Has main stream music passed away this generation?

[gilpdawg]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

If anything, it's probably the best time alive if you enjoy music.

I'm not even close to the oldest poster on here, but even as recently as 15 years ago, if you wanted to hear new music you had to either wait for something to be played on the radio, trade a physical mixtape with someone, or go to a Sam Goody/Tower Records and hope they had one of those "barcode scan to preview" machines available for the CDs being sold there.

I can buy music directly on my phone now. I can listen to 90 seconds of every song on the iTunes store to preview before I buy. I can download a program like Spotify and listen to any song I want on my computer (or my phone, for a monthly fee).

If anything, mainstream music has lost it's stranglehold on the market. It's bad (or perceived as bad) because it's become completely irrelevant.

Absolutely. If you are willing to actually work at it, this is a golden age for music, while the music business is in the turlet. Now if you just go by what the media feeds you then yeah, sure, there's nothing out there. Even rock oriented radio is garbage nowadays.

[The DARK]

Speaking as a member of this generation, it's just a very odd time and place for music. There's something for everybody, but you'd be hard-pressed to find artists from this year that will be called "significant" twenty or thirty years from now. Frank Ocean might be the only one I can think of.

That's not to say all the music out there right now is bad (quite the opposite), but there's nothing out there to really define our generation, and just about everybody who tries to fails miserably. It's mostly because we're more able to find a niche and stick with it. You've got nostalgia bands for lovers of any era or genre, endless remixes for hipsters to get lost in, and an endless archive of everything that was ever great about music. Mainstream radio is more vapid than ever just because everyone who cares enough to find good music simply can and will use the internet instead. There's no point in marketing to them; the good stuff that finds its way onto the radio is more or less for fashion purposes.

Make no mistake, the Foo Fighters and Black Keys are nice and all, but they aren't the rebellion that rock and roll once was. That's not going to come back until the frustration with the society that we've got reaches another boiling point.

[Wonderful Monds]

Originally Posted by The DARK

Speaking as a member of this generation, it's just a very odd time and place for music. There's something for everybody, but you'd be hard-pressed to find artists from this year that will be called "significant" twenty or thirty years from now. Frank Ocean might be the only one I can think of.

That's not to say all the music out there right now is bad (quite the opposite), but there's nothing out there to really define our generation, and just about everybody who tries to fails miserably. It's mostly because we're more able to find a niche and stick with it. You've got nostalgia bands for lovers of any era or genre, endless remixes for hipsters to get lost in, and an endless archive of everything that was ever great about music. Mainstream radio is more vapid than ever just because everyone who cares enough to find good music simply can and will use the internet instead. There's no point in marketing to them; the good stuff that finds its way onto the radio is more or less for fashion purposes.

Make no mistake, the Foo Fighters and Black Keys are nice and all, but they aren't the rebellion that rock and roll once was. That's not going to come back until the frustration with the society that we've got reaches another boiling point.

Respectfully, if you really think that, you aren't looking.

The only reason that might possibly be true is because there is *so much* good music out there now that it will be hard to single any artist out.

[camisadelgolf]

The classics and legends don't usually start out that way.

[The DARK]

Originally Posted by Wonderful Monds

Respectfully, if you really think that, you aren't looking.

The only reason that might possibly be true is because there is *so much* good music out there now that it will be hard to single any artist out.

I agree, there's plenty of it. I've got thousands of new songs that I love to listen to, and thousands more that I bet I'd like if I had time to get into them.

The music itself is as good as ever, it's just that the culture behind it isn't there. Ask how somebody found out about a new artist these days, and chances are it either doesn't involve other people or involves people with the exact same tastes and preferences.

[Wonderful Monds]

Originally Posted by The DARK

I agree, there's plenty of it. I've got thousands of new songs that I love to listen to, and thousands more that I bet I'd like if I had time to get into them.

