So after our gig last night with my Outlaw Country band, the BL who is really amped up after any show, says what we gotta do is merge rap, house, disco, soul and Michael Jackson into some of our country rock songs. I am not a purist and my music interests are very diverse, but I'm a little slow on the uptake to understand what s young audience really reacts to. Anyway, this should get interesting.
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One thing people seem to forget is that there is more music being released now than ever before. If you can't find new music that you like, you clearly aren't trying hard enough 
Ric5
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- Jan 29, 2008
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Your input here is essential!!!!!
I started playing music in the 70s. Every decade both music and the industry have changed. This past decade I think it's changed the most. I'm not sure all the ways it has, but some of that change can be depressing - so I thought I'd start a thread where we might collectively be able to identify what's different, what sucks, what's great, and how we might be able to embrace it all.
I'll start with what's bugging me most. While I don't believe R&R is yet dead, it definitely moved to Florida. And its on life support. I work in a HS, and I'm gigging more than I ever have in my life to big crowds of people in their 20s and 30s. I don't see anybody anymore that's into R&R, wants to play guitar or bass, or is even the least bit interested in what the band is doing when we're performing. And we're good. There are no Led Zeppelin or Van Halens any more, no STP, no Greenday. There are no more rockstars. Nothing to inspire kids to pick up a guitar. All the best clubs in NYC are gone and forgotten. Carvin is closing (or closed). GC is rumored to be struggling. OK, I'm bumming myself out...
The good news is it's prime time to reinvent music. The Beatles did what they did in the 60s - somebody (maybe you or me) has their work cut out for them come the 20s! I always wondered what it would be like being the first person to become a pop star in his 70s or 80s
Bottom line, there is lots for us to keep our heads up about. I'd love to get a discussion going. Dump yer garbage and complaints, and tell us what's great about it all too.
In the 60s the Beatles got screwed by the record companies, managers, and a 90% tax system ... they generated a big cash flow and actually got about one penny for every $1000 in sales. Back then the artist would tour to promote the record. But now all recordings are downloaded and stolen, now the recordings are used to promote the live performances. But with this system you don't get any new good bands coming up and breaking through. The path to financial success is even harder now.
So the more things change the more they stay the same. Playing music is not a good path to prosperity for 99.9% of musicians.
The era of the music label as a centralized entity controlling rock music releases is over. MP3s and high-speed internet made sure of that, for better or worse. There is good music being made still, distributed differently and promoted differently. I don't mind the way this underground operates, I just get my music from Bandcamp instead of buying CDs.
I'm personally not much for going to live shows, but I can see how there is a lack of a young rock audience, I do try to expose those that I can to a wide variety of music so more informed choices are possible.
I'm personally not much for going to live shows, but I can see how there is a lack of a young rock audience, I do try to expose those that I can to a wide variety of music so more informed choices are possible.
madbass6
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Your input here is essential!!!!!
I started playing music in the 70s. Every decade both music and the industry have changed. This past decade I think it's changed the most. I'm not sure all the ways it has, but some of that change can be depressing - so I thought I'd start a thread where we might collectively be able to identify what's different, what sucks, what's great, and how we might be able to embrace it all.
I'll start with what's bugging me most. While I don't believe R&R is yet dead, it definitely moved to Florida. And its on life support. I work in a HS, and I'm gigging more than I ever have in my life to big crowds of people in their 20s and 30s. I don't see anybody anymore that's into R&R, wants to play guitar or bass, or is even the least bit interested in what the band is doing when we're performing. And we're good. There are no Led Zeppelin or Van Halens any more, no STP, no Greenday. There are no more rockstars. Nothing to inspire kids to pick up a guitar. All the best clubs in NYC are gone and forgotten. Carvin is closing (or closed). GC is rumored to be struggling. OK, I'm bumming myself out...
The good news is it's prime time to reinvent music. The Beatles did what they did in the 60s - somebody (maybe you or me) has their work cut out for them come the 20s! I always wondered what it would be like being the first person to become a pop star in his 70s or 80s
Bottom line, there is lots for us to keep our heads up about. I'd love to get a discussion going. Dump yer garbage and complaints, and tell us what's great about it all too.
Unfortunately times change! like it or not us musicians must keep up with the changes in order to survive!
It does suck ! but it is what it is !
(the sh×ty reality!) no matter our age we must learn to adjust and accept! like the saying goes, can't beat them join them!
