Look at it this way. A couple of years ago, somewhere between a fourth and a third of the record business was owned by a whiskey company, who shall remain nameless, but were notably inept at running a record company. And they sold it to a French water company, who shall also remain nameless, but knew even less. Now, those guys haven't a clue! [laughter] They haven't a clue. And they don't care about having a clue. They are trying to run it as if they're selling widgets, plastic-wrapped widgets that they can sell more of. And they want easily definable, easily accessible, easily creatable, controllable product that has a built-in die- out, so that they can create some more.
By that, I mean, "Get me a lead singer. He's got sort of an androgynous blonde hair, very pretty. We need a guitar player, sort of hatchet-faced, wears a hat, plays very fast, very dramatic. He must be very dramatic. Get me a pound of bass player, pound of drummer. I don't think he needs keyboards; I think we look good. And we'll call them the Bosco Bombers! No. The Bad Dogs, that's good! I like that!" And then you sell it. You sell the hell out of it. You spend $500,000 on record promoting, and they make a lot more.
It's even worse that I thought...
Last edited by aerius on 2005-02-08 11:13pm, edited 1 time in total.
aerius: I'll vote for you if you sleep with me. Lusankya: Deal!
Say, do you want it to be a threesome with your wife? Or a foursome with your wife and sister-in-law? I'm up for either.
I think it's just a cycle. I hope it's just a cycle...
"On the infrequent occasions when I have been called upon in a formal place to play the bongo drums, the introducer never seems to find it necessary to mention that I also do theoretical physics." -Richard Feynman
Zaia wrote:I think it's just a cycle. I hope it's just a cycle...
If so, it's the first cycle of it's kind... People of Beethoven's time regarded his music in a similar fashion to the way pop/rock music is seen today, of course (going to a Beethoven concert was a popular way to defy one's parents back in the day ), but his stuff is actually good...
Anywho. *Gets out a spare Louisville Music Union bumper sticker with the union motto on it and affixes it to the inside of my choir folder.*
I don't think it is cyclical. I think every generation decries the music of succeding generations. The true test of good music comes with time. If in 50 years, one can look at a piece of music and say "baaaadaaassss!" then you have a good piece. If in 100 years you can say the same thing, then you have a great piece of music. Anything more and the music becomes timeless.
Is there good music out there today? I'm sure there is. It just may not lend itself to the mass market. Consequently, I'll never be exposed to it. I don't scour the internet for mp3's, I don't have much of a chance to enjoy the small music scene and radio either pumps out the same songs, stuff we've heard a million times or we get bombarded with music that appeals to those with overactive libidos and more disposable income than I saw when even I was a teenager.
NPR did a story not too long ago about "mass produced" pop music. The took 3 songs from Creed (I think) and laid them over each other. I kid you not when I say that all 3 had the same rythm, similar instrumentals and similar vocals. It actually why I always got the songs confused when they came on the radio (and why I subsequently hate that fucking band!)
As a side note, while Beethoven was recognized as a genius by his contemporaries (Mozart off the top of my head) and those that came after (Brahms "hearing footsteps") even he had to bow to the pressures of the popular ear. I think his most successful, contemporary work was his 7th symphony. It was written based on a Turkish march. Even Beethoven's monumental 9th symphony left him nearly broke after it's first performance because of the expenditure to give his creation life.
Zaia wrote:I think it's just a cycle. I hope it's just a cycle...
I think it's just the industry at work. You have the businessmen cyclying through the bullshit for the masses and then music for the sake of music living in comparative poverty outside the front door.
Music can name the un-nameable and communicate with the unknowable.
-Leonard Bernstein
), but his stuff is actually good... 