The music itself is as good as ever, it's just that the culture behind it isn't there. Ask how somebody found out about a new artist these days, and chances are it either doesn't involve other people or involves people with the exact same tastes and preferences.

The culture is definitely there. You just don't know where it is.

People definitely still very much share music with each other. But yes, often people are increasingly finding new music they like on websites or services like Last.FM. Why is that supposed to be a bad thing though?

[The DARK]

Originally Posted by Wonderful Monds

The culture is definitely there. You just don't know where it is.

People definitely still very much share music with each other. But yes, often people are increasingly finding new music they like on websites or services like Last.FM. Why is that supposed to be a bad thing though?

Where do you see the culture? I see message boards and threads like the ones here where pretty excellent music can be found. I see concerts where you can occasionally meet up and enjoy a good show. That's about it.

Maybe this is the way I should put it: music as an art form is alive and better than ever. Music as a real social force is more or less dead. When was the last time you heard a credible protest song that people actually rallied behind? Or heck, any real social commentary that makes an impact? That's just not the kind of thing that happens much anymore.

[gilpdawg]

Is it odd that I'm so out of touch with mainstream music that I have no clue who Frank Ocean is, other then seeing him mentioned in this thread? Or is that the norm for people like me? People like me being a 34 year old dude who likes metal and hard rock and classic rock.

I mean, back in the 80s I would imagine that thrashers who were cranking Anthrax at least knew who someone like, let's say Tina Turner is, even if they didn't like her stuff they knew of it. I know I did.

I don't know if that's the case anymore. I rarely watch SNL anymore but I watched the one where Louis C.K. hosted because I'm a fan. Had no clue about the musical guest. 20 years ago that wouldn't have been the case, and it's not a matter of my tastes being different, because I've never liked poppy style music, it's a matter of exposure. That's why I say you can't let music find you anymore, you have to go find it yourself.

[marcshoe]

Hey, I just assumed that Frank Ocean was either the son of that Caribou Queen guy or a really honest large body of water. Seriously, I've heard the name, but that's about it.

[texasdave]

Same here. I have no idea who Frank Ocean is. If it is a person or a group. What genre of music he (they?) play. Youtube to the rescue.

[westofyou]

The afghan Whigs covered a frank ocean song recently

[mdccclxix]

I spun Frank Ocean briefly on Spotify when it came out and did not feel it at all. It was pitchy and small. I'll go try again as it often takes more than one listen...

[oneupper]

Just heard some Frank Ocean. I don't like it.

That said, my kids have shown me stuff that's fine. Even some of the Pop, Katy Perry, Gaga, etc. It's OK. Hey, we had the Archies, Tommy James, and Ohio Express (chewy , chewy...anyone?). That was some BAD pop.

Then there's stuff like Death Cab, Owl City, Killers, etc. Pretty good.
However, my kids also tell me their generation has no music, as they listen to Zeppelin, the Who, the Stones and of course The Beatles.

I never listened to the music of the previous generation. Please. Booring...(in retrospect, probably my loss).

Maybe its just there are so many choices nowadays and so much is available on demand. Nothing stands out much now, but as some pointed out, eventually some of it will (and will be this generation's classics).

[*BaseClogger*]

I still don't understand how Frank Ocean got mixed in with Odd Future...

[Superdude]

Originally Posted by The DARK

Maybe this is the way I should put it: music as an art form is alive and better than ever. Music as a real social force is more or less dead. When was the last time you heard a credible protest song that people actually rallied behind? Or heck, any real social commentary that makes an impact? That's just not the kind of thing that happens much anymore.

I agree with this completely. I love having access to a practically infinite amount of music, but it really has just factionalized the whole thing to the point where nothing has any real social impact and fails to shape the cultural identity at all. I listen to new albums that blow me away as much as any classic album, but nothing has any weight to it outside of the music itself. It does nothing but strike up debates in obscure forum threads and fill up space on a couple thousand kid's harddrives.