What comes after the techno fad?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Roozter
  • Start date Start date
Roozter

Roozter

New member
After putting my former solo project on the backburner, Ive set out to put a band together. But then when I kind of went about forming a sound that would be appealing I ran in to a road block. It looks to me like actual instrumental music has now started to be commercially phased out in place of electronic mass produced music. The only somewhat new, really big act that I can say is actually using mainly instruments is Adele. The rest seem to be old artists lingering around, theres nobody new being marketed heavily that is instrumental.

I went on a search for good music that wasnt garbage techno/house/rave music, and it all just seems to be solo people recording in their basements or cult-famous bands only known to certain circles all signed to small indie labels or side-labels of the big 3 (or not signed at all).

Soooooo...whats going on here? Are bands being phased out? I feel like its useless to even dedicate your life to an instrument. Ive always wanted to live off my music but it looks like if you want to make genuine, authentic music, with instruments anymore you better go out and get a 9-5 job.

Its sad because revolutionary bands like The Doors or Hendrix, or pretty much any good act up to the 90's wouldnt ever get a second glance today by the general public.

Does anyone else feel like this, or notice this trend? Its as if the window to be commerically successful has narrowed to only 2-3 genres.
 
Constant change is the space we're in........

That's a pretty bleak picture you paint. I don't fully agree with every part but I can see what you mean. It does seem sometimes that alot of actual played instrumentation is being shunted aside for what is simpler, cheaper and more instantly appealing to the young ear.
But the world has been like that for a while in other fields too. Mobile phones, twitter, facebook, GPS, special effects in films, microwaves, yes, computers, online books, too many things to mention........some would say it's simply 'progress'.
There's simply never been a time when everything was just right and the world at large could stop and move on no more. As long as people have brains and use money, there'll be changes.
Hang around. More are coming.
 
I mean its like, the height of music is crap like Flo-Rida. Im sure that 30 years ago people would have been saying "the height of music is crap like Led Zeppelin"... Or would they? Its as if in 2011 you might as well throw away your guitar, then go out and buy a synth and a drum pad and start churning out digital garbage if you want to commercially successful. And yeah, im sure tons of people will sit there and say, if you really love music you wouldnt want to be commercially successful. But on the other hand, I want eat, sleep, breathe, and shit my music, and at the same time be recognized for the art I create on a massive scale if its good enough. But now it seems no matter how good you are, you can forget that.

So I guess what im really getting at is, first, it looks to me that this is the end of worldwide, mainstream recognition for real music, instrumentation, and bands, in the United States. And second, if this kind of late 1990's and onward, digitally churned out garbage is what we have now, what comes next? Do people actually rediscover their intelligence and reject this crap? I mean I know the 80's definitely had a strong synthed/digital feels in areas, but most of those BANDS still maintained the basic structure of guitars/real drums, and in the 90's the synth type fad ended and real bands brought from the underground up still thrived. Will this happen again? Personally I dont think so. Theres some amazing music out there being ignored by the mainstream. Indie labels appear to be thriving (can you even call it that?) in terms of the amount of real bands signing with them. But obviously these labels cant market like the big ones can, and their bands dont get the credit they truly deserve.

I guess the economy could kind of attribute to this, making a band is expensive and time consuming. Maybe people are actually becoming less intelligent? Maybe its a lack of supply of good drugs? If anything, its looking pretty shitty for the musicians of the US if you ask me.
 
Each era has had its moments of musical madness. Anyone remember "Itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, yellow polka dot bikini", or "Purple people eater" from the early sixties? Or how about "Yummy yummy yummy" from the eighties and that abomination called bubblegum music?

Each era, then, has, not unsurprisingly, a repertoire of the brilliant and banal. The banal soon gets forgotten, and the brilliant remains, so it does seem that past eras were somehow more musical, while the current seems less. But that's only because the banal is hitting us in the face. It hasn't had time to be forgotten.
 
The Beatles were told that banal guitar music was on its way out by the first record label they auditioned at.

Hanson has gone from doing teen pop drivel to writing their own music and releasing it independently.

There is more interesting music available to the interested consumer than there ever has been before.

I actually think that we're in one of the best possible times for music. The Internet has made it so that any artist can find their niche. You can create whatever music you feel inspired to, and if there's anyone who might like it, they can find it.
Granted, it's a terrible time to make money off of music. The old, top-heavy record label/radio paradigm is dying. But it's a great time to be making art!
 
gecko zzed said:
Anyone remember "Itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, yellow polka dot bikini",.
Click to expand...

Lol, I worked with a guy that co-wrote that tune. Funny dude.

Roozter said:
Its sad because revolutionary bands like The Doors or Hendrix, or pretty much any good act up to the 90's wouldnt ever get a second glance today by the general public.
.
Click to expand...

