When Did Hit Songs Become Garbage?

[acoustic]

there is a person who really gives a damn.-----I set down with my old man he likes to be called that and played some of his stuff man ---- you know hank williams hank snow
jimmy rodgers mr tubb and the man in black ----my dad is 79 years old and can still make chill bumps come up on me when he plays and sings Iam so lonesome I could cry some times we forget about the ones who came before us-------------
acoustic

[TAlderson]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

I'm reading Mien Kampf write now. The HUGE lesson is that Hitler was a human being. He wasn't that much different that anyone else. He let his pesimism spiral out of control until no longer looked as people as "people". I see this in other people I know and I have the personality type to do the same. So we all need to be reminded to think and care, but not let us turn into pessimists.

I read it a while ago. One of my teachers handed us an excerpt and had us read it without knowing what it was from, and we debated about it. After we learned who it was from, I figured I'd read it. And quite frankly, I was impressed at some of his ideas at the same time I was horrified. But anyway...

Pop music has been, is, and always will be commercial. We tend to think back to the 60s as a golden age for music, but there was just enough shit then as now. We just don't remember it anymore (or, for those of us who are too young, no one's showed it to us).

-Tyler

[abilitydefined]

The fault in my opinion lies exclusively with clear channel. they are the black booted monopoly money nazis that killed music dead. If it isnt clear channel approved (using whatever f...cked up math they use,) it doesnt get played.
one of the jobs of record companies used to be to get individual radio stations to play this or that artist. Now it doesnt matter if your the CEO of sony records, if clear channel doesnt say go, it doesnt get played.
I travel extensively over these here united states, and it used to be just five or seven years ago that driving through new york would give you a very different radio flavor than driving through the pacific northwest, or through the south.
Now, no matter where I am in the country, I turn on the radio, and hear the same shit. I abandoned radio, and I encourage anyone who will listen to me rant about it to do the same thing. The simple repetitive, and mindless nature of the average hook driven commercial production is blatant social engineering, not to mention an insult to the listeners intelligence.
The music industry is due (long overdue imo) for a major facelift. Kids dont buy 8-tracks, records, tapes, mini-disks, cds etc. anymore. (generally speaking) they download music to their ipods, most of the time for free. How do record companies make money in such an environment, if their main function is selling records?
Seems to me that they will have to spend some of their zillions on more venues for (gasp) live performances and promoting tours for artists who dont fill up stadiums. You cant download BEING at a a concert, hearing your favortite artist rip it up! Kids crave that more than ever now that music has become so generic. Hopefully its only a matter of time before the record companies figure that out, and music can get back to being whatever is was before clear channel bought every non public radio station in this country and canada.

[acoustic]

Now, no matter where I am in the country, I turn on the radio, and hear the same shit. Kids crave that more than ever . clear channel bought every non public radio station in this country ---------- DO YOU SEE A PATTERN HERE
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(ONE WORLD ORDER)


------------ACOUSTIC

[MetalDave]

I want to mention 2 things. First... This is nothing new.The music I liked that was made in the 60's 70's 80s' and 90's where thought of as garbage by people alot older than me. Hell, Elvis was frowned upon by people born before 1925! Eminem did the exact thing as Elvis did. And yes there are Eminem haters too. Hate adds energy. This energy makes kids< 90% of record buyers buy these albums. There was a band called 2 Live Crew. they did alot of songs about explicit sex. They made the news because their lyrics were so dirty! Then they started selling records.
Second.... We have to face it, People our age don't buy CD's anymore. or very few of us do. The kind of music we want to hear is not being produced much anymore. For many people Country has filled the Gap for rock music. We have Mutt Lang producing Country now. It is the new Rock. Country has changed into More of a rock feel now. this leaves little room for Basic rock. The metal the kids listen to now seems to be too busy. I guess they are trying to make it sound different than country. When someone comes out with a "good" rock song anymore, it gets labeled as Country. So rock is now squeezed out of the picture. So to answer the question, Hit songs have always been garbage to someone. We need to make a nitch for Rock again. We need to come out with songs that can't be labeled as anything but what they are. All I know is the Labels aren't going to buy anything that won't sell to the masses. If Bob Seager was brand new today, he would be labeled as country. I am sorry but the only thing that wouldn't be considered as country nowdays is the old hair band or CockRock Songs we heard in the 80's and 90's. Otherwise it is going to be folk music. And forget about making a political statement today. the record companies are big corporations. Part of the 2% with 90% of the wealth. Times are changing!

