented tonality of Philip Glass, Arvo Part, Alan Hovhaness, Olivier Messiaen and many others in nearer times more compelling (but JS Bach still rules). As for “jazz,” or what remains of it, I ask why there is so much noise. Good rhythm is a great thing in music (I love Boogie-Woogie) but it seems lost now in such loudness as to drown out all other elements. We need to return to some subtlety, sometimes, although a solid sexy, dancey, simple melody will do quite well under the right circumstance. I have 6,000 “songs” on my iPod, all “classical,” and most give me great pleasure. I also have many older jazz albums, dated 1930s-1970s. Everything since seems poor imitations. “Break on Through.” (The Doors).
parocks, sorry to mischaracterize what you said in my effort to offer perspective.
In the 70’s, we believed that getting a song on the radio was the Holy Grail. And every band was certain that if people just heard their music, it would propel them to fame and fortune, starting with that big advance when you signed the recording contract.
Every movie about a famous band has the scene where on of the guys in the band is working in an appliance store and hears their song on the radio, and proceeds to run around screaming like a monkey on crack because “WE’RE ON THE RADIO!!!”
There’s also the story of the plucky little Kentucky coal miner’s daughter girl who takes her record to every radio station in an 8 state-radius and becomes a superstar.
The “problem” with music began when the, uh, “incentives,” yeah, that’s it, when the incentives from the record labels virtually eliminated the possibility the radio station would even have time to listen to your stuff, much less consider it for airplay.
That “We’re on the radio!” moment is gone. Now we’ve got the internet, where people can hear us whenever they feel like it. Which is good, because people aren’t listening to the radio — they’ve all got iPods.
And the thing about those huge advances, well, every story I hear about bands at the end of their lucrative contract seems to indicate that a McDonalds franchise would have been more profitable.
I heard of the fall of troy sometime ago and even though i agree they are OK music I do not think that they are going to be defined as the best this generation has to offer. As for nobody making music like this 10 years ago the Used were recording in 2001 Which I mean seven years doesn’t sound like that long ago but the beatles were on the Dick Clark show in 1963 and broke up by 1970. Which happens to be the same year Alice Cooper released his second full album. In the same amount of time it took to go from the Used and Thursday to today music went from “Twist and Shout” (the beatles) to Alice Cooper that is alot of progress which explains the generation gap there. I’m 19 and i remember hearing Thursday on MTV when i was 12 or so. I think the problem that the music of today has run into is that you can only become so offensive and controversial and we’ve reached a point where its becoming harder and harder to define that. There is great experimental music coming out but its not controversial enough to get notice and there is great controversial music coming out but it doesn’t sound new enough.
I think another problem music is suffering is that there are no more heroes in the industry. Music used to be much more sensational because that/those artist(s) had spent years in the dirtiest, nastiest scum filled bars with people that may not have even been there for the music. But now all a band needs to do is stay home and record some great music in their home and put it on the web. i agree that the internet has really helped the standards of music to improve because it has to sound better and stand out more than all those thousand of crappy bands on myspace but that kind of competition makes the artist strive for fame and not focus on moving forward and making something new. So to finish this off I’d like to say that I don’t think music’s progress has died it has just lost its impact on a generation that wants more change than it is gettting.
Also a band I’ve really come to love over the past year is Band Marino (myspace.com/bandmarino) They’ve got a very folk like touch and I’m not going to say that they are going to be the next big thing because I’m not sure if thats what they are aiming for so much as just great music.
