"The Way The Music Died"

Dan

Dan

Audioholic Chief
The PBS show "Frontline" is airing a show tonight (May 27) about the decline of the music industry. Their analysis of issues in the past is often quite accurate and interesting based on the subjects where I had detailed knowledge. I am interested to see what they have to say and what others who see the show have for reaction.
 
S

stiletto pat

Audioholic
PBS Program

Dan, will this air again soon? I am quite interested, since I too, feel that the music industry has completely sold out to dumbed down interests.....

Pat

PS... Write you back, later...
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
I can't remember the last time I bought any new releases because of sheer garbage that they put on cds these days. It really is ain't what they used to be. If you want good music, you almost have to follow a cult like Phish or something similar. Who would have thought "I did it again" by Biteme Spears went platium? I remember watching the movie "School of Rock" and it reminds me of how much i missed those days when it's just all about the music.

-TT
 
Dan

Dan

Audioholic Chief
Unregistered, I think that there is some good stuff out there which is new. It's just SO hard to find. It's one reason I'm on this site- to find out about other obscure stuff that people who really care know about and share mine.

Well I thought the show pulled its punches. I was waiting for a grand sweeping conclusion or indictment as harsh as what you can read on this site but no dice. They did place the blame as follows:

1. The advent of the CD created a temporary and artificial increase in sales as people replaced their vinyl. This prompted large corporations to buy all the little companies and now five fully dominate the market.They are only interested in bottoms lines in contrast to the old small company types who typically loved the music (e.*. Ertegun at Atlantic).

2. The same thing happened in radio homogenizing music across the country.

3. A relative dry spell of major new talent.

4. MTV made the image more important than the music. Hence Britney. (Best line on the show was David Crosby "Britney is as deep as a birdbath!)

5. Internet downloads hurt sales and helped encourage albums with one or two hits and the rest filler.

I think they missed a lot but it was only an hour long. For instance, how about the excessive price of CDs, the poor quality of the recordings, or that ungodly sums of money are given to stars past their prime (Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey).

There are interviews on the PBS website for those who missed it. A DVD or video is available but I hesitate to recommend buying a TV show at the price they asked. I don't know when it will be on again but PBS often repeats things.
 
S

stiletto pat

Audioholic
PBS Show

Dan,

Thanks for the synopsis. I tend to agree with their conclusions, and of course, for them to come right out and damn the industry for putting out the type of drivel we mainly see today, they would have to express an opinion - something journalists are supposed to avoid, unless they are bashing republicans.... :D

Anyway, I listedned to your Mapleshade disc and was amazed at the clarity of the recording. I can't honestly say that I enjoyed every track, but then, who does. However, the sonic clarify and quality was impressive, and I respect the risk taking with different and fresh genres of music. Thank you very much. ;)

I'll try and write soon... Work has been a real bummer lately.... :mad:

Pat
 
T

TT-

Audioholic Intern
Dan said:
Unregistered, I think that there is some good stuff out there which is new. It's just SO hard to find. It's one reason I'm on this site- to find out about other obscure stuff that people who really care know about and share mine.

Well I thought the show pulled its punches. I was waiting for a grand sweeping conclusion or indictment as harsh as what you can read on this site but no dice. They did place the blame as follows:

1. The advent of the CD created a temporary and artificial increase in sales as people replaced their vinyl. This prompted large corporations to buy all the little companies and now five fully dominate the market.They are only interested in bottoms lines in contrast to the old small company types who typically loved the music (e.*. Ertegun at Atlantic).

2. The same thing happened in radio homogenizing music across the country.

3. A relative dry spell of major new talent.

4. MTV made the image more important than the music. Hence Britney. (Best line on the show was David Crosby "Britney is as deep as a birdbath!)

5. Internet downloads hurt sales and helped encourage albums with one or two hits and the rest filler.

I think they missed a lot but it was only an hour long. For instance, how about the excessive price of CDs, the poor quality of the recordings, or that ungodly sums of money are given to stars past their prime (Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey).

There are interviews on the PBS website for those who missed it. A DVD or video is available but I hesitate to recommend buying a TV show at the price they asked. I don't know when it will be on again but PBS often repeats things.
Heh.. I forgot to login. I thought I was at my home PC. Anyway, I find myself went back to old stuffs (jazz, classic rock, grunge, etc) and listen attentively. I started collect many forms of jazz and loving it. I used to have a co-worker that I can swap music with and he got me hook on couple of hip-hop groups like Jurassic 5 and Blazzing Arrow.

When Santana releases crap like Shaman, I think the whole industry is all about imitation and less of everything else. Supernatural was okay and offer somewhat a new breath of air, but it still falls flat in terms of quality. At any rate, I ranted enough.
 
W

Westrock2000

Junior Audioholic
I guess the thing that really irks me about the current state of the Audio Industry is the blatent lack of song writers/singers.

I know song writers have always been behind the scenes, but at least then I thought the singer was actually singing something special. But now reading through articles and watching shows that show stuff like "Heres So and So, responsible for Norah Jones latest platinum selling hit, as well as Britneys Spears last 25 chart topping hits"...so to me its like the music looses any meaning knowing that the "singers" are just that.

And then we have American Idol, which blatently says "These poeple know nothing about music, but their gonna sell albums anyways". I mean I listen to Clay Aiken and that other guys songs on Amazon.com and you can just hear the lack of emotion. I mean there dynamic and sound good, but its like a sales guy reciting the info in the product literature rather than almost drooling all over himself because he's so passionate about the product.

