The Declining Music Industry

[biggsy]

I'm sure everybody here agrees that the music industry in large is in decline right now in terms of quality of music. I was thinking about this today and I'm interested to read peoples opinions on why this is happening. My main thought is the increased business side of music these days, where record companies discourage experimenting with music, and encourage their artists to follow the trends. In my mind this leads to stagnantation of musical thoughts and ideas leading to the same thing being made over and over. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[Liquid Tension]

Since there are new and cheaper methods of making quality recordings I find that this is a great time to get new experimental music so I'm in disagreement with you about a decline....

There is no denying that this also allows for the things that you brought up to happen but with the use of these computers you can find and get much more of the obscure or limited stuff that was impossible years ago...

 

[biggsy]

Valid points. But I mean, and I should have specified, the mainstream scene, where the same music is being written again and again. If you asked the average person on the street what they listen to, they'd say 'the radio', and where I come from, the main stuff on the radio is Shakira, Beyonce and The Black Eyed Peas. Whereas years ago you'd have Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Heart, The Beatles and all these other bands that were pushing the boundaries of music. Compared to days gone past, the quality of mainstream music is disgraceful.

 

[vampyrouss]

At the moment its better than ever. Bands like Opeth get exposure now, whereas the bad bland music you refer to has always gotten way too much exposure.

I can only see this as a good thing?

Bad music has always gotten good exposure, and always will.
Good music is just finally catching up. That isn't a decline in my opinion.

It is in decline in other ways, like dropping record sales, and the rise of self published bands getting exposure from the internet...

Basically the quality is exactly the same as any time in history. The ratio of good and bad music is probably the same as always too.

Also, although I don't like those bands you mentioned like Black Sabbath etc... they no doubt have helped get good music to where it is today, because of record labels and radio stations taking a chance on them.

 

[Deadlift]

So to sum up your thoughts. Mainstream music sucks today and it sounds all the same.


I think the community we have today with an internet globalization makes the music industry much wider and more exprimental than ever before. Today a larger group o people can make themself heard very fast and widespread. For me all this is almost only positive.

 

[biggsy]

Maybe it's just where I live but I can hear metal on the radio 4 hours a week and that's it. The metal stands at my local CD stores consist of Ill Nino, Disturbed and Motley Crue. I'm virtually forced to buy all my music through eBay or other online stores. The exposure for Opeth where I am is terrible. If I asked a local what's the heaviest band they'd ever heard they'd probably say Korn or Slipknot. So I disagree about the exposure. I do agree it's easy to find them on the internet, it's just that you'd have to be looking for the band you want. i've had so many bands add me as friends on Myspace and I've heard a lot of good things about bands on forums like this one, yet 90% of it is crap. You have to really look for the quality stuff, whereas Led Zep and The Beatles were served on a platter to my parents and possibly osme of the older members here.

 

[Liquid Tension]

The majority of people I know listen to sirius radio so they are getting their fill of the less comercial stuff.....

It's happening more and more that someone will come up and tell me that they heard some of the bands that I promoted to them on sirius....

You're right about the 70's music on the radio (I was old enough to be buying albums) but that stopped in the 80's so to me this decade is no different.....

 

[Powers]

There's a popular misconception here, that the better acts during the 60's and 70's (with possibly the exception of the likes of the Beatles) were automattically popular. Bands we remember from that era, Zeppelin, Sabbath etc are massive bands, but there was just as much crap on the radio than as now. So why are those bands remembered and crap isn't?

Beacause people who loved those bands were real music lover, proper audiophiles, who carried on buying thier album's long after the frankly not as good artists, ceased getting air time. Not the kind of people who "listen to the radio".

Consider the number of bands who were in the charts 60-79 and the number of those bands who are actually remembered? About less than 1%?

Good music is remebered shit music isn't, you think that the 60s and 70s music was better because the music from that era, that people still listen to, was really good.

Don't berate me, because I know there's exceptions to the rule. Overall though, I'm right.

 

[Death_To_False_Metal]

I fucking love when people try to intelectualize this kind of shit.

