Just some ponderings about the biz. Ignore at will. Your call....
There is good music around. There are some killer bands out there you don't hear about on radio or tv... They play where they can for little money compared to the past...
Concerts are sometimes like a circus now. Massive lightco, massive soundco, ridiculously high priced face up front singing file cabinet songs with some of the best musicians in the backline you'll find, they feeling lucky to get the gig for that tour so they can eat, pay bills, live, and such... Off tour, in a hole in the wall club or a day job just trying to get by until the next gig or session... Relative feast for a little bit, famine for a lot of bit for many musicians...
To pay for that three ring circus, the venue must be big enough to sell tickets low enough that 'enough' folks will attend to pay the bills and make bank. (ain't gonna be cheap) Some cities are just screwed. No venue big enough. One city in the area has a civic center that is dormant for the most part. Not enough seats to attract a moderately big act that will draw. Whereas some of us old farts saw some famous folks on a flatbed trailer somewhere singing through a Shure Vocalmaster, A7s, or SP-1s, and the show was killer....or in a park as a freebie....or in a gym...or some little tater festival... Not anymore... Costs way too much for the huge traveling circus. Sooo, less folks see many great live bands... Selection of live bands to see is limited and not local to many...
In the old club days with live bands, almost on every street corner in areas, folks could go hear killer bands playing in a club... Walk down the street into another club and see another killer band. These were not beer joints... Nice clubs... with great bands that covered all kinds of tunage. That has been gone for a lot of years in areas... Still some clubs here and there depending on region but nowhere like it used to be... Folks are not exposed to the variety of bands as they once were... Go see any band and you'd get ears full of all kinds of music. Some would go buy an album from a song they heard and liked... A live band exposes folks to music they normally would not have opportunity to hear. Nope, not as many clubs and even fewer with live music of much measure... Beer joints are still beer joints and can get a band that ain't a band with a hunnert bucks and a 12-pack, that just kinda covers old standards (remember, everyone does not live in/around a major city).
So folks are more ignorant of bands/musicians out there today in comparison to some decades back due to greatly decreased exposure to live music... Band creates the song list and covers many different artists... I remember sitting in a club, listening to bands like Hotel and Beaverteeth, being blown away. Many clubs still left don't, won't, or can't afford to pay for killer bands... Clubs are smaller. Variety of acts limited. Many clubs just take whatever they can get...cheap....and the stage is the size of an elementary school blackboard.
My long post may seem rambling, but consider the public over the last few decades and resultant conditioning. We used to be able to go see a major band for relatively cheap. Not anymore... It is usually big festivals. You see who they decide you will see, and many folks just can't afford tickets or the travel time... Folks used to be able to go to any club and hear some good live road bands... Most radio stations now are classic rock/country/whatever... Many stations, if it ain't the latest face, singing Jiffy Pop Country, you're not gonna hear it on that station....
Folks today will turn on Sirius, Amazon Music, etc., and listen to whatever comes up... For many, that is all the music they pretty much get locally unless it is the area oldies station....
I grew up around musicians (62 now), and I was exposed to a wide spectrum. Regular concerts that I could afford to go to in the area for only a few bucks... Concert shows late night on tv every weekend...Midnight Special, etc. Casey Kasem, later MTV back when they actually played music vids. (folks started getting funny haircuts, wearing odd clothes, like some of the bands in vids. Priceless... ) Wide variety of exposure.... Now not so much...
So where will music go? Who knows. So many now just turn on the oldies station in the car or office and leave it...same on Sirius, Amazon Music, etc... Many just don't want to have to 'look' for new music. We used to get exposed to new bands by hitting clubs, late night tv, or radio back then... That exposure to variety is about null & void for many.... Now, it's turn to oldies and leave it.
I guess I am guilty at times too... I run Amazon music bluetooth connected to my car, usually on smooth jazz, classical, and can tell Alexa to play specific albums or a random playlist of a specific band. Plant, Yes, ELP (both), ARS, etc...
Streaming is now. Streaming is the future. Streaming is a delivery system, not music.
Music is the cargo... I've seen the focus bounce all over the place... Damn Travolta...killed off the club band glory days with two movies.... Good paying 4-6 nights/wk, usually two week rotations in clubs, housing provided quite often... Then clubs figured they'd hire one guy to spin line dancing or disco music... Damn Travolta... Many club gigs dried up. Everybody went either disco or faux cowboy line dancing fools, complete with Sat Night Live or freaking cowboy outfits. ... Flashing dance floors, Leisure suits, Crimmus lights, and mirrors... or hardwood floors, cowboy boots, and Stetsons all over the place... and new pickup trucks that were never ever dirty.... Damn Travolta...
That is how fickle folks are... Who knows where music itself is headed... After witnessing the twists and turns over my years, nooooo telling what is next... Remember folks, Achy Breaky Heart was a hit, there was a song about putting old blue jeans on, and some damn lunatics actually bought Capt Kirk's album...
Folks have lost they damn minds...
right on.
...white sneakers optional...
