Posted on 01/23/2022 3:42:55 PM PST by Yardstick
Old songs now represent 70 percent of the U.S. music market, according to the latest numbers from MRC Data, a music-analytics firm. Those who make a living from new music—especially that endangered species known as the working musician—should look at these figures with fear and trembling. But the news gets worse: The new-music market is actually shrinking. All the growth in the market is coming from old songs.
The 200 most popular new tracks now regularly account for less than 5 percent of total streams. That rate was twice as high just three years ago. The mix of songs actually purchased by consumers is even more tilted toward older music. The current list of most-downloaded tracks on iTunes is filled with the names of bands from the previous century, such as Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Police.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
Blackberry Smoke is awesome.
Check out Too Slim and the Taildraggers…
When we were growing up here’s what we did. We turned on the car radio, flipped between 3 stations and heard the best classically based music coming from live or studio recordings from people who developed their talent. If they sucked, they didn’t get sold nor played. Then we’d get an album at one of three record stores in town and we’d play it. Put it on the turntable and place the needle where you wanted to hear the song from the ffwd and rev are still the quickest. The sound quality from a pioneer receiver and a technical turntable with a diamond or sapphire stylus coming out of Bose or JVC speakers is nothing like what you hear at this point.
Even when my father drove us for a trip into Manhattan or to the Bronx, he’d put on 1130 AM and we’d hear jazz tunes you hear now in a Starbucks. Later, he’d play Credence with a tape deck in his Lincoln. And it was good. What? You don’t like Credence?
And then we would play those songs with our bands in our garage or in a downtown bar or a crosstown bar :)
And now if we former kids are together for any reason, a funeral, an award, business, we go to someone’s house preferably on the north shore of Long Island where all of this took place and on the back porch in the evening we play and sing harmony. Everyone knows all the parts to ‘Friend if the Devil”, “Dead Flowers”, “Please be With Me”. The girls alone - James Taylor, CSNY- Helplessly Hoping in particular.
New music Is fine. Hans Zimmer on a score is brilliant. Korean pop dancer singers are talented. But we don’t go looking for it. What it takes to hear a song in my car is dangerous.
Forget it.
Most of what I listen to in recent years is not in English. If I don’t know the words it is less distracting as I am writing software.
Also, it is new to me even if it is from the 70s such as from the Anatolian Rock Revival project (e.g. Baris Manco https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qfbepXqd3c ) or Zambian 70’s rock (e.g Witch and their ‘Lazy Bones’ album https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZV-4tW5lKY ) or newer stuff like Russia’s folk rock Otava Yo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HtvH34CmZY ) or the 3 lovely Georgian ladies of Trio Mandili https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDK9KOfknTw, or various central and eastern european bands, traditional chinese music, or mongolian throat singing, or whatever
Sorry. Awful. Not my taste, anyway.
They got their music from classic, blues, blue grass, traditional music with classic time signatures and Melodie’s that appeal to the soul
New musicians would do well to go back.
Same as film and story telling. They want us to like villains and to not look for conflict.
Doesn’t work.
Skynyrd practiced all day long for years in 100 degree heat in a shack in FL. They didn’t press some buttons on a mixer or a keyboard to sell their records.
Glen Campbell picked cotton as a kid and left home w/ his $5 Sears guitar when he realized he wanted something more.
Today’s “artists” don’t know hardship, or hard work - so they don’t play good music. Sorry. I’m sure there are exceptions, but they are rare.
But really, what new ground is there to break?
Back in the 60s/70s literally the sound changed from month-to-month.
Yes, good music can be made, but it’s pretty much derivative of stuff that’s already out there.
“ Absolutely. My theory is that people like the music they heard when they were kids. For me, it’s the 60s and 70s.”
Dod you read the article? They’re saying young people listen to old stuff. Jeez
I find contemporary pop music to be unlistenable, and the same goes for modern “classical” music such as “433” by the “composer” John Cage which consists of four minutes and 33 seconds of silence. The only decent music being written today is movie music.
You and I are the same. Mostly Polish music for me, but I have seen the Trio Mandili videos, and really enjoy them.
It was better back in the day & yes to # 3.
I have a radical idea for the music industry. Bring back Rock n Roll.
Forget pop. Forget hip hop or rap influenced crap. Just give us straight Rock....y’know electric guitars and stuff. You are the ones who insisted we move away from it. We responded by listening to classic rock more than any of the new crap you were pumping out.
In this woke country, we don’t have culture..... that’s a white man concept.
No comedy, no sarcasm, no history, no education, no truth of philosophy, no science, no debate, no religion, no family....
all white crap..... don’t you know?
Thanks for that link. I went and looked it up I have three of his songs saved on my Amazon music app.
Ain’t nothing wrong with that, Devil’s land and Rita is gone.
For better new country music and/or Southern Rock, nearly anything from the Yellowstone soundtrack is pretty good. Blackberry Smoke, Whiskey Myers, Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Riley Green, and many more.
For other stuff: Home Free (acapella group that is phenomenal), Marcus King, Billy Strings (alone, with Marcus King or with Molly Tuttle), Jinjer (get ready for weird), the Barr Brothers.
As someone born in 1970....I’m willing to go back as far as 1965 and as far forward as about 2000. What the hell happened to music after the year 2000? It fell off a cliff. The industry refused to play much standard rock anymore.
And there is the problem. Why isn’t good music mainstream? What happened to capitalism in this regard?
Auto tune
I do, but only in my truck because the cassette player is dead.
Start with Mumford & Sons, Mickey and the motorcars, Lord Huron,Will Hoge, The war on drugs,Chris Rhea, Hard Working Americans and the Jayhawks
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