Doo-wop fans said the same thing having to listen to Hendrix.

Your focus is in the wrong place, style always comes and goes, a good song can be played in a variety of genres, in fact its almost irrelevant. Composition is what lives on.

Unless your a Hendrix or Van Halen, (which is one in 10 million players,) your style is only a tool to communicate your ideas.

I know many pro players, they make a few bucks giving lessons and playing gigs.

The good news is that gigs are actually coming back (here on Long Island NY anyway) clubs are filled.
 
VomitHatSteve said:
The Beatles were told that banal guitar music was on its way out by the first record label they auditioned at.

Hanson has gone from doing teen pop drivel to writing their own music and releasing it independently.

There is more interesting music available to the interested consumer than there ever has been before.

I actually think that we're in one of the best possible times for music. The Internet has made it so that any artist can find their niche. You can create whatever music you feel inspired to, and if there's anyone who might like it, they can find it.
Granted, it's a terrible time to make money off of music. The old, top-heavy record label/radio paradigm is dying. But it's a great time to be making art!
Click to expand...

I have to disagree though. Not only is it a terrible to time to try and make your music profitable, its a terrible time to be making art. The state of the country is so terrible right now economically that you can forget being fully dedicated to an artform. I dropped out of school to dedicate myself to my music and from my perspective It was the right choice. Mainly because had I gone to college for anything related to music I wouldnt have felt like an artist, but more like a professional, and everything else besides music I had absolutely no interest in. Not only that, but I have strong views and beliefs about our society, and in a way I feel the system bullies people in to going to college, in a period of time where college is no garuntee.

So not only can I not profit from something ive dedicated my life to. Finding the time, and the resources to create the art I want to, the way I want to, is also impossible. So to reassert my point in a simpler term. The "rockstar" in the traditional term is dead, and its the worst time ever to be a "starving artist".

PDP said:
Lol, I worked with a guy that co-wrote that tune. Funny dude.



Doo-wop fans said the same thing having to listen to Hendrix.

Your focus is in the wrong place, style always comes and goes, a good song can be played in a variety of genres, in fact its almost irrelevant. Composition is what lives on.

Unless your a Hendrix or Van Halen, (which is one in 10 million players,) your style is only a tool to communicate your ideas.

I know many pro players, they make a few bucks giving lessons and playing gigs.

The good news is that gigs are actually coming back (here on Long Island NY anyway) clubs are filled.
Click to expand...

When I was down in Nashville, walking up and down broadway by the bars, it was pretty much a cover band epidemic. Which made me sick. I actually heard someone say "I hope you guys dont mind if we play an original". In my personal opinion, cover bands are worse than downloading music for free and selling it.
 
That's because you were on Broadway. Nashville seems to be kind of an exceptional place when it comes to music. It's really locked into the old record label paradigm, and there's kind of a positive feedback loop for that. All the best musicians in town (skill wise) are in country cover bands; bars are booking them; new musicians have to become country cover bands to get booked; etc.

A bad economy seems to be the best time to be a starving artist. You can't make art without suffering, they say!
 
Roozter said:
When I was down in Nashville, walking up and down broadway by the bars, it was pretty much a cover band epidemic. Which made me sick. I actually heard someone say "I hope you guys dont mind if we play an original". In my personal opinion, cover bands are worse than downloading music for free and selling it.
Click to expand...

You mentioned Hendrix, he covered lots of people.

Van Halen's first radio play was the Kinks cover.

I'm not defending cover bands. Alot of em suck, but what are you really expecting? See if you can convince some rich family trust to grant you a stipend while you hone your craft, other than that you'll have to do what most cats do.
 
Roozter said:
What comes after the techno fad?
Click to expand...

Me.

I will create a genre of music known as "post-techno/house/trance" and I will make dozens of dollars.

It's only natural. After grunge came post grunge.

:cool:
 
gecko zzed said:
Yup. The 'starving artist' has been present in every era. Today is no different.
Click to expand...

Indeed.
I think that to some extent electronic/mass produced music has always been the pinnacle of music for pop culture.
At least since the 70's. I heard Sabbath and Zeppelin were panned back in the day by mainstream media. But adored by the "underground/fans of it". And it's kind of always been the same. And for some reason when real bands do become adored by the mainstream media they're called sellouts. It's really ignorant.
But yeah, back to what I originally said that to some extent electronic/mass produced music has always been the pinnacle of music for pop culture. The definition for it has changed over time though. Back in the 80's it was synth music or whatever and now it's Flo Rida.
 
Also, Muse and Kings of Leon- I'm not really a fan of either but they count as new artists that are real bands right?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top