What happened to music?

POSTED BY: kaneman
UPDATED: Saturday, September 5, 2026 17:18
VIEWED: 28076
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KANEMAN

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 3:45 PM

Came across this. It plays a clip of America's #1 hits starting in 1956 thru 2007 6 minutes long. I personally like the later stuff, however I get the point. Any thoughts?

SICKDUDE

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 5:21 PM

Can't do youtube at work, but this very topic is something I have been thinking about a lot recently.

Seems like the music and radio industries have had each other caught up in a death spiral for several years now. Music is promoted on radio, and conversely radio can only play what music is being made.

The music industry makes and promotes music of a few narrowly defined genres, and insists that its stars be young, charismatic, and live the rock-n-roll lifestyle. Less and less emphasis is placed on songwriting ability and voice talent. Further, if a musician is not the demographic they are looking for, they don't do the album. Lastly, the main fault of the music industry is price. It is just ridiculous that you can buy a movie on DVD cheaper than you can buy the soundtrack. I understand it takes about $0.10 to make a CD, and about $1.00 to make a DVD. Seeing as how the case and packaging can't be that much (maybe $.20) if there is a printing of at least 10,000 copies, why is it a CD from the store cost $14.00?!? Especially when a DVD only cost $7-15? Even with the artist getting a royalty, a CD should only be about $4-5. The music industry likes to complain about declining sales and piracy, but there would be a lot less of both if music were more of an impulse buy.

Meanwhile, the radio industry has been slowly digging its own grave for decades now. Marketing and programmed playlists kill creativity, enthusiasm, and variety. I was just listening to a report on NPR the other day where the subject was saying that basically Rock grew when FM stations were just starting out. With no one listening to them, the DJs were able to play whatever they liked, which happened to be early Rock (they mentioned Sgt Pepper specifically). It turns out there is still quite a bit of good music being made, but without exposure, the general populace never hears it, and it never catches on. Thus, radio is left with the same tired playlist year after year. Our local NPR just started a new station (89.3 the Current) last year that plays a huge variety of obscure rock aimed at youth. It often sounds like a university radio station, but for the first time in a long time, I have been discovering new music that I like. More radio stations should have an open playlist like this (and not just lip service saying that they do). They might find their audience growing instead of loosing people to XMRadio, ipods, etc.

Rant over. For now.

"I am your father, Luke. Give in to the Dark Side, you nob!" - Doug McKenzie

SAVEWASH

Thursday, June 7, 2007 12:37 AM

Oh, I couldn't agree with you more! I'm so tired of hearing the same 10-12 songs over and over instead of something new and original. When will they get a clue???

My rant's over, too.

"We need to keep our heads so we can ... keep our heads."

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Thursday, June 7, 2007 12:48 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by kaneman:
Came across this. It plays a clip of America's #1 hits starting in 1956 thru 2007 6 minutes long. I personally like the later stuff, however I get the point. Any thoughts?

Hey, you’re preaching to the choir (

). I’ve always thought that recent popular music has taken a huge dive for the worst, largely because of rap. I don’t even listen to the radio anymore, because there’s nothing but crap on. Neither MTV nor VH1 actually play music videos anymore, because all they have to play is crap.

Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.

Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.

-- Cicero

SIGMANUNKI

Thursday, June 7, 2007 1:18 AM

Looks like things went down the crapper in the mid 90's.

IMO, things went down hill when people started to let computers make the music for them instead of playing the instruments themselves

----
I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

MISSTRESSAHARA

Thursday, June 7, 2007 2:46 AM

Good observation Kaneman. I agree with rap, it's like nails on a chalkboard. In the early 90's when rap was combined with dance music it was actually playable because instead of this monotone that most rappers these days use, they actually used different levels of tone, as close to singing as rappers can get, then something happened and suddenly rap was only cool if it was gansta and or dealt with bikin clad woman bumping and grinding all over them.

Even rock stations have gotten into the grind of playing top 10 lists, but fortunately for me I've found 2 stations that play quite alternative and different music (that top 40 stations only hear about months or years later) and because of these stations I've discovered a whole new realm of music. But even then I end up flipping through stations because on rare occasions all of them play songs or bands I hate. Thankfully I have a lot of songs on my computer that I can listen to on my headphones (which I am at the moment actually doing )

Remember when it was about music? wWhen MTV only had a few video's in it's vaults and played them over and over again and even then the video's were only secondary to the song? Remember when the only time you'd ever see a singer is in concert? When the music industry was just a means of getting songs out there and not the megamonster corporations they've become?

When does the revolution start?

Just a note: They're worried about piracy, I thought they WERE the pirates. Only way to explain their charging so much money for a cd that at most have a few good songs.

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STORYMARK

Thursday, June 7, 2007 3:07 AM

You guys are making yourselves sound very old.

Everyone thinks music was great when they were young, and the new stuff is crap.

Next, you'll be chasing kids off your lawn.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

TRAVELER

Thursday, June 7, 2007 3:09 AM

I really have not bought much music lately. I find I listen to most anything made from the 50's to the 80's. Also listen to some Rythum and Blues, which is not far removed from Rock.

They seemed to cover a lot in six minutes. I would have done a few changes, but they seemed to have covered about every style of Rock and Roll plus some POP thrown in. So as they used to say on American Band Stand. I give it only a 75. You can't dance to it.

I was surprised there was so much Rap at the end. Is it that popular? I would have thought there would be other styles of Rock out there at this time.

Traveler

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Thursday, June 7, 2007 3:10 AM

Damn kids and their rock music.

Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.

Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.

-- Cicero

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Thursday, June 7, 2007 3:17 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by traveler:
I was surprised there was so much Rap at the end. Is it that popular? I would have thought there would be other styles of Rock out there at this time.

Is it that popular? It’s pretty much consumed the music industry like some kind of blinging, daddymacking, dusta-rhymin influenza. Of course, it’s not like I’m surprised. Any idiot with a pissed off look and a limp can do it.

Personally, I like actual music in my music. I think Billy Joel was probably the last true great musician.

Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.

Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.

-- Cicero

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