I don't really like remakes or covers, and that basically what I feel the audio industry has reverted to, poeple just singing songs to make money.

Also <popular> music has changed. In the 60's bands discovered that you could make really cool noise with stuff. It was like musicians were like "Hey dude, did you know this stuff makes noise?...Hell ya, check this out" and we start to see creativity of the music. In the 70's artists started experimenting with electronics, but still were able to do some crazy stuff with simple guitar and drums (anyone remember Do You Feel Like We Do, Kashmir, No More Tears??). The music was just as important as the lyrics. In the 80's artists moved heavily towards "new" sounds. The Cure, Depeche Mode, bands like these pioneered fresh sounds, and the music was more important than the lyrics. But bands also progressed with the guitar (Tears For Fears, Rush, Pschycidellic Furs) The 80's was truly creative thinking in my mind. In the 90's simplicity came back with more and more guitar and drum music. But artists still blended the music with the lyrics, even though they had a message, they still took time to write music. But then as the 90's began to near end, its as if the music just faded away. Suddenly anyone and a computer it seemed could make music. "Garage Bands" were all the rave. Artists also started making music that was more based on the lyrics and their ability to be funny or shocking or just plain wacked. Now, listening to music, I just don't hear it. I hear a filler used to connect one set of lyrics to another. Add the previous rant about the the lack of singers/writes, and the constant whinning of the RIAA, and I could just care less about most bands nowadays.

However I still have faith in music, as it has survived for ever. I recently discovered the Polyphonic Spree and they look to be very promising, reflecting the older days of music making. Maybe all the possible music combinations have been done, so theres nothing new left :D
 
W

Westrock2000

Junior Audioholic
TT- said:
I used to have a co-worker that I can swap music with and he got me hook on couple of hip-hop groups like Jurassic 5 and Blazzing Arrow.
And this is exactly why I think the RIAA is crazy. This the best way of discovering music. I mean the radio only plays so much stuff. If you want to discover the other 95% of the music out there, your gonna have to "steal" a little. I mean how else would I hear about someone like Vangelis or Kitaro, or even Goerge Michaels last couple albums?

I mean no one <or I could be totally wrong here :( > is going to go into a random car dealership and say "I'll take that one", without even talking to someone or haveing some type of previous experience. But then to buy a car like that and come back and say "You know what I drove it down the block, and sure it looked nice, but the suspension was crap, the engine lagged, and the A/C smelled like death....I'd like to try a different car", and the salesmen say "I'm sorry once you buy it we cannot take it back becuase you have experienced it now"....I mean thats just bad practice.


The Record Industry: The only industry with guranteed sales, a zero customer satisfaction policy, and ability to tax poeple for "possibilties".
 
Dan said:
5. Internet downloads hurt sales and helped encourage albums with one or two hits and the rest filler.
Can you go into more detail on this one. I thought that Internet downloads were responsible for destroying the concept of the 1 or 2 hit only albums. Ultimately, this is why I think the RIAA has resisted. If they can't sell a $15 disc with only 20% of real content, then they are stuck with having to actually produce more talent and rethink their business model.
 
R

ruadmaa

Banned
Albums loaded with "filler"

Folks, releasing albums with only 1 or 2 good songs is nothing new. Back in the 60's/70's I bought many, many albums all of which I still have (several hundred) and I can tell you that even back then most albums had very few good new songs on them and the rest filler. That is why I took up buying 45 RPM singles. At the time I was very bitter and figured that they couldn't figure out any way to screw me when I bought just the hit single. I also have several hundred 45's in my collection for just that reason. Taking people to market is nothing new in the music industry.

Incidentally, I wouldn't be too critical of the musical knowledge of todays artists. Elvis Presley is quoted as saying that "you don't have to know anything about music to be in this business".
 
W

Westrock2000

Junior Audioholic
Yes, but if the quality of that one song is good, then it is worth it. If your "one hit" is still played frequently on the radio 10-20 years or more later, then it made its impact on life.

But I still stand by the fact that the style of todays music is what sucks. Look at how super huge Savage Garden was in the late 90's/early 00's. And yet to me their music is solid 80's influenced music, and <surprise> it was amazingly successful.
 
Dan

Dan

Audioholic Chief
Hawke and others,

The premise behind point number 5 applies to the masses most interested in only the hits. "They" feel that if there are only one or two songs they actually want on the album why should they have to pay $15 for the rest of the album. This is used as a justification for downloading individual songs. The marginal talent of the current crop of the most popular artists helped fuel this since there is a lot of filler on their albums. I think it became something of a vicious cycle promoting downloading and causing lost sales. This has resulted in even fewer artists able to crack the popular charts due to an increasinly narrow focus by the record companies in order to sustain profits.

I'm not sure the record companies have the imagination to rethink the model. The record companies have never revived the industry themselves. In previous times when the industry was moribund (e.*. mid 50s early 60s) acts like Elvis and the Beatles saved popular music and thoroughly invigorated the whole industry. In the early 80s engineers pulled off a save of sorts by introducing the CD which made for a sharp spike in sales. I don't see the second coming of Elvis anytime soon. I also don't think the newer technologies will do to CDs what CDs did to vinyl anytime soon either.
 
T

TT-

Audioholic Intern
Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and a lot of other well-known group rarely/never release any single and their album is end-to-end satisfying. Today's music is all about 1 hit wonder (or maybe 2). Oh well, I guess it helps VH1 with their 1 hit wonder show.
 

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