Music's Lost Decade

[Kadarin]

I think the article is wrong in pushing the idea that piracy is mostly responsible. I suspect the reason has more to do with the fact that digital downloads (legal through sources like iTunes and Amazon) allow people to download specific songs they want rather than entire albums. We no longer pay $18 for a cd for maybe two good songs.

 

[werepossum]

When the Grateful Dead toured they were consistently listed as one of the top grossing bands each year. Despite rarely producing an album and letting people openly record their concerts.

Most musicians suck outside of a studio (well inside also but editing can fix that) so that is probably why they bitch when their cash cow is taken away.

I've got Dead stuff I've bought on 8-track, then again on cassette, and now again on CD. They are still a big part of my music listening and I don't regret buying any of it (except Blues for Allah, that blew chunks.)

 

[GoPackGo]

Downloading music is theft...from the record company's and the RIAA

Artists get nothing either way.

 

[GoPackGo]

I've got Dead stuff I've bought on 8-track, then again on cassette, and now again on CD. They are still a big part of my music listening and I don't regret buying any of it (except Blues for Allah, that blew chunks.)

But the RIAA expects you to buy the digital download as well.

All you own is a license to listen....

 

[BoberFett]

Not me, but his name rhymes with mine.

You know Boorb too? Small world.

 

[Robor]

My problem with music today is I just can't find any good new stuff. I'm not in my car much so I don't hear much radio, and radio isn't that great anymore anyway. I'm also not on the net enough to really benefit from streaming net radio. It's hard to get exposed to new bands this way. I'd certainly like to buy more music, but it's hard to wade through what's out there.

I know you said you aren't on the net that much but I stay give Pandora a try anyway. Go to pandora.com and setup a 'station'. You can input a few of your favorite artists and it will play songs from them and similar bands you may like. Hear a song you like? Give it a thumbs up. Hear a song you don't like? Give it a thumbs down and it will never play again. I found a few artists I like this way.

 

[werepossum]

But the RIAA expects you to buy the digital download as well.

All you own is a license to listen....

Yes, with that I do have a problem. I download no illegal content, but I do rip my CDs so that I may listen to them without actually hunting out and changing CDs.

Which means that to the RIAA I am worse than Hitler.

 

[Robor]

Thanks for the insight.

Who do you imagine will still be popular 30 years from now that released a majority of their songs from 2000-2010?

I'll go ahead an nominate the album 'American Idiot' by Greenday. That album is in-freaking-credible. 'Hot Fuss' and 'Sams Town' by The Killers are two more favorites of mine but they probably will not be 'hits' in 2040.

 

[Robor]

The Killers. They have the potential to be the next U2 (in terms of original sounding and wide listener-ship) in the next decade or two.

Reading further into the thread now and see another The Killers fan. I hope you're right about their future success. I really didn't care for their latest album. Picked up the CD off Ebay and wound up selling it cheap.

 

[StageLeft]

Are you trying to say that the Beatles and the Black Eye Peas (just for one example) are on the same level?

Of course not. The Beatles is an anomaly due to them coming around at the creation of rock (BTW I hate the Beatles, a point not quite as irrelevant as it might seem at first glance). There are far more artists from the 60's and 70's nobody gives a sh*t about now than those who people do care about. It's just silly to presume that our generation literally has less musical talent than previous ones, especially since we are far more exposed to music. It makes no sense and I defy anybody to statistically argue it.

The best song recently, IMO, was actually a 3-part symphony and it was on Muse's last album.

What song? They have some good ones. Most of us here could pick a huge list of good music that has come out in the last decade.

Nobody will care about The Black Eye Peas or Nickelback in twenty years

News Flash: most people don't care about:
The Who
Bon Jovi
Journey
Boston
Aerosmith
Van Halen
now. I sure don't. I don't know anybody who still listens to them despite knowing a lot of people who are into all kinds of stuff beyond whatever happens to be on the top 40 list at the time.

No, it's not an unfair comparison. Almost all of the best music has already been released. The sad stuff nowadays is just hack-job wannabes. It's all totally derivative and totally banal. I'd rather listen to the good original stuff than some poser band trying to poorly copy a classic band's style.

