Music industry today

[purustotle]

Hey all,

I've been wondering about the music today we see and hear on MTV and everything. Often people criticize large majority of modern music being mass-produced and emotionless. Personally I'm more of a classic rock/hard rock fan, but occasionally I come by something new that I still find interesting.

So, my question is, what do you think of the music today? Do you think new bands still manage to bring something original to the scenes?

Thanks

 

[kev]

I think a lot of bands still continue to bring something new to the industry
Listen to a few songs by Glasvegas...emotion dripping out of every track.

I love all types of music. Got Darren Styles blasting out of my PC as we speak :hehe:

 

[holyroller]

I also think new bands bring something to the whole music scene.

When you look back at music you often only remember the really good stuff as well, how many rubbish bands came onto the scene in the 70's 80's 90's etc.. and how many of these do you remember.

I have some compilation albums from the 80's and when I look back, there is so many terrible records on these its hard to believe (at the time they seemed good :lol

 

[DebX420]

Bands like Insane Clown Posse and Twiztid, in my opinion, have revolutionized the music world! They brought something so new and unlike no other to the table.

But all of these rappers, like 50 cent, ludacris, etc. are the same thing with a different name - BORING!

 

[Jasonn]

There is still plenty of good stuff out there, you just won't hear it on mainstream radio or mtv. Music has become such big business, its all about marketing. However, there are lots of great bands, artists out there working hard, touring on smaller labels.

 

[Peter]

Bands like Insane Clown Posse and Twiztid, in my opinion, have revolutionized the music world! They brought something so new and unlike no other to the table.

But all of these rappers, like 50 cent, ludacris, etc. are the same thing with a different name - BORING!

And fans of 50 cent and ludacris probably think the complete opposite.

 

[Gerrit]

I may sound like an oldfashioned frustrated elitist guy (I am actually 27 so I am not old enough to have really fully experienced the glory days of the bands I love like Echo and the Bunnymen, Bauhaus, The Smiths, ...) but very little music nowadays fascinates me while I play the eighties records over and over again.

The thing is... it seems sometimes that everything has been done at some time. I mean, there is just one first first time. One first metal band (Black Sabbath), one first hiphop band (Sugarhill Gang), one first goth band (Bauhaus, although some may claim Joy Division was goth before the term existed), one first ... erm, you get what I mean. That feeling that you follow a band throughout their existance and see a totally new style of music develop, sometimes with its own subculture or movement, that feeling of total excitement is something we will have to miss pretty much. Bands nowadays may be as talented as hell, they are somewhat sounding like some older band usually simply because of the boundaries of music that are not unlimited. You cannot keep on creating new styles of music, and sooner or later every band (regardless of skills) will sound as if they recycle older bands somehow. I regret that I was not a bit older so that I could have at least experienced the excitement of the eighties and the birth of gothic and new wave (my favourite styles of music), that excitement of being part of something totally new must have been superb.

Obviously there is still talent, but when it comes to bands who grew to fame in the last 10 or at least less than 15 years... well, Orphaned Land, Muse, A Perfect Circle, and there it stops for me. The others don't move me like older bands do.

Also, the music industry is heading in the wrong way generally. Talented musicians often stick in the local bar circuit for many many years waiting for a record deal, while their talent remains ignored. Meanwhile a famous face from the Big Brother episodes or from any other type of media hype gets a record deal without ever having proven musicianship talent. It would not astonish me to see this Joe The Plumber guy getting a movie or music deal sooner or later, this would be quite typical for the music industry today and how it reduced music to a product. Another example are those Pop Idol contests, they just create short term hypes and those artists (bar a few exceptions) all disappear in anonimity after a while when the next load of Pop Idols get their short hype. Meanwhile the real talent gets stuck in the local pub circuit ...

Filesharing and illegal downloading is another disease of modern music although I guess the industry is not really the bad guy here. People calling themselves music fans but show no respect for the artist at all by downloading per definition are the cause here. Of course nobody is a saint and everybody downloads the odd track to try a new band now and then, but when you conclude you like the band: buy the damn CD and show some respect to the artist instead of downloading the whole album. To think artists live in wealth and downloading does not harm, is pure nonsense. I know a few professional musicians (none of them have a huge fanbase but they manage to live by making music) and they hardly make anything from releasing records: managers, labels etc take a large part of the profits and those profits are small enough as it is because everyone steals the music from illegal websites nowadays. Maybe the happy few like Madonna, Paul McCartney and Bono live in wealth, but those happy few should be no excuse to ignore the fact that the overwhelming majority of musicians gets a crappy salary compared to the emotional labour they have to invest in making their artwork. In a way it is a very unthankful profession unless all you care about is the fame and glory but even that is an illusion for many artists who have a devote but small fanbase.