Okay…seriously..are you really making this argument? This is a very unoriginal idea. First off, I will agree with you that the fact that the internet exists does change the way we listen to and obtain music, and that’s probably the reason music is different. But I must highly disagree with you on the fact that their are no more era’s in music. Firstly, I would argue that their have been to large era’s (concerning Rock n’ Roll) within the 2000’s, I would characterize the first half as Emo, and the second half, (the half were in know) as Indie (and I don’t mean independent, I mean the kind of shit they play in Juno and Garden State). Admittedly, they both sucked, but then again…what pop music was really great in the past? I mean we think of Jimi Hendrix,The Doors, and Bob Marley when we think of the sixties, we thing of Punk music and Glam Rock for the 70’s and so on But really, while those things had hits, and we somewhat popular during their time (but usual only to small sub-groups of people), their was way more shit that the kids of that time listened to (Beach Boys, Soft Rock, dumb hippie music) we just romanticize the good artists. And yes, Led Zeppelin and the Beatles were extremely popular in their time, they are the exception to the rule. I used to complain about the decline of modern music just like you shit heads…then I realized how retarded I was being…Seriously, just because the radio isn’t playing to much amazing shit doesn’t mean modern music is more sucky…because the radio sucks, MTV sucks, and they always will. Seriously, I would kill myself if I was driving down the road in the 60’s in “incense and peppermint” came on…..and I know…you might be one of the fuck heads that think all that shity pop music from the past is good…but I bet deep down you like it more because it sounds old rather than it sound “good”. Get A Life!!!!!!1 Check out Mindless Self Indulgence, Infected Mushroom, or Dying Fetus, all bands which are just as popular, if not more popular than Bob Marley was during his time.
Hello,
)
I don’t known you, and I have only read that article. But, you may stop listening to music for about 2 weeks. If after that long period you will fell a need, then go and listen to music through your own collection, or through the web or whatever. Music is free. It’s an artistic form, a way to express yourself, all of these inner emotion that make you human and then to share them with other human. Not a commercial product. The price of music is only a way (for you and many other purists) to give you an indication in the exponential jungle of new song.
I’m obviously a part of that jungle. I don’t have the pretension to become famous and I know that I’m not a great artist in any point. I only try to be honest with my creation and I hope that people enjoy it(with or without extreme saturation ^^).
I like to loose myself in that jungle, “to sift through a billion myspace pages” and many other sites. I mainly find nothing interesting. But sometimes, I found things that are the music of today (and tomorrow).
Music is different from the past, ok, and she have evolved. Don’t be fed up by the number, and I hope you will find the joy of music again.
(ps: I’m French so, please, did you will excuse me for all my grammar mistakes.
Seriously, There is great music out there but now in these times you have to find it.Just like in the 1980s.Find it! Don,t wait for it,its there!!!!
i don’t think it’s fair to say that the music of today is not as good as the music of the past. sure, right now nothing sticks out like the beatles do. but we’re not IN the future right now. we’re surrounded by mediocre music right now, but nobody remembers the mediocre music of the past. they remember what was good, or what was really horrifically bad. give it 20 years, and what is good about this era of music will be what we remember, along with ridiculous artists like britney spears and hannah montana.
I am in total agreement with you man, like what happy harry hard-on says everyone has sold out.
Old people always make this claim – it is nothing but the conceit of thinking that the only good music came from the days when they were young.
The 90s didn’t have a distinct sound? I stopped reading after that.
Good music still exists. However, record companies don’t want to innovate. Their crappy pop music makes money, so they produce more of it, which makes money, which makes them want to produce more crappy pop, etc. If you look hard enough, you will find bands that sound like they could have existed 40 years ago or bands that are constantly experimenting.
I don’t have the answer to “why”, but I can pinpoint what I find lacking in modern music: melody. Not all of it, mind you, but so much of what fills today’s iTunes and Zunes doesn’t have any tunes. Beat alone can’t carry a rap, and the random warbles that pass for ballads today are inherently forgettable. When we look back on this period in pop music, I think it will be the one in which “can you hum a few bars” stopped making sense.
Yes the music corporations do push bland ‘product’ and a huge amount of people are never exposed to good art let alone the art of great music. All facets of Society are now very shallow, creating processed people with poor critical analytical skills and lack of experience. Modern music is the manifestation of the times, the people and society, its such as shame as people are capable of creating beautiful music. The 60’ and 70’s were a renaissance. They were the product of a society that had a joy of life, hope for the future, belief that the ideas of peace, love, consideration for others was achievable. The corporations and our bland, uninspiring politicians have put us through the corporate, capitalist instant cash machine that panders to the lowest common denominator. Having said that listen to my latest song on you tube!! Groove on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfvxbloxVJo
The author is writing this having looked through the mainstream lens much too long.