That's just silly. There are tons of good albums released in the last decade.

I bet classical musicians were saying the same thing in the past, too, that it had already been done and was just getting worse.

hope you're right about their future success.

I don't think so. You have to put out several top-shelf albums to really hit it big. Killers have already had at least one miss. Almost all groups eventually will, from dave matthews band (and people will still listen to that in 20 years) to john mayer, linkin park, U2 even (but they have enough hit albums that they will definitely be listened to for decades still, no doubt about that).

 

[MrEgo]

That's an unfair comparison. As time passes it gets infinitely harder to be more "original." Everything has been thought up of and tried, whether it's music, movies, or even business ideas.

I think there is some truth to this, actually. It is more difficult to reproduce (successfully) a tune like The Beatles or The Rolling Stones these days.

However, the problem I have with "musicians" today is that nobody has any real talent. I suppose you can consider the creativity of the costumes or the music videos artistic, but not musically talented - aside from a few singers that DO have a lot of talent.

My definition of talent is the ability to feel the emotion of the artist, or even just hearing the incredible musical talent like Kerry King or Eddie Van Halen tearing up a solo. Nobody these days can carry either of those guys' jocks. I'm normally not a big fan of pop, but Michael Jackson's music (in my opinion) will never be topped in my lifetime for that genre.

 

[MrEgo]

Of course not. The Beatles is an anomaly due to them coming around at the creation of rock (BTW I hate the Beatles, a point not quite as irrelevant as it might seem at first glance). There are far more artists from the 60's and 70's nobody gives a sh*t about now than those who people do care about. It's just silly to presume that our generation literally has less musical talent than previous ones, especially since we are far more exposed to music. It makes no sense and I defy anybody to statistically argue it.
What song? They have some good ones. Most of us here could pick a huge list of good music that has come out in the last decade.
News Flash: most people don't care about:
The Who
Bon Jovi
Journey
Boston
Aerosmith
Van Halen
now. I sure don't. I don't know anybody who still listens to them despite knowing a lot of people who are into all kinds of stuff beyond whatever happens to be on the top 40 list at the time.
That's just silly. There are tons of good albums released in the last decade.

I bet classical musicians were saying the same thing in the past, too, that it had already been done and was just getting worse.

If any of those bands held concerts near where you live, I guarantee that they will sell tickets faster than anyone in the top 100 charts of today.

 

[JS80]

Reading further into the thread now and see another The Killers fan. I hope you're right about their future success. I really didn't care for their latest album. Picked up the CD off Ebay and wound up selling it cheap.

Agree on last album. However, they are near the cusp of greatness. They certainly have the talent, drive, and the potential.

 

[StageLeft]

If any of those bands held concerts near where you live, I guarantee that they will sell tickets faster than anyone in the top 100 charts of today.

Some of them, but U2 sells out essentially instantly. Here are the highest grossing tours:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_concert_tours

Hard to compare them but U2 and Madonna had the highest gross per show (#2 and 6).

I'm sure people born in the 30's though that music from the 60's was crap. And nowadays very very few people listen to the stuff made back in the 30's and 40's. it's just not relevant and sounds like old sh*t. And soon enough that will be the case for the rock of the 60's and 70's.

 

[MrEgo]

Some of them, but U2 sells out essentially instantly. Here are the highest grossing tours:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_concert_tours

Hard to compare them but U2 and Madonna had the highest gross per show (#2 and 6).

I'm sure people born in the 30's though that music from the 60's was crap. And nowadays very very few people listen to the stuff made back in the 30's and 40's. it's just not relevant and sounds like old sh*t. And soon enough that will be the case for the rock of the 60's and 70's.

I agree, but if I had to "place" U2 or Madonna in a single decade, it would not be 2000-2010.

 

[ayabe]

It's only going to get worse from here on out, now that everyone can sing (Autotune) it's going to be more fluff and less talent.

