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Music is dead

heelmanwilm

heelmanwilm

Hall of Famer
May 26, 2005
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Wilmington NC
So I was having this alcohol fueled way too intense conversation at the bar tonight and it’s really sad to realize this. Look at from 1964 to 1994, thirty years. Beatles, stones, Floyd, led, Metallica, who, Prince, elvis, Michael Jackson…the list goes on an on of epic ground breaking talent. Then the next thirty years, 94 to present, and what? Nirvana? Is anyone “breaking ground” these days? It’s wild and a little sad how there’s such a drop off.
 
heelmanwilm said:
So I was having this alcohol fueled way too intense conversation at the bar tonight and it’s really sad to realize this. Look at from 1964 to 1994, thirty years. Beatles, stones, Floyd, led, Metallica, who, Prince, elvis, Michael Jackson…the list goes on an on of epic ground breaking talent. Then the next thirty years, 94 to present, and what? Nirvana? Is anyone “breaking ground” these days? It’s wild and a little sad how there’s such a drop off.
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funny, but lately I've been trying to break through youtube's algorithm to stop hearing the same dozen tunes repeated endlessly, and I haven't been able to find much that trips my trigger out there either. Guess I'll have to light up one of the radio services, but I don't expect miracles there either.
 
bluetoe said:
funny, but lately I've been trying to break through youtube's algorithm to stop hearing the same dozen tunes repeated endlessly, and I haven't been able to find much that trips my trigger out there either. Guess I'll have to light up one of the radio services, but I don't expect miracles there either.
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You tube is the worst for that. I’ve tried Amazon music and Spotify. They’re not as bad but still you get the same 30 songs it seems
 
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The music is alive and well. NEW music is not as prevalent as it "used to be", I guess. But, people will always cherish music. Maybe it's just a period of realignment or something. The access to music is instantaneous. I wonder if that affects the appreciation of how it's created. There's definitely a shift in the marketing aspect. But, music is always out there.
 
I really enjoy watching Youtube vids of young folks reacting to old music, the looks on their faces when they hear Janis for the first time, when they hear Thunder Struck for the first time or Stairway to Heaven, ect. They hear Patsy Cline sing Crazy and wonder why they never knew about music like that.

Real music withstands the test of time, Hotel California was released in 1977 and it is loved just as much by kids today when they hear it for the first time. I really wonder how much of today's current music will be remembered like that, will hip hop still be remembered fondly 50yrs from now because they will still be singing to Elvis songs?
 
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What I find most interesting is the "tribute" culture of music. All of these legacy bands of the 60s and 70s are alive and well... through tribute bands. I mean, there are literally tribute bands for just about ANY band over the course of 35 years. The original music/bands have a larger fan base than ever. But, they're dead or too ancient to pull-off a show worth watching.

REM tribute bands! Pink Floyd tribute bands... on and on. And, if they're "good", they are packing venues! I think I'd rather see an Eagles tribute band than pay $500 to see Don Henley and the leftovers, and I don't particularly like the Eagles.






 
It’s saturation. Plain and simple. Any yahoo with a laptop and drum machine can and does make music now. So the legit artists are harder to find. Not only by listeners but producers. Meaning less bands with great potential are actually found and the guy for Columbia Records settled on some hack just to get a few records sold next quarter.
 
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heelmanwilm said:
So I was having this alcohol fueled way too intense conversation at the bar tonight and it’s really sad to realize this. Look at from 1964 to 1994, thirty years. Beatles, stones, Floyd, led, Metallica, who, Prince, elvis, Michael Jackson…the list goes on an on of epic ground breaking talent. Then the next thirty years, 94 to present, and what? Nirvana? Is anyone “breaking ground” these days? It’s wild and a little sad how there’s such a drop off.
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Old_Man_Yells_at_cloud_cover.jpg
 
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Pearl Jam, DMB, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Jason Isbell, Radiohead, John Mayer, Widespread Panic, Phish, Sturgill Simpson, Joe Bonamassa, RHCP, Snarky Puppy, Billy Strings, Warren Haynes…

I don’t even really listen to several of those bands/artists but they’re all undeniably generational talents. And there are countless more that none of us are familiar with yet. Theres a lot of great music being made and incredible bands pounding the pavement.

