My thoughts on music today
non_commercial_buy_it_here
Posts: 4
I want to know if anyone agrees with me on this. I think music has been made "disposable". It's a cheap whore.The "powers that be" have made it that way. Music has become too "easy" to get. Therefore, it's not as special as it once was. Simply put, it's overexposed and too available. When something in life becomes too easy to get, it's not as appreciated. Where is the mystique? Where is the excitement from the street and not from cyber-space?
Okay, so you can download a song off the net for a dime..or even for free. What does that mean? It means that it can go with you anywhere at any time...all the time. On your phone/mp3 player. It's overexposed. No excitement about going to the record store and unraveling the cd/vinyl packaging and playing it for the first time(I myself still purchase everything at stores). Music is all over the internet. I disagree with that being "the wave of the future" unless it's on an internet radio station.
It's lacks the "physical/personal" touch if you ask me.
The "American Idol" age makes me sick. I have never watched a single episode and never will.
Record contracts being awarded to karaoke singers is beyond comprehension! Hype from the media and not from the street equals NOT REAL. Musicians who spend years putting their heart and soul into their craft can't even get a music management company(big or small) to listen to their material. Record companies? Well you need an agent first to get a contract even with an independent label.
Is the music industry(big and small) a welcoming one? Hell no ! It's the only industry in the world that shuns it's very existence! Think about it. What would sports be without talent scouts taking a look at ALL up and coming talent 24/7? Answer is...NOTHING! Yet the most recognizable words in the music world is "We don't accept unsolicited material".Excuse me...what? Is it all about lawsuits? Then have the bands sign a waiver before submitting material. Or is it that most in the entire industry have absolutely no clue on what to think about music? I know plenty of musicians who had very good songs that were only heard when they played at clubs(which is a whole other issue which I won't bring up).Can you imagine an athlete who was very good and never seen by scouts? It doesn't happen.
So what next?
Independent/Non-Commercial radio? I'm an independent musician who just came out with a cd
and am having a hard time cracking in to these type of stations. Why? I don't think it's because the material isn't good. It's because I am finding because you can't "buy here" my stuff through Amazon.com. I was hoping to get some traction in the form of simple old airplay before even comprehending selling my cds. Scroll through the play lists of independent/non-commercial radio stations and you will find that they don't play anything that can't be bought through a link from their website. Why? Why do you think? M-O-N-E-Y. They get a clip of everything that is sold linked from their website. Non-Commercial...Buy it Here(hence my screen name). Point number two..if it isn't the formats that involved in this newest form of "payola", then scroll through other play lists and see if you can find any artist who isn't affiliated with a label of any kind...it's very rare. Lack of "hype" is associated with the independent artist.
This leaves me to my tie in with a Pearl Jam related topic. All the members of PJ were involved with the brilliant Temple of the Dog project. How many remember that the album was released then shelved? When I first heard it, I was floored. Absolutely great stuff yet it was pretty much shelved immediately. That is until the Seattle music scene explosion. Then it was re-released. Then it became brilliant! Why? The songs were the same as they always were. Why? Media hype is why. ALL musicians will tell you they want as many people to enjoy their music as possible(that doesn't have to mean selling out). So if the Seattle explosion didn't happen the way it did, how many people would have been introduced to Temple of the Dog? Not many.
Most people don't go "digging for music". They swallow what is put on their plate. Those who do seek out to find new true and honest music are the real pulse of the music world; and for that they should be commended.
So is this a rant by a guy who wants to plug his music? No. It's a rant by a guy who walked away from playing music entirely because of the anger at seeing so much undiscovered talent(and I am not talking about projects I have been involed with) never being able to see the fruits of their labor; recognition. I came back to music in angered response that I walked away from the shear joy of making it.
I am sure some on here will tell me where to go. That's fine. If slightly interested in hearing my tunes..go to http://www.chrisdevito.net. To justify what I have been talking about, listen to the third song "Not From the Same Fire". The music is by an old friend of mine. It was originally just a single guitar track. I thought it was one of the most beautiful pieces I have ever heard. I wrote lyrics to it and added some backing tracks to it.When I told my friend I wanted to put it on my cd he couldn't remember what song it was. He forgot. But I didn't. The response to it has been very favorable. I am proud of that. Not for me, but for him. Another talent that no one would ever listen to.
Okay, so you can download a song off the net for a dime..or even for free. What does that mean? It means that it can go with you anywhere at any time...all the time. On your phone/mp3 player. It's overexposed. No excitement about going to the record store and unraveling the cd/vinyl packaging and playing it for the first time(I myself still purchase everything at stores). Music is all over the internet. I disagree with that being "the wave of the future" unless it's on an internet radio station.