What a coincidence. I was watching Austin City Limits last night with The Pretenders and at the end of the performance they have a short interview with Chrissie. During the interview she talks somewhat around this subject. Kind of what it was, the changing atmosphere and what's to come. She thinks that there will be an underground emergence of bands. Here is the entire interview and she starts addressing this subject at around the 3:35 mark. From there throughout the rest of the interview are a few words that lend themselves to this specific topic. This is currently showing on PBS if you would like to watch the concert.
Adult language content . . .
Adult language content . . .
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I view rock music as a genre similar to the way I view blues, but with a larger audience. There are still a lot of good new blues and rock being played, but the "salad days" of both genres are long gone. Cover bands in both genres typically play standards that are usually decades old and well known. Gigs (from what I read on TB) are scarcer in most areas-especially good paying gigs.
Positive aspects are out there. It is easier and cheaper than ever to record and distribute music, which benefits original bands/artists. The variety of music available to fans is unprecedented and easy to access as well. I can find something new that I like by surfing youtube for a little while. In the old days a friend would have to make me a mixtape or I would have to take a chance on a record/catch a band live. Commercial radio's tendency to be VERY conservative in what they play no longer matters to me because there are so many other options for hearing music.
Positive aspects are out there. It is easier and cheaper than ever to record and distribute music, which benefits original bands/artists. The variety of music available to fans is unprecedented and easy to access as well. I can find something new that I like by surfing youtube for a little while. In the old days a friend would have to make me a mixtape or I would have to take a chance on a record/catch a band live. Commercial radio's tendency to be VERY conservative in what they play no longer matters to me because there are so many other options for hearing music.
People have said rock is dead for 30 years. It isn't.
One thing people seem to forget is that there is more music being released now than ever before. If you can't find new music that you like, you clearly aren't trying hard enough
My daughter goes to shows of bands I have never heard of, and get no radio play. Usually she discovers them as openers for larger acts, etc. So the stuff is out there, and the kids are into it. I have taken her to any number of 300ish capacity crowd shows where the excitement and every that I remember as a kid is still there.
This thread makes me think of the probable mindset of guys who worked in the big bands during the 1940's confronting the New Romantic/Glam Rock era of the 1980's. We are holdovers of an era who's time has come and gone. The music we grew up with will always be loved and enjoyed by someone, but lamenting the loss of musical units like Artie Shaw's and Tommy Dorsey's will not lead to any kind of resurgence or revival. Young people today have their own kind of music, and we're not part of it. The OP seems to think we can somehow still be relevant, but I don't see it myself. We will mostly continue to enjoy our niche (either as players or listeners) until we're gone. I'm not interested in trying to find the next big thing, which I'll probably not like, or catering to what I see as children by trying to force my musical tastes into accepting what people thirty years younger than me like. There's a reason people who were prominent in the '40's didn't figure much in the music of the '80's. It would be cringeworthy to see some old duffer pretending to be part of it. I don't want to be that guy now.
But maybe I'm just misreading the OP's intentions.
But maybe I'm just misreading the OP's intentions.
To me it looks like in the lat 20 years the main stream became the global stream, with a musical language simplified to the bone. The current commercial music is crafted to be consumed easily and rapidly with minimal intellectual effort. As a reaction there is the music nerd niche that develops their own language and musical research work, with a lot of new tech possibilities and its global underground audience elite.
I think Rock’s not completely dead. Maybe you’re not noticing the rock that’s out there. My daughter went to see Imagine Dragons last week so I just asked her about it. They play rock with bass, drums, guitar, keys, vocals. It was full house at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
Good thread - a few other factors that are changing things. For one, live music used to be more accessible. Going to see big-name acts was relatively cheap compared to today's ticket prices. And most local music was free or cheap because bars sold more booze. DUI laws, while a good thing for saving lives, helped kill the live music scene.
I stopped playing in a blues/rock band because the only crowd it would draw was older. Not neccessarily a bad thing (I'm 62) but clearly not a genre that younger folks are interested in. Just started playing in a NewGrass band with a bunch of younger guys; way more fun, with a much younger and generally enthusiastic crowd. We played last night at a local distillery; probably 100-150 people there, mostly 25-35. Many digging the music, but some tables full of young ladies with their heads buried in phones, and taking Instagram selfies of each other. New forms of entertainment are helping kill live interaction.