Yeah, things were way cooler back in the day ... mmmmh ... NO !

THere are literaly hundreads of new albums released each month, so regarding experimentation, I think you can find in any genre very intersting things in the underground.

Regarding quality, it is another debate and people who complain about the quality of today's music should stop whining and starting writing their Led Zep IV or Still Life ...

But in an era when you can have Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Muse, Tool, Dream Theater, Nile flourish etc, I think we are fortunate .

And do I have to remind you that the Beatles were launched excactly like the Spice Girls or the BAckstreet Boys as a boy band.
They were forced to wear their stupid outfits and their stupid gay ass haircuts by their manager.

Peter Grant, the manager of Led Zeppelin only goal in life was to make money.

 

[biggsy]

Fair enough then, maybe it's just my locale that this is happening. And Christ I hope people don't remember anything from the present day radio in 30-40 years time!

 

[biggsy]

I fucking love when people try to intelectualize this kind of shit.

I'm asking opinions, not 'intellectualizing'...


THere are literaly hundreads of new albums released each month, so regarding experimentation, I think you can find in any genre very intersting things in the underground.

Regarding quality, it is another debate and people who complain about the quality of today's music should stop whining and starting writing their Led Zep IV or Still Life ...

I love it when people refer to the "If you don't like it, write better music yourself" argument. Professional musicians release their music and put it forward for criticisms. It's a part of life.

But in an era when you can have Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Muse, Tool, Dream Theater, Nile flourish etc, I think we are fortunate .

.

And do I have to remind you that the Beatles were launched excactly like the Spice Girls or the BAckstreet Boys as a boy band.
They were forced to wear their stupid outfits and their stupid gay ass haircuts by their manager.

Peter Grant, the manager of Led Zeppelin only goal in life was to make money.

But they made good music. Managers of today are no different, except that they don't like it when their mainstream artists try to experiment because it's not a 'safe' option.

 

[Powers]

I hope a hell of a lot of bands are remembered in 30 to 40 years, on the other hand the number of bands I hope are remebered is probably less than a percent of the music that's actaully around today.

Still like I say 9 times out of 10, good music is remembered, shit isn't.

 

[biggsy]

By 'present day radio' I mean all Britney Spears, Fergie, Kylie Minogue etc. I'm still not used to the thought that other peoples radio has good music on it!

 

[Powers]

I know what you mean, but on the otherhand every now and then Radio1 does play a little Radiohead, Muse or the like, but like I say it's about 1% of the music they play. They play a lot of dance music and R&B, R&B I can't really get into, but as for dance when they play the likes of Dave Guetta vs The Egg's "Don't Let Me Go" that's pretty cool. I'm sure they've played Pendulum before.

 

[biggsy]

You're lucky... my local radio station has a vendetta against good music. The best song I've ever heard on there was Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls!

However there is another station that plays old time stuff, going back to the 50's and that's fairly cool

 

[Powers]

It's different DJ's a lot of the time, Jo Wiley may be an annoying bitch on radio but she knows some good music, of course, she only gets the chance to play it every now and then. I'm pretty much sure radio playlists would be much better if DJ's were just allowed to play what they liked. The way things are they have to appeal to the most number of people, and the most number of people prefer generic, rehashed, disposable rubbish. Radio stations for real music lovers are hard to find, because people prefer to just listen to something with a "good beat", than something which maybe pushes boundaries a little further. So bare in mind DJs have to play crap because people like crap, and stations have to make ratings.

 

[biggsy]

Yeah I know, stations are there to make a profit. Pity though.

 

[Powers]

What about the likes of The White Stripes of Raconteurs?

 

[biggsy]

I have no idea what/who that/they are...

 

[Powers]

The White Stripes????

The Raconteurs is Jack White's new band, I haven't heard much by them but what I have kicks the arse off the likes of the Fratellis and Futureheads, who are supposed to be "guitar bands". Besides the White Stripes, considering how popular they are, were pretty damned avante garde.

edit: that of should have been an or.

Whoops.