Posted on 05/04/2025 7:01:31 PM PDT by DoodleBob
… By its peak in 1983, rock music dominated radio play and accounted for over 60% of the Billboard Top 100.
… In many ways, the rise of pop, rap, and hip-hop can be seen as a market correction to mainstream rock's lack of cultural innovation, aesthetic appeal, and musical experimentation.
In the years leading up to the stylistic shifts of the 1980s, there was a significant disconnect between critical acclaim and consumer music preferences. However, when rock began its descent from the mainstream in the mid-1980s, the association between critic and consumer music preference rebounded and stayed aligned for the next 30 years.
Researchers attribute the critical-commercial disconnect of the late 1970s and early 1980s to widespread "rockism," an era of rock hubris that assumed perpetual relevance and dismissed other genres. During this period, critics maligned the stale output of hair metal bands and the shallow theatrics of acts like Def Leppard, Twisted Sister, and Kiss. The rise of pop, hip-hop, and rap realigned critical and commercial preferences, infusing mainstream music with new-fangled stylings and technical innovation.
The grunge movement of the 1990s, characterized by its low-fi production and anti-capitalist sentiments, is often seen as rock's last gasp at mainstream relevance. Yet there was an inherent contradiction to grunge's ascension. Artists like Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder struggled with their newfound success, which directly conflicted with their rejection of commercialism and rock stardom. The grunge movement effectively ended with Kurt Cobain's 1994 suicide, marking the decline of this ascendent subgenre and rock's best chance at a mainstream comeback.
(Excerpt) Read more at statsignificant.com ...
The rise of pop, hip-hop, and rap realigned critical and commercial preferences, infusing mainstream music with new-fangled stylings and technical innovation.
In other words, during the Clinton Administration critics (ie the leftist jackwagons at Rolling Stone etc.) collaborated with record companies and MTV. They colluded to forge a consensus that ran counter to the historical animosity of music fans and critics.
If that’s right, then pop may have peaked with the Eagles destroying Taylor Swift’s team in rhe Super Bowl.
Further, with youths becoming more conservative, rock may start ascending. And yes, old people, there IS great new rock…go to https://bandcamp.com/discover/rock and find great unsigned bands.
It died after the release of Abbey Road and the dissolution of the Beatles.
After that, it became louder, darker, more explicitly drug influenced, and monotonous.
Stranded on a Dessert Island, but somehow WITH electricity?
ONE record album limit?
Pink Floyd. Dark Side of the Moon. Hands Down.
Any arguments? ;)
Hip hop and rap are not music.
I thought Don McLean cleared that all up with, ‘American Pie?’ ;)
Feels like one for Larry Schweikart to make a comment.
It will never die.
Live at Leeds.
Rick Beato sees all, knows all, tells all.
How Corruption and Greed Led to the Downfall of Rock Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reesdiAbvk4
What Killed Rock & Roll? (Hint: It Wasn’t Hip Hop)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0ycwnJArHQ
What Happened To Music Between 1994 and 2000?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OUCSSVAzG0
Why are all the bands disappearing?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_DjmtR0Xls
The Real Reason Why Music Is Getting Worse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bZ0OSEViyo
Don’t discount (Blondie) Debbie Harry; First White Girl Rapping! And as an Added Bonus, totally Hip Hop. ;)
‘Rapture’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHCdS7O248g
“Hip hop and rap are not music.”
Agreed it is just politics for one race.
I came here to post that song. :-)
The rise of rap, specifically the abominable trap variety, after Trump’s first election has virtually destroyed the music scene and infected all of Western culture like a virus. My own Gen Z kids were affected as well, although they now have freed themselves from it. Rap is absolute poison. This is not the fun, harmless RUN DMC variety of the 80s. It’s pure evil.
Hold ma Beer.
Tales of Mystery and Imagination - The Alan Parsons Project.
Isn’t this more about radio dying?
Look at the graph.
Rock & Roll died in 1985 the moment the industry promoted Starship’s “We Built this City.”
Any industry or genre that produced that trash deserves to die.
That chart is not entirely accurate.
Rap/Hip Hop did not become a musical genre until 1978.
I won’t discount her. She was before her time on that one.
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