This may make sense.... I went into a paint store years ago... I wanted to buy a certain line of paint. The SW rep told me "we only have 3 gallons of this" I said why? He said "because we don't sell much of it anymore" I said "Do you think you don't sell much because you don't have any?" He had no reply. Demographics show Younger kids buy more albums. Record companies target the people who buy more. Nothing is available for older people to buy Hence, Kids keep buying more albums! How can this be fixed? I see a snowball and it is rolling through some sticky snow!

[richiebee]

Originally Posted by MetalDave

Demographics show Younger kids buy more albums. Record companies target the people who buy more.

Major labels do, yes. That's why they exist. To cater to the masses.

Nothing is available for older people to buy

That's not true. I can't speak for your personal interests (assuming you consider yourself "older"), but there's lots of new music out there that isn't rap, R&B, electronica and whatever hell else appeals to the young people these days. It just takes a little more effort to find it. And maybe that's the problem - older people can't be bothered to see what's out there! Well that kind of makes sense too. People often get less active the older they get. They don't make use of new technologies to the same extent as young people. This might change as we age and more and more people grew up with computers and internet from a relatively young age. I don't question the fact that young people buy more records, and that there is more out there to appeal to them, but to say there is nothing out there for older people is not true.

By the way, I apologise if it seems like I pick on you. I don't. I just seem to have opinions on a lot of the same subjects as you do.

R.

[gradgt]

I agree that there IS music available to old people and people with better taste. Yea, you won't find it on the radio. I don't understand why this is a big deal, just don't listen to the radio!

Fortunately the misconception that record companies only cater to the music styles that are most marketable isn't true, there are record companies that will produce ANY type of music. Thankfully, or else no jazz music would be available

I could see how you could think things were so bleak though if you only stick to the radio and television. However there's tons of other stuff out there you just have to shift your focus.

[MetalDave]

Richee Same here. We could probably learn alot from each other. No offense taken. I wonder if they stock the older appealing songs more toward the back of the store? There must be a reason we have to dig through a pile of this brown stuff to get to the good songs? The Corporations don't care about good music. They want money. I agree with some of you about there being some really good music still available. I am just saying we used to put our money where our mouth is. Nowdays they put their money closer to where their ass is. Maybe we should get out there and start asking for some good music to be stocked. One old man can't do it by himself. We need a unified front. if Hastings or Sam Goody had 500 Old dudes coming imto their store every day asking where is the Richee Bee album? well things might be alot different. They might tend to put your album toward the front door or even right on the front counter. Times are changing and I am going address this in my book. I will try not to get too far into this but, Every Day Our Money becomes worth less. The rich people are making it that way. Some day soon, The rich people are going to have all the worthless money! Ok! I guess then the people like us who know how to do things for ourselves with have all the what I call, true wealth. The ability to take care of ourselves without paying someone else to do it for us. What is the guy with all that worthless money going to have that we want then? This will happen in our lifetimes. Knowlage is true wealth. I could go on and on about how stupid Big money and several heads is way more stupid than a few.....But for now, I guess we will have to continue to listen to a mound of shit to get to the good stuff.

[drago]

I was going to try and read through all this nonsense but I couldn't even make it past page one. Why is a board full of people who don't like pop music in the first place arguing over when pop music went 'bad'? It never went bad, its been the same since its inception. In fact, I would argue popstars of today like Kelly Clarkson, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, and Kanye West are far more talented than most of the pop crap from previous decades.

[thesilentdrummer]

Originally Posted by drago

In fact, I would argue popstars of today like Kelly Clarkson, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, and Kanye West are far more talented than most of the pop crap from previous decades.

That's interesting! Why would you say that? Just to be sure we are on the same page, I am not bashing you or whatever, just curious.




I half believe that good music still exists. The positive half is that I hear new songs (as in, just released this year) that are really good. The negative half is that most (90% I think -- thats not a scientific stat) they are from ye olde artists from the 80's and 90's.... sometime even the 70's. For example, there is an incredible new song from Whitesnake that really rocks. Its a good song, but the are old... over 25 years old.

I'll be interested to see what happens in popular music in the next 5, 10, and 20 years. It has been said that eminem and the rappers are kinda like elvis: they both challenged cultural standards, especially with their explicit messages. It has also been said here that the younger generation's music is always hated by the older generation. However, if this is so, why is there a contingent of younger people like myself that like music that was made even before we were born? And why are people from the 70's thankful that disco died???