The industry is often run by idiots unwilling to deliver the goods.
The Beatles’ had been spotted back in 1958 by Brenda Lee. They had to be diluted an packaged before the industry would consider them “acceptable” besides “guitar bands are out”. Never mind those kids camping out overnight to see them the next DAY at the Cavern Club.
Same as it ever was. “We’re still waiting for this generation’s Led Zepplin.” Led Zepplin was a poor substitution for the blues artists of 30 years prior. If they think that we need a “new Zepplin” to show that music is viable, then music has died.
There are other artists out there. The mainstream industry ignores them. Ironic when you consider that the independent labels (and the music called “grunge”) saved MTV in the early 1990s.
The industry shoved it off the stage for a “trend” in boy bands and Disney TV alumni.
Music sucks because corporate suits don’t have any taste. They’d rather dictate the trends than follow them. The public isn’t buying.
Emphasis on "goods."
In the olden days artists didn't put out albums as often and so the ones they did release were loaded with good songs. Modern albums have one or two quality songs and the rest is filler.
Good post. I also suspect that media deregulation has played a role here, too. You simply don’t have record labels anymore . . . now, every record label is just a small component in an enormous media conglomerate that often includes TV stations, radio stations, newspapers, etc. The music industry has been completely watered down.
I suspect that the “music industry” for Mexicans in the U.S. is alive and thriving and run by Mexican immigrants, just as the “music industry” of the 1950s and early 60s that gave us blues and rock’n’roll was run by Jewish, Turkish immigrants, and by one redneck Sam Phillips, who sold the the Jews up north his blues masters. Distribution, jukeboxes were controlled by the mob, radio, by a payola scheme that exists to this day in a different form. Corporatize any cultural product and you’ll kill it.
And yes, the British Invasion took at least 2 - 3 years to travel across the ocean in the early 1960s.
I like a band called "Evanescence." I am in my late 40s and don't much go for new music but the lead singer, Amy Lee, is a trained classical pianist and has a very powerful voice. The band mixes a lot of the new rock with various other forms of music to create their own rocking sound. Very talented artists.
I mostly watch them on Youtube. She does some good acoustic numbers too. Their AOL Sessions and concert in Toyko are worth checking out as are the made for videos songs. "My Immortal" is powerful.
JMHO
Exactly. The problem is that there is no music. It all garbage Simon Cowell pre-packaging, aka The Monkees model. Your right about needing a new Led Zepplin type of band to introduce music away from this hip-hop rap crap! A bunch of non-singing unintellagable getto trash that can't carry a tune, mangling half-assed Dr. Seuss garbage, (how I miss Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Four Tops, James Brown and the Spinners.) All I listen to is 70's and 80's music nowadays.
Since Led Zeppelin was a rock band influenced by an array of blues artists, I’d agree that they were a poor subsitute for traditional blues.
On the other hand, Led Zep was a tremendous rock band.