Dying Music

[usa]

Is it just me or anyone else think the Popular music is getting worse and more annoying??

the music from 80s and early 90s had souls and creativity and were very fun and entertaining to listen to. Todays popular music is just depressing and stupid. Even in the Club music, it's getting worse.. the only new club music that i like is remakes..other than that they are all loud robotic crap with similar bass and drum. ALso the QUality of Clubs and DJs in NYC have gone down. Whatever happened to BOris?

WHere Have You gone? BBE, KLF, Pet shop boys, SASH!, Razor and GUidos...

[stacychase]

i think that popular music with each generation has its good points and bad. i have an aunt about 7 years older than me and she would listen to what i used to listen to and tell me it had no merit or style.. i now look at my God children and the crap that they listen to and i think the same thing.... and i guess that when they get older they will look at the next generation of music and think it is total crap as well.

[xtreme-1]

Ohhh boy here we go I dont I want to touch this one LOL the potential is just to great lol... Have fun CPers

[phuturephunk]

. . . I do miss the KLF . . . . . . They rawked!! . . . .

[nycmuzik]

95.5 on the weekends.....Nuff said....

[dialectics]

pop music is just a mirror of the times. mass production and consumption leads to the weird reciprocal relationship between people liking what they are told to like, and then begging for more.

nirvana and gangster rap were a reflection of the economy in recession, a presient who served his own interestes rather then the populous, and the unheard screams of millions of americans looking for a leader, or at the very least someone to empathize with their plight. on the other hand when times were good (ie late 90s) we had that bubble gum boy-band britney clone shit. one opinion (from gq) was that britney represented the dot-commers and gen-y: it was possible to be rich and famous while still young, with some good decisisons, aggressive pursuit of your dreams, and the right connections.

now i think we've kept the trend of bullshit-pop because music is a distraction from the crushing reality of life in 2002. distraction from the fact that our soldiers are fighting, killing and dying in countries we can't even locate on a map. distraction from a big-brother government who insists that crushing civil rights is ok if it means better p.r. and more to talk about then their relationships with big oil and the impending nuclear arms race. distraction from the fact that a great majority of us work in dumb jobs for the dream of financial security which we will never ever achieve. times are not good and we need fluff because we'd all rather forget...

ok so i'm hung over an pissed off... please forgive me

[usa]

It's just amazing that when I write about terrorism i get like 100 replies and get criticized for my remarks but when i write about music or clubbing which is relevant to this forum i get only a few replies... hmm interesting..I guess iwll just stick with terrorism.

[djmikebugout]

Wanda Dee...the vocalist from the KLF has a new song called "Controversy"

i saw her perform it @ wmc...she was accompanied by 4 dancers wearing dominatrix...i was just glad before she started the song she hollered out "KLF Uh huh ha uh huh uh huh!"

Mike BuGouT

[kirklop]

BESIDES ALL THE POINTS BROUGHT UP HERE YOU FORGOT ONE WHICH IS THE INTERNET........EVERYONE SHARES MUSIC AND VERY FEW BUY. DON'T GET ME WRONG, I KNOW SOME OF YOU ARE DJ'S WHO GO RECORD SHOPPING EVERY WEEK BUT MANY JUST DOWNLOAD..........HOW IS A ARTIST SUPPOST TO DEVELOP IN A DANCE MARKET WHEN THE AUDIENCE DOESN'T SHOW SUPPORT BY PURCHASING THE MUSIC.....LABELS ARE VERY RELUCTANT TO PAY FOR INDEPENDENT TRACKS FROM PRODUCERS.....WHENEVER VICIOUS OR JP PRODUCE SOMETHING NEW THE HYPE IS BIG BUT ONCE IT GETS LEAKED IT'S OVER. WHY SHOULD PEOPLE WORK HARD IN THE STUDIO AND GET NOTHING FOR IT......THERFORE, DANCE MUSIC IS STALLING GRADUALLY AND IT'S ONLY GONNA GET WORSE.........GRANTED WE WILL ALWAYS HAVE GOOD IMPORTS BUT THE US LABELS ARE TAKING A HARD HIT...........JMO

[zlatang]

Originally posted by usa

It's just amazing that when I write about terrorism i get like 100 replies and get criticized for my remarks but when i write about music or clubbing which is relevant to this forum i get only a few replies... hmm interesting..I guess iwll just stick with terrorism.