I do agree there is too much bad music out there and it’s more difficult for the “great” stuff to be noticed by the mass public. Whereas before the 21st Century the music atmosphere was less fragmented and those “great” records may have gone Gold or better. Now they may only be selling 50,000 copies and the passionate music lover, due to the mix of overwhelming availability of new music and press hype is ready to move on after only a few weeks spent with this “great” record.
I agree on most of the bullet points. However, on these points (my answer in parenthesis):
- Live venues are dwindling (untrue, it’s just tougher for a “baby” act to tour sustainably)
- Fame has become the ultimate goal (in the mainstream)
- Sonically, music is waaaay too compressed and loud, making it very fatiguing to the ears for any extended period of time. The burn-out rate is fast (you’re listening to too many shitty mainstream bands looking to become famous)
Oh, and addressing “I Agree With Your Post” who street-teamed Dirty Words – no, you’re what the author was talking about when he wrote “- Sonically, music is waaaay too compressed and loud, making it very fatiguing to the ears for any extended period of time. The burn-out rate is fast”
Hang it up, let a “great” band rise to the top of the heap.
Bring back the good music already! Musicians make good music not corporations, if people hear good music they will follow http://www.sabrinathemusic.com now thats authentic good music check it out. I bet you like it.
re: Comment by Nashstu — July 17, 2008 @ 11:23 am “who street-teamed Dirty Words”, What??
[...] Does the World Need Another Indie Band? by Tim Walker, writing in The Independent. Why Has Modern Music Lost So Much Impact? by the Kings of A&R. This comment, from a reader called Alex in the comment thread of my recent [...]
[...] Does the World Need Another Indie Band? by Tim Walker, writing in The Independent. Why Has Modern Music Lost So Much Impact? by the Kings of A&R. This comment, from a reader called Alex in the comment thread of my recent [...]
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Hey have you heard the hottest reggae singer Ava Leigh’s new single called mad about the boy? .It’s available on I Tunes and at HMV.
Jon Cole says:
does anyone remember “Disco” ?
LOL, don’t make me laugh. Everyone remembers Disco. It’s still being played todays. Clubs are being opened up all over the world dedicated to this type of music Unlike say Led Zeppelin./ Does anyone remember them? Or more importantly can anyone hum more than ONE of their songs.
I think the answer is live venues. We need more bands playing live music at bars/pubs/clubs. It’s simpler that way. Meaning the record companies will have an easier time filter the good bands from the bad ones, leaving less of a chance of terrible music flooding the market and covering any good music like a blanket. Places need to be open later, like 3:00am, and where bands play longer than 30 minutes a night, and alcohol is cheaper. I mean, $5 for a pint of beer?? Some places 4.50 for a bottle, and that’s the cheapest beer, or wine for $8 a glass. How ridiculous, and I’m from Toronto by the way. Let the bar owners and customers filter the bands and artist. If someone is really terrible people will make sure they know it, by not coming to the bar anymore, or the bar owner firing them.
viva casino online…
artful particles set:ridgepole worship …
I read this, and i figure I may as well add my own two cents to this ridiculously long list of comments.
I believe that music in our time is not “worse” than past music, it’s just that we are living in rapidly changing times. And with changing times comes changing culture and, in this case, musical preferences.
The big-time record industries are dying because any music you would ever want, you can get for free. So how do you combat this villain that exists solely for the purpose of undermining your efforts?
Simple. You change your efforts.
People may not want to shell out $17 for their favorite band’s album, but I am positive they would shell out $40 to see them live, if the venue was convenient and the band was worth seeing.
But I digress.
I don’t think that music today is bad. Pop music and “Top 40″ music is still horrible, but it kind of always was. But not all of it is, just like not all modern music is.
There is a plethora of amazing indie/unsigned/small-fan-based bands out there, so I don’t think I need to name too many. Good music isn’t that hard to find, if you care to look and don’t care what the “in” (or “out” for that matter) music is.
