+1 About to turn 25 and still spend hours at the record shop rifling through bins looking for "better music".
I think it has to do with laziness. It takes years to learn an instrument and a decent amount of money. Everyone has a computer and you can pretty much torrent any writing program for no cost at all. Also, most people are idiots no matter what age group. With all the "popular" social media pointed directly at everyone all the time, most people just go along. Hardly anyone spends as much time looking for new music as they spend on their Facebook. It's all spoon fed for the masses.
Couldn't disagree more. I've gotten into using Reason, Logic, etc. to compose in the last couple of years and the learning curve is very steep. I encourage everyone to try writing and arranging a tune in a DAW. You'll soon see that you need to be aware of the sonic space, how all the parts interact with each other, how it's not just about a bass line or any one instrument but that it's about the song. This plus the technical knowledge and being able to read and write music, no small feat. I've dissected a couple of Skrillex tunes for example and they're very, very well composed and played pieces of music. That coupled with his distinctive production creates a very unique sound not unlike how Zeppelin sounded like nothing before them in the day. I give the guy and all these new musicians a ton of respect. Yes it's about a social thing, also called an experience. I never had the major festival thing like Lolla, Pitchfork, etc. growing up (I'm 57 BTW) but to say that people are being force fed music today is just ridiculous. The tools and resources available (YouTube, online tutorials, etc.) I would have killed for when I was studying. And yes things will always evolve with different distribution channels and such so you better get used to it or get left behind. Just like the player who can play electric, upright, read charts, has a 5 string gets more gigs same goes for the new era of player who can not only play bass but double on keyboard synth, program beats and arrange. A good example is Mike Elizondo. Why not embrace all the new without tossing out the tradition instead of getting defensive about it? I think it's a lot more fun now with all these things happening and I'm enjoying playing more than I ever have. One last thing, there's a reason that the music on the charts is on the charts. To be really successful in this business (and it is a business) you should listen and figure out what people are responding to. If that's a root, five pattern or a dubstep wobble learn how to do it and expand upon it and you'll have a successful career as a musician. Or else just sit home, stream WXRT on the web and pretend it's still the 70s. Just so you don't think I'm being one-sided in my listening, this past year I saw Deep Purple, Steely Dan and the remnants of Boston in their new group in addition to Dub Trio, Eminem, Phantogram, Ellie Goulding, Skrillex, the Deftones, Fitz and the Tantrums, Three Days Grace, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Two Door Cinema Club, Joan Osborne, Black Dub, and a lot more and they all rocked!
. Now who actually plays those old beasts nowadays? And in rock context?
That's just a damn shame.
