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Post your "Why Today's Music Sucks" theories here...
Why does music suck today? I have my own theories, which I one day plan to turn into a massive blog post that no one will read. I think it's a combination of all of the following:
What are yours?
- Consolidation - Fewer companies own the key functions that used to bring music to the masses - terrestrial radio stations, venue operations, show promotion, ticketing, artist management. Those that own this machine are uninterested in taking any risks with it, which means that the guy with the biggest amplifier is playing Manilow and there's nothing we can do about it. I had high hopes for the Internet insofar as promoting independent music is concerned, but it's a narrowcasting medium in most applications, not a broadcasting one. Other than iTunes, the only "big reach" vehicle that's emerged post-Internet that has music-selling power is...
- American Idol - So confident in its star-making power that it literally controls all aspects of its artists' lives, this behemoth welded itself onto the old power structure of the pre-Internet music machine and became the new sewer main that force-feeds crap to the masses.
- Fragmentation - The Internet led to what my buddy Jim calls "an embarrassment of niches" that allows people to listen to only the things that interest them and tune everything else out. We thought this would result in more music that we like, but what it really did was it impossible for us to ever see a diamond-certified rock album again. Fragmentation is what allows the annoying hipster in the apartment down the hall to listen to nothing but "psychedelic trip-hop with a ska-core bend" and never be exposed to anything that more than a dozen people carry on their iPod.
- Competing pastimes. More things are competing for our leisure time than ever before. Don't believe this has any significant effect? Google this - In 2007, movie executives blamed poor movie ticket sales on the release of a video game. Music listening is just one leisure activity on a list of many, and while the younger set is better at multitasking than prior generations, the sad fact is that no one has time to listen to albums anymore. Scratch that. No one knows what an album is anymore because people under 30 buy singles and think that anyone who buys albums is just an old fogey.
- Influx of content (without the means to separate the wheat from the chaff) - A few years ago, I decided to see how quickly I could use this thing called GarageBand to create a song from concept to finished product. In less than three hours, I had a listenable song. Now, what happens when people with actual talent can do the same thing? We get an explosion of content. And nobody has the time to sort through all of this stuff and find out if any of these artists can consistently deliver decent music. You'd think that the Internet could deliver this. And yet, GarageBand.com "retired" on July 15th of this year. I don't remember a single artist that broke their first single there and went on to be a mainstream artist.
- Smart artists. More bands realize that they're not going to make money releasing the next Sgt. Pepper. They're going to lose money that way. And they'll only make money from tours and merch. This virtually guarantees that the only artists we'll have rammed down our throats by the mainstream machine are the ones willing to let someone else make the money from their efforts. There are probably dozens, hundreds - maybe even thousands - of releases we would welcome onto our iPods if they had come up through the mainstream channels. But we never heard them because they never traveled outside a group of 1,500 MySpace and Facebook friends, and a small bar on the outskirts of Pittsburgh.
What are yours?
Views: 54
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mr. In Between on -
whoah - that's an impressive list you've got going there.
One of my biggest gripes has been radio or lack thereof concerning stations that have DJ's who bring the masses music they are into. Exposing new talent or talent that has been around for a few years but has never had any mass exposure.
Radio is so bad these days (in my opinion) - I wonder if kids feel the same way and do they pay attention to the radio or is it neither here nor there for them as they listen to their music via their phone or iPod?
Maybe my belief in radio being independent and not corporate is an outdated idea by now?
But yeah - really great points there Tom - I'll mull those over. Great topic for here too!
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Permalink Reply by Will Withem on -
Great start. And contrary to your thought I want to read this.
Great radio stations are few and far between. A station called wwcd101 in columbus ohio remains one of my favorites. It is independently owned. Check them out online if you get a minute.
Keep going with the list.
Another reason music sucks, is that its all been done.
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Permalink Reply by Mr. In Between on
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Will Withem said:Great start. And contrary to your thought I want to read this.
Great radio stations are few and far between. A station called wwcd101 in columbus ohio remains one of my favorites. It is independently owned. Check them out online if you get a minute.
Keep going with the list.
Another reason music sucks, is that its all been done.
I sorta reject that idea that it's all been done before. There's beauty in variation and each person's voice/personality in their songwriting makes it exciting for me personally even over a simple chord progression of D - C - G - D.
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Permalink Reply by Matt F. on -
I'm not so sure todays music actually does suck.