LOL...you do that! it's a *hot* topic... :D

[zlatang]

Originally posted by dialectics

pop music is just a mirror of the times. mass production and consumption leads to the weird reciprocal relationship between people liking what they are told to like, and then begging for more.

nirvana and gangster rap were a reflection of the economy in recession, a presient who served his own interestes rather then the populous, and the unheard screams of millions of americans looking for a leader, or at the very least someone to empathize with their plight. on the other hand when times were good (ie late 90s) we had that bubble gum boy-band britney clone shit. one opinion (from gq) was that britney represented the dot-commers and gen-y: it was possible to be rich and famous while still young, with some good decisisons, aggressive pursuit of your dreams, and the right connections.

now i think we've kept the trend of bullshit-pop because music is a distraction from the crushing reality of life in 2002. distraction from the fact that our soldiers are fighting, killing and dying in countries we can't even locate on a map. distraction from a big-brother government who insists that crushing civil rights is ok if it means better p.r. and more to talk about then their relationships with big oil and the impending nuclear arms race. distraction from the fact that a great majority of us work in dumb jobs for the dream of financial security which we will never ever achieve. times are not good and we need fluff because we'd all rather forget...

ok so i'm hung over an pissed off... please forgive me

wow, quite an analysis...you should write for a mag....seriously.....indeed, that's pop music, but what do we do with music that's not mass-distributed? does it also reflect the time?

[dialectics]

Originally posted by kirklop

THERFORE, DANCE MUSIC IS STALLING GRADUALLY AND IT'S ONLY GONNA GET WORSE.........

Sorry i'm going to have to disagree with you there. Just as VCRs did not kill the film industry, filesharing will not kill the music industry.

Two years ago, when Napster made its way into every home in america, the major labels reported a 6% INCREASE in sales, even though millions of songs a day were being downloaded. Now they report a slump and blame it on filesharing. I think it is more likely because the masses have had their fill of recycled pop trash - nearly all of the "comebacks" for pop superstars fell flat on their faces, but because the records were shit not because people rushed out to download them. There is enough room for only so many Britneys, and when only 1 in 12 albums produced by a major label recoup its studio/marketing cost they need major hits to cover the risks they take.

Filesharing is here to stay - an entire generation of youth has been jilted by the recording industry and will no longer pay for what they believe to be free. Instead the music industry should TAKE ADVANTAGE of the unbridled wealth that p2p has to offer, and rethink their business models from selling little plastic discs to selling an "experience".

In other words:

1) provide something that you cannot get for free. Personalization, for one thing. People who have bought the CD have access to messageboards, mailing lists, interviews with stars and rights to purchase tickets to concerts before others. Include PERSONALIZED (ie not spam) reccomendations for other lesser-known artists that might suit your tastes.

2) provide QUALITY. treat .mp3 downloads as a "free preview". instead sell DVD audio with 192kHz sampling with 6 channel surround sound. it is conceivable that anyone can download a few megabytes, but a few gigabytes will be unfeasable for a long time. You can have your music but get them hooked on quality and they will keep on coming back.

3) reduce the price of CDs. This is the ultimate chicken/egg question. People don't experiment with different cds because they are too damn expensive. Cds are too damn expensive because nobody buys the non-hits and the record labels need to earn. experiment with lowering the price of CDs to $8-10 and watch people buy more then enough to recoup the loss in margin.

4) Produce music worth paying for.

5) Understand that our generation sees music as "liquid" - it moves with us, it grows with us, and we have no loyalty to you or your brand name. However we are also consumers. Consumer goods will not be liquid until someone figures out how to manipulate molecules like replicators on star trek. Stereotypes: People into hip-hop buy lots of sneakers, ravers like their UFOs and A|X seems to sell itself to clubbers. Let me download the latest Metallica song for free, but market me some pop-metal related goods. Again not spam - they know i've downloaded Pleasurehead's last 12 sets so try and sell me glowsticks by the box... I've been getting trance from amsterdam, try and sell me plane tickets. Make it personal and we will pay attention.

6) Transactional liquidity - make it EASY and FAST and CHEAP to download legit digital content. I click I'm billed - no entering forms, no fumbling with credit cards. It knows I'm downloading Zeppelin, it charges my card 75 cents. No hassle == tons of cash.

