"No Stairway....Denied!"
Posted on 05/23/2024 3:48:00 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Steven Van Zandt has a pessimistic outlook when he ponders the future of classic rock.
During an appearance on Club Random with Bill Maher, the E Street Band guitarist examined the way music consumption has changed.
“Right now, because the record industry is dead, there’s no more record sales other than Taylor Swift and Beyonce,” Van Zandt declared. Instead, he explained, films and television shows have become the best way for recording artists to make money. However, even that has become problematic because musicians have upped their licensing fees in order to survive.
“You got a bunch of whatever, 25 year-olds with a song list with a number next to it,” Van Zandt noted. “So if you want to make a movie or TV show, you ask for the song, they look at the number and they charge you that number, which is always high because there's no other income.”
Because classic rock offers material that’s recognizable to a wide swath of listeners, it's often the most-licensed genre of music. However, Van Zandt believes the filmmakers will pull away from classic rock in the face of soaring licensing costs, thus removing an important avenue for songs to be exposed to new listeners.
“This is a real problem. And I think 10 years from now, 20 years from now, it's going to be a problem because all this music is going to die if it's not promoted and heard,” Van Zandt insisted. “It's going to be like, Motown who? Rolling Stones who?”
Steven Van Zandt Hopes Laws Around Song Licensing Will Change
Van Zandt suggested law changes around licensing music as a compromise to keep filmmakers and musicians happy. He then noted how different the modern landscape is compared to when the E Street Band and Bruce Springsteen got started.
“When we started, music in movies was free. It was free,” he explained. “Martin Scorsese. He didn't even ask for permission to put [the Ronettes’] ‘Be My Baby’ in Mean Streets because it was free. And people thought of it as promoting the records. Nobody’s promoting the records anymore.”
Van Zandt pointed to the popular series Stranger Things as an example of how TV and film can bring new attention to classic tracks. The guitarist insisted such licensing is vital for classic rock's continuing survival.
“When our generation goes, who’s going to know about this stuff?”
When Airplane! came out in the theater, that scene caused the movie goers to cheer. In Houston, Texas
Screw Springsteen but Little Steven is doing as much or more than anyone to promote classic and new rock and soul via the Underground Garage and Wicked Cool records. I really like the diversity of music and DJs he has assembled.
I hope Little Steven and his comrade Bruce both die of TDS.
So is Steve gonna play Sun City now?
Sorry Steve, Kiss Alive will live on long after Bruce has been forgotten. Greatest pure rock album ever.
I think, more to the point, that nobody will be skilled at making it. Even the retro tribute bands are only playing other people's music. Who is going to create the next rock band with new songs? I'm not talking about new songs from old bands, I'm talking about new bands with a rock sound.
-PJ
And with AI able to create music, who is going to invest the 10,000+ hours it takes to master an instrument.
...and during the Scamdemic lockdowns, some guitar stuff was on backorder for months.
NYT Says Taylor Swift Is Bigger Than The Beatles!? - Rick Beato video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxrwjJHXPlQ&ab_channel=RickBeato
SPOILER: Taylor Swift is a fraud and depends on many others to write her songs
Ten years from now, nobody will remember who Taylor Swift is.
This morning, I was speaking with two high school freshmen. The school year is winding down and she has been carrying her guitar around everywhere.
I mentioned to her that Jimi Hendrix always had his guitar with him, and she didn’t know who he was. I showed her a video of Purple Haze and his Woodstock performance of The Star Spangled Banner. It seemed to have made an impression.
Steven Van Zandt also campaigned to create the new South Africa.
So there’s that.
All the good rock music has already been made.
I was thinking more or less the same thing.
I think "Rock" said pretty much everything there was to say.
I can imagine a band making new Rock around themes protesting our cultural and political problems.
The lyrics would have to be very abstract and oblique, or else it would get shut down.
There are so many "elephants in the room" to make protest music about.
Rock & Roll is alive and well ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tolWHxR7dqo
AI is the enemy. Soon, nothing will be real and sadly, nobody will know the difference. We are moving rapidly towards 1984.
-we have fake Trans people
-we have fake news
-we have fake movies
-we have fake politicians
-we have fake food
-we have fake college research papers
-we have fake internet doctors
——Elain from Seinfeld said it....”fake-fake-fake”
Actually at least there are some funny, albeit raunchy AI Tunes.
This one I find very catchy
Don’t Test Me B____ - Cornelius “Backhand” Jackson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FizOyEt7QWk
All my digitally recorded rock rock and roll country blues bluegrass big band does not contain more than a handful of songs recorded past 1979.
Musically I live in the past and that’s the way I liked it.
Sure, it was the music of youth rebellion, and no generation wants its parents’ music, so rebellious youth are going to make other music (if they make music).
It was also the music of a certain time in American history that’s now far in the past. That period is also in the past for Europeans. But for Asians it’s still not quite gone, so K-Pop picks up some of the spirit of 20th century pop.
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