From a politcal angle the entire mess started with the signing of a bill by…you guessed it…a Democrat politician. Bill Clinton and his 1996 Telecommunications Act. Oddly enough the Act did exactly the opposite of its supposed intention of deregulating the music industry and allowing competition. It allowed a few companies to basically monopolize it.
Corruption and greed leads to the downfall of everything.
Yo! MTV Raps! That and “reality” TV on MTV.
I'd do just about anything to go to another Mylon and Broken Heart concert (can't, Mylon is dead, Jim). But every once in a blue moon I can still catch a Petra concert or David and the Giants concert.
Headbanger’s Ball - the last remaining show I ever watched on MTV before it made to switch to all reality, all crap programming.
Oliver Anthony - Rich men north of Richmond
Absolutely huge hit from outside of the establish monopolies. Produced and distributed for a pittance.
Corporate mergers, consolidations and HR policies have destroyed or are destroying many industries and making their products garbage and/or lethal. Radio, music, movie, airline, aircraft, construction, you name it. I heard Jimmy Dore just talking about this the other day on his YouTube channel.
You are right that for a time a few companies have indeed monopolized music. But they’ve also been beaten out by people like Billie Eilish and her brother who produced a hit record in their bedroom and then distributed it on their own.
Eilish made all sorts of money that the record company bosses used to vacuum up. Others are doing the same.
The record company model is being destroyed in much the same way the movie studio model is being destroyed.
And good riddance.
Does this phenemenon belong only to the rock genre? There are other factors that have contributed to major shifts in recorded music. Moreover, rock music has not fallen. It is very much present both old and yet to be made.
Yes, greed and corruption are part of the industry, but its effect is minimal on recorded music as a whole. It fact it contributes to a proliferation of workarounds.
As a consumer of recorded music I have not been disappointed in my lifetime. The quality and options are excellent and innumerable.
Here is what has me wondering: How the listening public is exposed to new music, and who are its gatekeepers?
What happened to rock music is the same thing that happened to country/western music and live music at the local bar. It wasn’t “anybody’s” fault. It was that device you carry around in your pocket.
Is not commercial radio a huge reason why all music, including rock, has suffered?
When radio plays and replays the same 50 records over and over.....
I have downloaded over 15,000 songs personally on my Amazon Music app. Great songs. Songs you never hear on the radio.
I listen to radio may 5% of the time.