It's lacks the "physical/personal" touch if you ask me.
The "American Idol" age makes me sick. I have never watched a single episode and never will.
Record contracts being awarded to karaoke singers is beyond comprehension! Hype from the media and not from the street equals NOT REAL. Musicians who spend years putting their heart and soul into their craft can't even get a music management company(big or small) to listen to their material. Record companies? Well you need an agent first to get a contract even with an independent label.
Is the music industry(big and small) a welcoming one? Hell no ! It's the only industry in the world that shuns it's very existence! Think about it. What would sports be without talent scouts taking a look at ALL up and coming talent 24/7? Answer is...NOTHING! Yet the most recognizable words in the music world is "We don't accept unsolicited material".Excuse me...what? Is it all about lawsuits? Then have the bands sign a waiver before submitting material. Or is it that most in the entire industry have absolutely no clue on what to think about music? I know plenty of musicians who had very good songs that were only heard when they played at clubs(which is a whole other issue which I won't bring up).Can you imagine an athlete who was very good and never seen by scouts? It doesn't happen.
So what next?
Independent/Non-Commercial radio? I'm an independent musician who just came out with a cd
and am having a hard time cracking in to these type of stations. Why? I don't think it's because the material isn't good. It's because I am finding because you can't "buy here" my stuff through Amazon.com. I was hoping to get some traction in the form of simple old airplay before even comprehending selling my cds. Scroll through the play lists of independent/non-commercial radio stations and you will find that they don't play anything that can't be bought through a link from their website. Why? Why do you think? M-O-N-E-Y. They get a clip of everything that is sold linked from their website. Non-Commercial...Buy it Here(hence my screen name). Point number two..if it isn't the formats that involved in this newest form of "payola", then scroll through other play lists and see if you can find any artist who isn't affiliated with a label of any kind...it's very rare. Lack of "hype" is associated with the independent artist.
This leaves me to my tie in with a Pearl Jam related topic. All the members of PJ were involved with the brilliant Temple of the Dog project. How many remember that the album was released then shelved? When I first heard it, I was floored. Absolutely great stuff yet it was pretty much shelved immediately. That is until the Seattle music scene explosion. Then it was re-released. Then it became brilliant! Why? The songs were the same as they always were. Why? Media hype is why. ALL musicians will tell you they want as many people to enjoy their music as possible(that doesn't have to mean selling out). So if the Seattle explosion didn't happen the way it did, how many people would have been introduced to Temple of the Dog? Not many.
Most people don't go "digging for music". They swallow what is put on their plate. Those who do seek out to find new true and honest music are the real pulse of the music world; and for that they should be commended.
So is this a rant by a guy who wants to plug his music? No. It's a rant by a guy who walked away from playing music entirely because of the anger at seeing so much undiscovered talent(and I am not talking about projects I have been involed with) never being able to see the fruits of their labor; recognition. I came back to music in angered response that I walked away from the shear joy of making it.
I am sure some on here will tell me where to go. That's fine. If slightly interested in hearing my tunes..go to http://www.chrisdevito.net. To justify what I have been talking about, listen to the third song "Not From the Same Fire". The music is by an old friend of mine. It was originally just a single guitar track. I thought it was one of the most beautiful pieces I have ever heard. I wrote lyrics to it and added some backing tracks to it.When I told my friend I wanted to put it on my cd he couldn't remember what song it was. He forgot. But I didn't. The response to it has been very favorable. I am proud of that. Not for me, but for him. Another talent that no one would ever listen to.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
I'm totally agree with you, nowadays the music is full of crap everywhere you look at. But I think that's the part of our evolution, that's why I hardly listen to any song on the TV, because there isn't anymore the spark that made you sing the lyrics or go to buy the disc/cassette/vinyl.
Before that, all music had to be made by people at home or by musicians playing live in public somewhere. At that time, musical skill was valuable because not everyone had it and most people had to try to play, or get their friends to play, if they wanted to hear something.
Of course, your complaints are not out of line, but I think you have to realize that The End started way before you realized it. Certainly, before any of us were born. I had to study music history and came upon an argument similar to yours in something written in the 1920's. (About music being too available, too easy to turn on and off at any time, etc.) :geek:
I didnt realize the business was so fresh
LOL! I meant Twentieth Century of course. :P Sorry.
Bring back the 8 track tape.