- Consolidation had to occur because no one is using these services anymore, and I can't blame them. Why do i need a record co, a manager etc. taking a cut of my money? Radio has been putting out bland music since the nineties and I am glad to see it go. I'm not sure you are really taking advantage of all the internet has to offer as far as discovering music. Try Grooveshark which is a good streaming site. Hit on Last.FM, Pandora, Cd trading sites like swapacd or musicboomerang, or go to bands websites. I just downloaded Amanda Palmer's new EP yesterday for dirt cheap. I personally don't want to be force fed music I could care less about.
- AI actually put out at least 3 good artists, starting with Kelly Clarkson. Sure her first 2 albums were machine built albums, but her third "My December" is great. Raw and gritty it was songs she wanted to make. Carrie Underwood is just fantastic all around.. And I really like Kellie Pickler, she is a lot of fun.
- I would say that there are just as many people exploring all "niches" as there are sticking to one. I am a metalhead through and through, but I just said I liked Kelly Clarkson.
- Can't argue much here.
- Don't really want my favorite bands to be "mainstream". It is really nice to see a band like Mastodon in a club setting. They shred like no other. Note they are currently on a mega tour with Alice In Chains and Deftones as we speak. I expect they will be back in clubs this winter though.
- Just go searching for your favorite music or find new stuff. It is painfully easy.
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Permalink Reply by Mr. In Between on
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Matt F. said:I'm not so sure todays music actually does suck.
- Consolidation had to occur because no one is using these services anymore, and I can't blame them. Why do i need a record co, a manager etc. taking a cut of my money? Radio has been putting out bland music since the nineties and I am glad to see it go. I'm not sure you are really taking advantage of all the internet has to offer as far as discovering music. Try Grooveshark which is a good streaming site. Hit on Last.FM, Pandora, Cd trading sites like swapacd or musicboomerang, or go to bands websites. I just downloaded Amanda Palmer's new EP yesterday for dirt cheap. I personally don't want to be force fed music I could care less about.
- AI actually put out at least 3 good artists, starting with Kelly Clarkson. Sure her first 2 albums were machine built albums, but her third "My December" is great. Raw and gritty it was songs she wanted to make. Carrie Underwood is just fantastic all around.. And I really like Kellie Pickler, she is a lot of fun.
- I would say that there are just as many people exploring all "niches" as there are sticking to one. I am a metalhead through and through, but I just said I liked Kelly Clarkson.
- Can't argue much here.
- Don't really want my favorite bands to be "mainstream". It is really nice to see a band like Mastodon in a club setting. They shred like no other. Note they are currently on a mega tour with Alice In Chains and Deftones as we speak. I expect they will be back in clubs this winter though.
- Just go searching for your favorite music or find new stuff. It is painfully easy.
Your websites fall right into points #1 and #3 - narrowcasting and the 'embarrassment of niches' that Tom talked about - fragmentation.
While it's great those websites exist - I believe they don't go to a mass audience who might like that type of music IF they were exposed to it but would never go looking for this type of music because they don't know it exists because they listen to mainstream channels of media.
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Permalink Reply by Matt F. on
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Ming The Merciless said:Matt F. said:I'm not so sure todays music actually does suck.
- Consolidation had to occur because no one is using these services anymore, and I can't blame them. Why do i need a record co, a manager etc. taking a cut of my money? Radio has been putting out bland music since the nineties and I am glad to see it go. I'm not sure you are really taking advantage of all the internet has to offer as far as discovering music. Try Grooveshark which is a good streaming site. Hit on Last.FM, Pandora, Cd trading sites like swapacd or musicboomerang, or go to bands websites. I just downloaded Amanda Palmer's new EP yesterday for dirt cheap. I personally don't want to be force fed music I could care less about.
- AI actually put out at least 3 good artists, starting with Kelly Clarkson. Sure her first 2 albums were machine built albums, but her third "My December" is great. Raw and gritty it was songs she wanted to make. Carrie Underwood is just fantastic all around.. And I really like Kellie Pickler, she is a lot of fun.
- I would say that there are just as many people exploring all "niches" as there are sticking to one. I am a metalhead through and through, but I just said I liked Kelly Clarkson.
- Can't argue much here.
- Don't really want my favorite bands to be "mainstream". It is really nice to see a band like Mastodon in a club setting. They shred like no other. Note they are currently on a mega tour with Alice In Chains and Deftones as we speak. I expect they will be back in clubs this winter though.
