Posted on 03/14/2011 6:15:06 PM PDT by decimon
I think a lot of the mediocrity (at best) in music is a direct result of label execs fearing whatever acts they have waiting in the wings will not be nearly so good as the artists they are intended to replace. Genius isn’t an on demand thing.
I’m not certain that there could ever have been another Beatles, but if there were I don’t think they would have been signed. Just because it would condition people to expect better music than they could always provide. Of course when you have one trade union controlling everything this sort of thing can very easily be done.
I’m don’t know that the Velvet Underground could have ever found a wider audience than they enjoy now . . . well maybe Loaded could have. They are one of my all time favorites (don’t get me wrong) but wide appeal seems to -in most cases- carry far more of a “least common denominator” aspect than they had.
It’s funny. I had always thought of Cash as some corny country singer that I had no interest in (what did I know when I was fifteen!). But my dad really wanted a copy of “Tennessee Stud” for Christmas one year and the only version I could find was on the first American Recordings. Boy did I learn just what a small minded moron I had been.
Here’s the new wave:
David Wax Museum have issued their two disks on their own and you can buy them via Amazon, or iTunes. They don’t even pretend to name “their record company” on the disk or in the notes. You can bet they are pocketing more than the $1.50 that established acts can get per disk sold.
A published writer with a page on Feisbuk has just sent me (and other fans) a note saying he’s distributing his new novel via a CD, in exchange for a small fee. Earlier, he’s noted that no publishing house is interested.
There won’t be any million sellers for the industry, but so what? Discerning readers and listeners will find the writers and the performers, the non-discerning will be as always buying Gaga, Bieber, Green Metallica and Danielle Clancy-King.
but Bon Jovi has, and always will SUCK BALLS.
Who cares what their has-been band leader thinks?
kylesa and helmet are playing one show at sxsw together, dan deacon i like. innerpartysystem played with foo fighters last night. royal bangs dax riggs bad brains black lips j mascis black angels queens of the stone age eastern conference champions the antlers okkervil river low vetiver james blake j roddy walston lady lamb the beekeeper ted leo bob geldof widespread panic emmylou harris old 97s the strokes fishbone wu tang clan trail of dead the greenhornes the kills surfer blood jad fair wiz khalifa cee lo green devotchka cold war kids jimmy gnecco david wax museum fitz and the tantrums north mississippi all stars noah and the whale portugal the man tv on the radio lucinda williams pains of being pure at heart men without hats ariel pinks haunted graffiti Toro y Moi denison witmer times new viking wye oak wild flag screeching weasel kurt vile man man bright eyes meat puppets with roky erikson the almost matt nathanson the raveonettes deer tick leila broussard panic at the disco the bravery
Willie Nelson HAD agents/lawyers etc and still wound up being cheated by his own staff.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.