Peace
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
But for me, I look at now, 2010, as being an exciting time for music. Sure American Idol is crass and dumb and asinine, and the top 40 is filled with filler and crap, and yeah kids can buy a song for 99 cents or download it for free, and yeah those are all real concerns. But I look at this as ground zero, time zero, year zero. Artists no longer need the record company. Bands can be hits even without labels, or records. A band can send in a demo to a tv show, and that band can be featured on a tv show watched by millions.
So many bands right now, are great. Modern artists. Modern poets.
I understand the sentiment of "i wish it was 1992 again" but folks, I moved on. I grew up. My music interests and pallats changed. I became a different person, I got older. There are bands right now that still have the power, the importance and integrity of any band in 1992.
Not all of todays music is crap. I disagree that you have to dig to find good bands. Alot of the good bands right now are household words and are soundtracking as I said, the nations top tv shows. Websites that promote good music are just a mouseclick away. Walk down to your local small music venue. Doesnt take much effort to find good quality music these days. All it really takes essentially is you shut off the radio and MTV and VH1. Radio isnt big anymore, and MTV and Vh1 still get rating for the real world marathons and reality shows but by and large neither network is anywhere near as powerful as they were 20 years ago.
Finding the next big thing, the next big band, aint gonna happen via radio, or via MTV or VH1 or through RS and Spin. Nor will American Idol be of help. The next big thing, may just happen to be that person on youtube that just uploaded their video of themselves playing a song, or that regular person on MYspace who posted their bands songs on their profile.
Nothing good.
Money is the cunt of the universe and it is destroying mankind.
i'm 18 right now and have had a first account of the music industry change from what i first saw it as, and to what it is today.
i always buy my music in hard copy form at the store. to me, buying it online is just like not even buying it at all.
as for that "mystique" that you were talking about...i totally get what you mean. there's something about listening to a band that no one else has heard before...a band that isn't mainstream...a band that rarely gets any radio play. it's almost like that band was "reserved" just for you. these days, it's almost impossible to find that kind of band. everything is just so mainstream and is so easily available to the public.
what happened to the times when we would walking into a music store and buy an album without listening to 30 second sound clips of each song on the internet? what happened to the time when we would discover new music by scanning each and every row of a music store without even having heard of the band before?
Butthead: It means that his friends are like turds and that they like suck.
Beavis: Heh heh. Oh yeah. Yeah! Get those spoons out of my face before I shove them up your butt!
Butthead: Huh huh.
Love the excitement of buying an album you love or are eager to hear and touching it, reading the booklet.
Lot of people my age do not appreciate an album, they just throw it all on their ipods or mp3 players and just shuffle, sad.
i love the fact that i can plug my mp3 player into my car stereo and blast 135 different tunes cause i was having the hardest time playing records in my car. so i definitely welcome change
sure the mystique about buying a new record was awesome but i do find the same thrill in absorbing any new music for the first time. flacs and mp3's included.
picking on AI is tiresome. there have been many artists over the years that had contracts cause they could sing well. AI is at worst just fun entertainment and at best it might turn a 13year old kid onto music for forever. it is not the problem.
allowing new artists new avenues to get their music out is awesome today. youtube/myspace being one. and the bottomline is that if u r good and can play live then you will be heard. i live in a city of 4million people and there's is so much great live music that it's overwhelming. live music will always be # 1
the competition is fierce today. please consider that. i've seen 12year olds that can play like 50year old blues masters.
i don't stress the changes within the industry. cause the bottomline is there's more now than there ever was, and besides after all these years i always just end up with going with what I LIKE.
Unlike the past, everything is now within your control.
You can now choose to download from artists you don't really give a damn about and just want to check out or to hold out and build anticipation for an artist's album you really admire.
You have the choice to carry around you entire collection in your pocket or sit back and savour the romance of music listening as an experience with vinyl.
You have the choice to water down music with the supply being endless or you can limit yourself to a budget and have your purchases and shopping at a record store still be exciting to you.
The current age of music and technology shouldn't be frowned upon until you're actually forced to partake in the aforementioned actions which won't happen because there will always be a niche market for everything.
You couldnt preview alubms of artists you were unsure of.
Vinyl was virtually wiped out of the market and you were forced into purchasing either CDs or cassettes.
CD's were overpriced at 15-19 bucks.
your only music sampler was the radio and MTV
A well known industry tactic was to take one good song and put it on as bait to purchase a full album and you couldn't figure this out till you purchased either the album or read a purchased magazine review.
When you're young, you get excited about Christmas, the ocean, tall skyscrapers. As you get older, you even complain about pussy sometimes. A teenager would never complain about something like that. A young child never complains about the awe of Christmas Spirit.
It's just our nature to grow to be unsatisfied cockfucks. I think it has less to do with the digital age and more to do with people sucking.