- Just go searching for your favorite music or find new stuff. It is painfully easy.
Your websites fall right into points #1 and #3 - narrowcasting and the 'embarrassment of niches' that Tom talked about - fragmentation.
While it's great those websites exist - I believe they don't go to a mass audience who might like that type of music IF they were exposed to it but would never go looking for this type of music because they don't know it exists because they listen to mainstream channels of media.
Last.Fm in particular has more genres of music available on it than a few of the Biggest record companies EVER put out. It has literally millions of subscribers from most of the countries in the world. And you can use it free.
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Permalink Reply by Will Withem on
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I am an instigator. I had a conversation with a friend the other day, that was one of his points.
According to the patent office "everything has been invented" in 1875. Good thing we didn't believe them.
Music is much the same. I'm glad music didn't stop in the 80's. We would have been screwed.
I'm not sure about Matt's "Kelly Clarkson" fixation. But to each his own.
Ming The Merciless said:Will Withem said:Great start. And contrary to your thought I want to read this.
Great radio stations are few and far between. A station called wwcd101 in columbus ohio remains one of my favorites. It is independently owned. Check them out online if you get a minute.
Keep going with the list.
Another reason music sucks, is that its all been done.
I sorta reject that idea that it's all been done before. There's beauty in variation and each person's voice/personality in their songwriting makes it exciting for me personally even over a simple chord progression of D - C - G - D.
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Permalink Reply by Daryll Collins on -
1) There is still great music being made today, you just have to use different channels to get to it. That being said, technology has allowed a lot more people to enter the recording arena than ever before. There is a lot of mediocrity to wade through to get to the good stuff. That's one of the reasons this site is so great.
2) Forget about radio. Although I do miss the days of listening to the Top 40 format where you would have the latest Beatles single, followed by Sly & The Family Stone and then CCR or The 1910 Fruitgum Company. Such variety! Everything is so specifically fragmented today.
3) This generation has grown up controlling the music they listen to with the easy availability of personal listening devices. They define their tastes and don't worry about giving something a little different a chance. They don't have to! I find a "sameness" to a lot of new band's material partially because of this.
3) I think there was much more variety and diversity among rock musicians of the 60's and 70's because these musicians/songwriters didn't always have control of what music they listened to. The music that shaped their songwriting vocabulary. Their parents decided what music was played in the car or on the stereo console in the living room.
I was exposed to The Ink Spots, The Mills Brothers, Sinatra, Boots Randolph, Buck Owens, Showtunes, you name it. Artists I would have never listened to of my own volition. It makes you a more well rounded consumer and creator of music.
I have more to say, but that's enough for now!
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Permalink Reply by Daryll Collins on
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Also consider that the generation that is making it's way in pop/rock music scene today had part of the soundtrack to their life the background music of hours and hours of video game playing. "Beep, blerp, buzz, beep, blerp, buzz," over and over and over again. Not the best fuel to build a songwriting career on!
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Permalink Reply by Mr. In Between on
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Let's say the radio was in a condition that would be acceptable to us - let's we turned it around 3 months ago - would that medium be a viable option or has radio gone the way of the Edsel?
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Permalink Reply by Mr. In Between on
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Daryll Collins said:Also consider that the generation that is making it's way in pop/rock music scene today had part of the soundtrack to their life the background music of hours and hours of video game playing. "Beep, blerp, buzz, beep, blerp, buzz," over and over and over again. Not the best fuel to build a songwriting career on!
I think the kids entering the pop/rock music scene of today had more advanced video games and made real sounds instead of the "Beep, blerp, buzz, beep, blerp, buzz" of the late 70's & 80's games.
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Permalink Reply by Daryll Collins on
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True, I guess I was just trying to emphasize the lack of variety in musical influences as compared to baby boomers.
Ming The Merciless said:Daryll Collins said:Also consider that the generation that is making it's way in pop/rock music scene today had part of the soundtrack to their life the background music of hours and hours of video game playing. "Beep, blerp, buzz, beep, blerp, buzz," over and over and over again. Not the best fuel to build a songwriting career on!
I think the kids entering the pop/rock music scene of today had more advanced video games and made real sounds instead of the "Beep, blerp, buzz, beep, blerp, buzz" of the late 70's & 80's games.
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