There is great music out there, and there will be bad music as well. But I’m don’t think by the end of this generation we could choose our “greatest” artist/band. It’s too hard. Music is too broad a spectrum to narrow down into “good” or “bad”, even, for every band (nay, even any song) has “good” and “bad” in it.
So yeah, thats what I got to say about this.
i think the problem lies in both the upcoming artists and the record labels
first of all, i stopped listening to the radio a year ago because i only hear the same thing played over and over again with a new title
the problem is theres no creativity
no more room to be an artist because the label wants new artists to fit a certain demographic get inside the box and make money
is this evil?
no the purpose of a label is to make money, it’s a business
90 percent of artists these days don’t even write their own songs i’m a musician and i try to write but in my opinion if it isnt from the gut good music that u made then it wont be real
i watch these artists on tv and i get sick cause it sounds good but it doesnt count to me cuz they didn’t write it it didn’t even come to them
the music industry has become a land of cover music, unoriginal
what i mean is the real songwriters and artists are behind the scenes and because they don’t fit the demographic coffins of the label, or maybe they cant sing of something like that they don’t see daylight
the other problem is the actual new artists
are they in it for the money or fame…or woah slow down, the music?
i told my parents a while ago that i don’t care if i’m poor on the streets paycheck to paycheck for the rest of my life, I JUST WANT TO PLAY MUSIC
in a club, a church, on the street whatever it doesn’t matter
that is the BIGGEST problem we’re facing where have all the artists gone?
i don’t know but the labels arent finding them
wat they’re finding is attracive marketable fame seekers who are willing to do anything 4 a piece of the glory
the pursuit of fame is the enemy the pursuit of money is the enemy
if america can learn to pursue music again one artist on the street at a time, maybe we can find art and artists in the record labels again too
I’m 23 years old and I don’t think I’m romantacizing the past when I say that the 60’s and 70’s were the best two decades in the history of rock music. Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin are two good examples, but I’d also add The Beatles, The Stones, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Velvet Underground, The Who, Bob Dylan, The Kinks, The Sex Pistols, The Doors, Jefferson Aeroplane and many others. These days you have to be very selective in what you listen to, because almost all of it on the radio and tv is commercial, soulless and stupefyingly boring, especially rap and r n b, and especially pop music. There are still good bands, like Radiohead and the Libertines and Sublime, but if I’m being honest it doesn’t compare to earlier decades. I think the real frontier in music at the moment is in dance music, because that hasn’t yet been raped too hard by commercial interests. In summary, top ten cunts in music I’d like to die:
Kanye West
Beyonce
Lincoln Park
Suger Babes
Tinchy Strider
Justin Timberlake
Usher
50 Cent
R. Kelly
Madonna
I’m a guitarist as is my son. I asked my son who his favourite guitarist was. His answer “David Gilmour”. BTW my son is 18.
I live a long way away from him so I’m going to put together a compilation of great strat players for him.
Me I listen to Elgar and Tchaikovsky as well as classic rock/metal/blues/jazz and even some “modern stuff”.
There is a lot of shit around these days but then there was a lot of shit around in every decade. The radio has always had a few gems amongst the pig fodder.
The good stuff will persist, the band wagon jumpers and fad riders will go in the who cares bin. David Gilmour! say no more.
re – Scott …
yes
i agree
….quit my job 3 months ago to stay home and write music/songs
…. unbelievable amount of work – simply staggering
and getting a recording contract – forget it – the industry is destroyed.
..the industry that was is gone – maybe something will rise from the ashes
and TOm bro -
good list – but u are definitely wrong on a few ….
madonna – the greatest female entertainer in history ….
i agree her new stuff is very hard to digest – but she is/was the best
LP – are u kidding me ! that is a solid act if i ever heard one
usher – granted i know nothing of “jungle bunny” music
( no offense please – but i just don’t “get it”) – he is a great singer
and Bey – she is a great singer too – – again — i dont get it
so i good half ur list are some of the most talented singers in the history of the universe ,,,,
… read scotts post – and do scotts post
o