Now onto your next statement, that american dance music is going down the shitter because people are downloading trax off the internet. OK so barring a few major anthems, especially during the summer, your average dance track has a playlist life of about 1 month. The idea behind techno in general is the ease of its creation, distribution and perception. The invention of the sampler says you and I can make our trax on our computers, or in our bedrooms. The major labels cannot make a profit off of dance music slightly below the radar of Cream or Ministry of sound. This is because dance is in constant flux and its not about buying little plastic discs its about the rumbling of bassbins at 5am, the energy and vibe of 5,000 people jumping to the same beat. You can't package that and expect people to listen to it in their cars.... except maybe in jersey.

Let's do a little math here:

Make one pop record and sell 2,000 copies: 2,000*$5 (revenue) - 250,000 (production cost) = -$240,000

Make one dance record and sell 2,000 copies:

2000 * $3 (revenue) - 300 (production cost, after pressing) = +$5700

Make 10 dance records a year that sell 2,000 copies and you've got yourself a living. Put your record press to work for other people's trax while you're in the studio and you've got your own record label. Make dance music because you love it... If you're waiting for the majors to keep a fresh supply of beats then you'll just end up listening to castles in the sky for the next 3 months. They can't respond that quickly and they can't operate on such a small scale. And when dance artists crossover to the pop charts - good for them. Artists make their music because they want people to listen to it, so the more the merrier.

Dance music works because the music is disposable. It is not music for its own sake, but music for the experience. Entire genres can be forgotten about. The big singles come and go, just like everything else. Its like good jazz - sure there are the standards and the fake books - but the real draw is in the improv, drunk in a corner wondering why the sullen blonde out by herself doesn't pay attention to you.

my $.02

[dialectics]

Originally posted by zlatang

wow, quite an analysis...you should write for a mag....seriously.....indeed, that's pop music, but what do we do with music that's not mass-distributed? does it also reflect the time?

Wow thanks - i just read this after i finished that long-ass rambling above. Now i'm all flattered and stuff. I think that non-mass distributed music is also a reflection of the times, but from more of a countercultural p.o.v.

Almost all genres have their roots in the underground... jazz, swing, rock, metal, dance, etc. It is the voice of those who don't fall into the pigeonholes created by the force of society. I think in the case of the underground, it is more of a reflection of what is LACKING in society then what is actually present.

I have a lot more to say about this but i'm just too damn tired to write it

night night...

rob

[zlatang]

Originally posted by dialectics

Wow thanks - i just read this after i finished that long-ass rambling above. Now i'm all flattered and stuff. I think that non-mass distributed music is also a reflection of the times, but from more of a countercultural p.o.v.

Almost all genres have their roots in the underground... jazz, swing, rock, metal, dance, etc. It is the voice of those who don't fall into the pigeonholes created by the force of society. I think in the case of the underground, it is more of a reflection of what is LACKING in society then what is actually present.

I have a lot more to say about this but i'm just too damn tired to write it

night night...

rob

again congrats! what you wrote above about pop music is amazing - i hope that the big companies don't follow our messageboard. or should i say - i hope they do! (for our and your sake). indeed, 'underground' shows what is lacking, but the whole idea of avant-garde became compromised when in turns into mainstream, and just a few of those bands escape this chliche. i think (and some may disagree) that 'portishead' never became mainstream -- hence they launched no more than 2 albums......so the question which really bothers me is: (and this will be a bit off the subject): how can one continue to like the music one liked before once it becomes mainstream? is itjust vanity, when one thinks: i cannot bear to listen to "xy" because it's now elevator music, or.....?

ciao

z

[brickhouse]

Pop music has always sucked, and there's always some decent stuff floating around just under the surface. The stuff that we reminisce about now wasn't considered pop music back then, and I'm sure this generation will feel the same way. For instance, someone brought up KLF earlier, just remember that at the same time they were popular, the most popular acts in America were NKOTB, Hammertime, and Vanilla Ice. And even now, please remember that for every N*Suck or Limp Shitniz, there's another popular group that's out there that actually deserve a few kudos here or there whether you like em or not (i.e. Dave Matthews, Alicia Keyes, India Arie).

As far as CD sales going down, has anyone even thought about the current state of the economy?? Of course CD sales are down morons, we're in a recession right after having our most prosperous time as a nation ever. Sales of everything are down, so why would music be any different.