I stopped playing in a blues/rock band because the only crowd it would draw was older. Not neccessarily a bad thing (I'm 62) but clearly not a genre that younger folks are interested in. Just started playing in a NewGrass band with a bunch of younger guys; way more fun, with a much younger and generally enthusiastic crowd. We played last night at a local distillery; probably 100-150 people there, mostly 25-35. Many digging the music, but some tables full of young ladies with their heads buried in phones, and taking Instagram selfies of each other. New forms of entertainment are helping kill live interaction.
Honestly, I learned bass 10 years ago and just picked it back up in the last year. But the music I make with it wouldn't be possible without today's technology. It is all about opportunities--the invention of the electric bass and the adoption of bass as a lead instrument both lead to radical reorientation of our role, but more possibilities! I see the changing tastes and technologies as a chance to expand.
The rock and roll generation didn't want to listen to their parents' music. There's no point in them trying to insist that the next generation "ought" to listen to rock and roll.
I will comment, my son (I'm 46, he's 18) once said a lot of his friends DID think rock was cool. Maybe it's become more of a retro interest, but there is still a certain fascination with screaming guitars.
I think there's also a phenomenon related to the rise (and durability) of recorded music. Jack White and the Black Keys could rediscover blues, put their own twist on it, and make it cool again. For a while, then people move on to something else. Harry Connick Jr. led a kind of swing-band revival around the early 90s. A lot of bands that are currently hip are channeling 50s and 60s folk music... with technological twists, of course. Bottom line, so much of current music is really about reviving and appropriating past genres. I don't think rock and roll is going to "die." It has already lost most of its prominence as the dominant force in popular music, but it will always be around and will likely have its periodic revivals in new and creative forms.
The other thing, much commented on, is that the internet has fragmented music markets. That means that there are no more "rock stars," since there's no central vantage point to dominate the market from. But the flip side is that it's a lot easier to get your music out than it used to be and find a niche audience.
I will comment, my son (I'm 46, he's 18) once said a lot of his friends DID think rock was cool. Maybe it's become more of a retro interest, but there is still a certain fascination with screaming guitars.
I think there's also a phenomenon related to the rise (and durability) of recorded music. Jack White and the Black Keys could rediscover blues, put their own twist on it, and make it cool again. For a while, then people move on to something else. Harry Connick Jr. led a kind of swing-band revival around the early 90s. A lot of bands that are currently hip are channeling 50s and 60s folk music... with technological twists, of course. Bottom line, so much of current music is really about reviving and appropriating past genres. I don't think rock and roll is going to "die." It has already lost most of its prominence as the dominant force in popular music, but it will always be around and will likely have its periodic revivals in new and creative forms.
The other thing, much commented on, is that the internet has fragmented music markets. That means that there are no more "rock stars," since there's no central vantage point to dominate the market from. But the flip side is that it's a lot easier to get your music out than it used to be and find a niche audience.
Rock as pop music like it was in the 80’s is definitely dead. It’s a fact. Read the Billboard top 100. None there. Rock is still alive but very underground.
you must not live in l.a. my parents bought house for $32,300 in 1970, the house next door same size in good condition just sold for $1,600,000
And, this guy... maybe unknown totally in US, but sells out regularly Wembley three nights, sold out, in a row. Just an acoustic guitar and voice. No one's over 30 for sure in the audience, no autotune, no effects, no backing trax no cheating:
Don't you think that'll rub off somewhere down the road?
Musicianship in general has gotten better. So many virtuoso musicians out there but it's become a 'look at me, look what I can do' world. Not many tight cohesive units like in the past. Too many copycat bands. I like what Bruno Mars brings to the table. Need more of that. Good music and entertainment as well. Most of the other big names have all gone stale. They offer nothing new or exciting. Not to mention the current state of sound reinforcement. Loud, loud, loud! Why? What happened to balanced mixing and bringing the volume down? I'll go see Snarky Puppy at a small venue than to go see a big name act at a large venue. Not enjoyable anymore. And how about radio? I thought payola was illegal and dead!? They play the same drivel day after day. Nothing off the beaten path! I end up listening to old school music off a thumb drive in my car, where I listen to music the most. New music doesn't interest me. Unless it's Bruno.
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I understand your point, but for many people, a pop band like ID, and many like it, are about as far from rock as you can get. I do like ID, don't get me wrong, just not everyone's idea of a rock band.