 

[nageov3t]

everything is a rip off of everything else... if you think the bands of the 1960's were unique and original, listen to some classic Elvis or Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley. and even those guys just gave jazz a harder edge.

 

[JSt0rm]

30 years from now, nobody is going to consider any music from 2000-2010 a "classic" song.

Thats a pretty bold statement. Mainstream music for sure but there has been some nice underground music done during the last decade. If you mean that the baby boomers are set in their ways and they think the only good music is the music from when THEY grew up then I would say in 30 years that opinion wont matter. I kind of wish I was born right now so I wouldn't have to deal with the headache that is the babyboomer.

 

[Munky]

Exactly my point. Everything's been done. Like I said it's infinitely more difficult to put out good/original music now. Every song is some derivative of something that's already been done. There can only be so many combination of chords.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdVurJFMDUI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV6iM9HIpRY

by your logic we should just all listen to the beatles.

That's not true. Or at least not true if you've listened to music written by people with actual musical talent. Anyone who complains there's only so many ways to combine chords should expand their musical knowledge beyond simple chords.

Have you listened to some classical pieces by Bach or Chopin? By your theory, everything should sound similar to those, because their stuff is hundreds of years old. But in reality, there is nothing today that sounds like it, not surprisingly since modern popular music is for the most part dumbed down compared to the classical pieces.

There are talented artists today, just like there were before. But for the most part you will not find them on top 40 charts, at least not in the US of A from my experience. The good news is the internet and digital media have made it much easier to find music, you just need to look outside the usual places. Pandora radio is a great example, I just recently found my new favorite band on there, and not surprisingly, they're not American.

 

[Zebo]

Decade? Try 3 decades, but hey who's counting.


All music I listen to was made prior to the 1980s

 

[MrEgo]

Thats a pretty bold statement. Mainstream music for sure but there has been some nice underground music done during the last decade. If you mean that the baby boomers are set in their ways and they think the only good music is the music from when THEY grew up then I would say in 30 years that opinion wont matter. I kind of wish I was born right now so I wouldn't have to deal with the headache that is the babyboomer.

I was born in 1982, and, like many people my age, I did not start caring about music until I was about 10 years old. I grew up in the 90's, starting with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, etc, but my favorite music comes from the 60's, 70's, and 80's.

 

[JS80]

That's not true. Or at least not true if you've listened to music written by people with actual musical talent. Anyone who complains there's only so many ways to combine chords should expand their musical knowledge beyond simple chords.

Have you listened to some classical pieces by Bach or Chopin? By your theory, everything should sound similar to those, because their stuff is hundreds of years old. But in reality, there is nothing today that sounds like it, not surprisingly since modern popular music is for the most part dumbed down compared to the classical pieces.

There are talented artists today, just like there were before. But for the most part you will not find them on top 40 charts, at least not in the US of A from my experience. The good news is the internet and digital media have made it much easier to find music, you just need to look outside the usual places. Pandora radio is a great example, I just recently found my new favorite band on there, and not surprisingly, they're not American.

Share with us your findings please.

 

[Mursilis]

I know you said you aren't on the net that much but I stay give Pandora a try anyway. Go to pandora.com and setup a 'station'. You can input a few of your favorite artists and it will play songs from them and similar bands you may like. Hear a song you like? Give it a thumbs up. Hear a song you don't like? Give it a thumbs down and it will never play again. I found a few artists I like this way.

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to check into that. I've heard of Pandora before, but never really looked into it much.

 

[Munky]

Share with us your findings please.

Just to name a few examples:

Within Temptation...
Alchemilla, a local Boston band
To-Mera, from the UK
Echoes of Eternity, a local band from Cali

 

[Infohawk]

I'd imagine most major pop songs.

people tend to like whatever music they were listening to in high school for the rest of their lives... just like there are 80's and 90's radio stations today, I'm sure there will be 00's radio stations down the road.

Yup. Everyone complains about "new" music as they get older. There was some good stuff last decade but overall it was pretty crappy. What alarms me is the continued rise of inane rap/r&b. Not all rap/r&b is inane but it seems increasingly so.