Y’all need to read “Twilight of The Gods: A Journey to The End of Classic Rock” by Steven Hyden, a book that deals with exactly this.
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Gene Simmons [still] Thinks Rock Is Dead
- Thread starter Altitude
- Start date
The need for rock music is what creates it.
Gene simmons' fashion sense is dead.
Rock isn't dead, but the era of monied extravagance in rock seems to be.
I agree with you. Gene is a smart guy, and a marketing/merchandizing genius. I always give him a listen.
I wholeheartedly agree with everything Gene Simmons said in that article — like my thoughts since the Black Crowes’ early days (when they produced legit “classic rock”). When Pete Townshend sang “rock is dead” — I never thought it would happen. It has. Most college students have no idea about rock. Average age at any remaining rock shows (pre-COVID): 50+. Fender and Gibson used to rely on rock gods to inspire the next generation of new musicians. Who’s left to inspire today? Maybe John Mayer? Taylor Swift inspires young women on acoustic guitar, I’ve read. Gene and Pete were right — what I thought would never happen growing up is now a reality: as wide scale popular music, “rock is dead.”
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He's not totally wrong when he points out that a lot of new bands depend a lot on technology (autotune etc.) and don't play instruments. Go back and watch/listen to Youtubes of bands in the 70's and 80's and remind yourself just how good some of the musicians were.
World-wide top grossing genres in order:
HipHop
EDM
Rock/Pop
Given that Rock is lumped in with Pop means that actual Rock is a pretty tiny slice. It simply isn’t the dominant way to communicate with the world like it was in the 60’s and 70’s.
In a couple years or so, expect to see K-Pop or C-Pop in that top three.
HipHop
EDM
Rock/Pop
Given that Rock is lumped in with Pop means that actual Rock is a pretty tiny slice. It simply isn’t the dominant way to communicate with the world like it was in the 60’s and 70’s.
In a couple years or so, expect to see K-Pop or C-Pop in that top three.
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I hate to tell ya, Gene, but only Commercial Mainstream Rock Is Dead and I personally stopped listening to mainstream formats for personal pleasure a looooong time ago........The days of the millionaire rockstar are over and its now a niche market: Get over it
But its a very wide niche market: Rock is pretty much alive and well on Bandcamp, CD Baby, and many other online formats by bands youve never heard of .....
But its a very wide niche market: Rock is pretty much alive and well on Bandcamp, CD Baby, and many other online formats by bands youve never heard of .....
rock isn’t dead. the world has become larger and more saturated with talent that almost anyone can create a fan base without the barriers and gate keepers of old. talents that most of us have never heard of have legitimate careers creating their forms of music, including but not limited to “rock”.
I’m not a fan of KISS but I respect their hustle. they built a extremely successful brand with mediocre music. that takes talent.
I’m not a fan of KISS but I respect their hustle. they built a extremely successful brand with mediocre music. that takes talent.
Okay, "Nirvana( new music) & covid killed his career", he failed to take responsibility for the decline of his own ancient group. Should concentrate more on good song writing, than marketing space clowns, lunchboxes & coffins!
The conditions that created the Beatles (and their success) are gone and unlikely to be repeated. So there's that. Is rock dead? No. Is it harder to find, and competing with many, many more styles than it used to? Absolutely. Time moves on. Things change. Just faster than they used to, and with many, many more eyeballs on them at any given time.
Rock is dying off along with its original audience. It is well-precedented in history.
It will live on, however. Ain’t nuthin’ but a label.
It will live on, however. Ain’t nuthin’ but a label.
Still many great great bands that do Rock with gusto. Rat Boys, Camp Dogs, to name a couple I used to like to see before Covid. And of course all the iterations of Jack White, but he started over 20 years ago. And now 1,000 genres of music and 5 million music groups all compete for attention today. Rock gets lost in the mix, so to speak.
Nah. I'm 43. Theres a ton of new music I dont get or like. I like that. That's the way it should be. It's a young person's game.
It is one helluva franchise.
An apology from one old guy to the younger generation: sorry, kids...we used up all the fun.
Riis
Young people don't like their parents and grandparents music.
That's never happened before.
That's never happened before.
"Old music genres never die, they just fade away." General Douglas MacArthur-Park
Rock isn't dead, it's resting. Beautiful plumage!
Tom
Rock isn't dead, it's resting. Beautiful plumage!
Tom
