As I was reading this article, I got more and more angry...
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/05/20/van.zandt.save.rock/index.html
Van Zandt says, "Nobody's buying records... because they suck!" Totally untrue. Nobody's buying records because they can get them for free. And, even if he believes that all or most or many records suck, wtf!!! He is in a position to help to change that. And, he's been in that position for years. When posed the question, or when given the chance, he should be a promoter of good music; not the trasher of all rock music.
Laziness. Laziness from Van Zandt. Laziness from CNN.
The better angle would be something like... Here are 5 great rock bands that you've never heard of... Ten or twenty years ago, they'd have been the household names... The Pearl Jams, the Rolling Stones, the Nirvanas, etc... Now they go unheard... Why?
I don't listen to every highly-touted new band anymore. And I no longer have time to dig around and discover unknown rock gems. But, I am positive that these great rock artists still exist. And, I'm certain that a new one starts up each week, and will continue to do so for a long, long time.
Awesome rock music is not dead. It is not dying. It does not need saving. But, if we expect those artists to be household names, rock music (and music in general) needs a new way to generate money.
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ReplyDeleteLittle Steven is the promoter of good rock music. The Underground Garage promotes new music w/ the old. I think there is as much good music out there today as there has ever been.
ReplyDeleteI think the point is that it is much more difficult to weed thru all the garbage today. With the internet, home studios, etc. the 'craft' is less refined than it once was. So basically the most 'popular' bands of today are not as good as/'earned their wings' as their counterparts in the past. I can agree w/that. That doesn't mean the talent level has dropped. It's still there if you look past the first layer or two of popular music.
I think things go in waves. And, I'm afraid as the pool of money to be made through music dries up, so will the desire to make good music. And, so will, to a greater extent, the mainstream availability of good music. We need to find a new way to profit from the selling of recorded music. Or, why will artists bother to record music to be sold?
ReplyDeleteTrent Reznor has been saying that NIN will no longer tour. How do bands like this plan to make money on newly recorded songs then? This is not rhetorical. Do we know?