One of the big issues is streaming killing record sales. The traditional method of going into a studio with a producer and a team of engineers, session players, etc. is insanely expensive. Hard to justify the investment when there isn’t a very good chance of recouping that expense. So a lot more music is being produced “in the box” with virtual instruments and digital mixing/mastering.
 
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uncboy10 said:
Pearl Jam, DMB, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Jason Isbell, Radiohead, John Mayer, Widespread Panic, Phish, Sturgill Simpson, Joe Bonamassa, RHCP, Snarky Puppy, Billy Strings, Warren Haynes…

I don’t even really listen to several of those bands/artists but they’re all undeniably generational talents. And there are countless more that none of us are familiar with yet. Theres a lot of great music being made and incredible bands pounding the pavement.

One of the big issues is streaming killing record sales. The traditional method of going into a studio with a producer and a team of engineers, session players, etc. is insanely expensive. Hard to justify the investment when there isn’t a very good chance of recouping that expense. So a lot more music is being produced “in the box” with virtual instruments and digital mixing/mastering.
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Generally I agree with your post, but I wonder if it says something that almost half your list - Pearl Jam, DMB, Widespread, RHCP, Phish, Radiohead - were all popular by 1994 which fall into heelman's bucket.
 
blazers said:
Generally I agree with your post, but I wonder if it says something that almost half your list - Pearl Jam, DMB, Widespread, RHCP, Phish, Radiohead - were all popular by 1994 which fall into heelman's bucket.
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I mean that’s just a rough list off the top of my head. I’d argue most of them did their best work and really exploded after that time.

Part of the reason why it’s so hard to find good new music is because there’s so damn much music being released now.

Another tangential point is bands like The Rolling Stones or Zeppelin (just for example) stole like half of their catalog from lesser known artists. Harder to get away with that kind of thing today.
 
uncboy10 said:
The Rolling Stones or Zeppelin (just for example) stole like half of their catalog from lesser known artists. Harder to get away with that kind of thing today.
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They prefer... "borrowed" or maybe even "inspired by!"

I've always been a big fan of the Black Crowes. But, they've got songs that lift from the Stones, and others. And, then, they turn around and sue Gretchen Wilson for a chord/melody line that kinda sounded like Jealous Again. And, Robinson is always blustering about how it's all about the music.

The pillars of Rock'n'Roll music is built on I-VI-V chord progressions! Chuck Berry basically wrote 4 songs with 57 different sets of lyrics!
 
bluetoe said:
Snarky Puppy? How'd that one get by me?
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Snarky Puppy might be the most talent rich band on the face of the planet. Every single one of them is a Berklee grad from the jazz program
 
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strummingram said:
They prefer... "borrowed" or maybe even "inspired by!"

I've always been a big fan of the Black Crowes. But, they've got songs that lift from the Stones, and others. And, then, they turn around and sue Gretchen Wilson for a chord/melody line that kinda sounded like Jealous Again. And, Robinson is always blustering about how it's all about the music.

The pillars of Rock'n'Roll music is built on I-VI-V chord progressions! Chuck Berry basically wrote 4 songs with 57 different sets of lyrics!
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Having to listen to Chris Robinson ruin dead songs for two hours straight was one of the worst live music experiences of my life. I like some of the old BC songs but good grief he is a tool.
 
uncboy10 said:
Having to listen to Chris Robinson ruin dead songs for two hours straight was one of the worst live music experiences of my life. I like some of the old BC songs but good grief he is a tool.
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Have you heard Tom bukovac?
 
uncboy10 said:
Part of the reason why it’s so hard to find good new music is because there’s so damn much music being released now.
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I think that is the main "problem." Between streaming and YouTube, there's a lot of noise out there getting in the way of good music. You could also make the argument that these music executives have created bland music by sticking to a formula. I listen to a lot of smaller bands/artists that I find on YouTube. Someone with 50k subs can have just as much, or more, talent than some of these bands with millions of subs.
 
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