I would say the music industry is very sick, maybe not comatose but something must change. The mentality in particular. Music should not be a marketing product, unfortunately this is how it is approached as nowadays...

 

[Mike]

Rock/Hair Bands:
I'm usually along the lines of Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Metallica and so forth.
However, I've made some room for Nickelback, Hinder and such.
Rap/Hip Hop:
In terms of rap, i rather stick with the glory days of the Sugar Hill Gang, some Eminem, etc. The new stuff, 50 cent and friends, doesn't do it for me.
Blues:
One of the areas I haven't paid enough attention to. BB King is certainly a household name, and the "newcomers" are definitely lead by Joe Bonamassa who's on powerplay on the iPod. (Thanks Bill) Little Photo Op Here:

Now, that's pure passion for music!


The music industry has been transformed by Napster. Commercialism has become a much more difficult venture since then. Viral listening as it's done on Myspace, Pandora, etc. are the future. Listen, save, share & recommend.
Only the few bands that have commercial appeal will find open check books at recording labels.
The greats like Santana, Dire Straights, U2, etc. are not "pretty enough". When you look at who's being pushed today, the 50 cents of the world, Hanna Montana, Rhianna, etc. - It's mostly about looks and lots of studio effects.
Try to listen to a Britney Spears when she's forced to actually sing - and have your paper bag ready.

just my .2 cents.

M.

 

[Bill]

Mike, do you still want one of these?

:hehe:

-Bill

 

[Mike]

Mike, do you still want one of these?

:hehe:

-Bill

:lol: thanks Bill. Much appreciated! I have to go now and clean the drool of my keyboard....

M.

 

[holyroller]

Most music has had previous influences, go back over 100 years and there was some great blues artists.

Chuck Berry is partly responsible for Rock n Roll, which paved the way for Rock, Metal, etc..

Lots of new artists put the own style to music and 10 years from now we will see artists who were inspired and influenced by todays musicians.

I would say the music industry is very sick, maybe not comatose but something must change. The mentality in particular. Music should not be a marketing product, unfortunately this is how it is approached as nowadays...

Although I believe the music industry needs to change. Music has been a marketing product for a long time and mass produced bands are nothing new, its just now they broadcast the whole auditioning process.

 

[Peter]

Chuck Berry is partly responsible for Rock n Roll, which paved the way for Rock, Metal, etc..

a lot of metal and rock was more influenced by Blues although yes rock n roll did play a part.

 

[Carlton]

Artistry and musicianship are harder to come by in today's music scene. The commercialization of music almost killed it, as well as MTV. The music industry started to actually manufacture pop stars on a large scale in the 1990's. The real talent were the songwriters who lived and wrote in relative obscurity.

The biggest no talent of all time to reach pinnacles of "commercial success" was Madonna. Mind-blowing lack of musical talent that was perfectly packaged, marketed and who gyrated her way to the top. This was the epitome of style over substance, image over talent. Madonna literally could not carry a tune in a bucket. That was close to the beginning of the end. Take someone like Pat Benatar, Chrissie Hynde, or Amanda Marshall. Those are true musicians and songwriters.

There are some great artists around today but it becomes more difficult over time to be original. As stated already, most bands sound derivative of earlier bands so it takes time to break out into a new direction. There is very little need for the old "music industry". Digital download is the distribution channel. Most musicians have home recording studios. Mass promotion is the only remaining need of most bands --> major exposure is the key for breaking out. Bands banging out a meager living in local clubs will get nowhere. That is only a small part of making it especially in the early going.

Songwriting (high quality original songs) and widespread internet exposure are the best launch vehicle. Once you have worthwhile material (breakout songs), then hitting the clubs might be a next step as you build a regional following. Playing out in bars works directly against songwriting. It saps your time, money, and energy ... mostly time. And you need considerable stretches of time to create memorable, breakout songs that truly shine. You have almost no chance of being "discovered" unless you are playing very hot venues in NY, LA, or Nashville. Inside track and connections take time to build and a band may get one serious look. That's why it is criticial to have the best songs honed and ready to go. A&R at major labels are close to non-existent these days. So one must be polished in most every way before approaching them. The competition is incredible.

If I were 25 years old today and had a dream of being successful in music, I would not consider the traditional record label route at all. Focus all your energy into songwriting and marketing on the internet. A catalog of quality original music.