I am very fond on 80s music and I think MTV ushered in a lot of creativity.
The music industry itself changed and discovering and developing new talent became out of fashion. The big contract? Your garage band isn’t going to get one. It’s very tough to start out and to last a long while. Much (not all) of the acts promoted by the big companies today are just flavor of the month.
If you search for independent labels, you can find some really good artists. But Elton John came from an era with a very different industry. I’m not at all sure that MTV was the reason that all faded away.
And, oh by the way, the fact that I can’t buy a CD of a 40-year-old album for less than 20 bucks is an absolute crime. They sell more if they lowered their dang prices. Lousy business model.
Frank Zappa put it best. In the sixties there were the old guys with the cigars choosing the bands that would get recorded. They had no idea what it was, but they gave it a chance.
Then the young “hip” guys who think they knew what the kids wanted started choosing the acts to sign, and all the creativity went away.
Well, I don’t know how they set prices of CDs. Any business model takes into account the costs of doing business, and demand for the product.
Cursory review of sale bins makes me think that musical groups that are less popular, and/or I’ve never heard of, are the one s which sell for cheap.
Come on, guy. Where are you shopping? 😄
#1 Albums of 1976, available on Amazon:
Chicago IX: $7.99
Earth, Wind & Fire "Gratitude" $7.99
Bob Dylan "Desire" $6.99
Eagles Greatest Hits 71-75 $9.99
Peter Frampton "Frampton Comes Alive" $10.57
Wings "At the Speed of Sound" $14.33
Led Zeppelin "Presence" $10.99
Rolling Stones "Black and Blue" $10.99
George Benson "Breezin'" $4.99
Fleetwood Mac "Fleetwood Mac" $8.99
Stevie Wonder "Songs in the Key of Life" $11.88
“And, oh by the way, the fact that I can’t buy a CD of a 40-year-old album for less than 20 bucks is an absolute crime.”
Well, that’s probably because it’s only like you and 5 other people on the planet buying CDs anymore, so you are bearing all the manufacturing costs :)
I loved MTV in the 80s also
12/31/89 The real Day the Music Died
Elton John has his own angle on this.
He's looking down from above or from abroad and remembering all the innovative music of the late 60s and early 70s.
American music in the mid to late 70s was pretty awful, and the 80s, even with all the video excesses, came in like a breath of fresh air.
But if you made your name earlier and were still working with others who came up with you, it's easy to ignore just how bad much of the music was in the valleys between the peaks.
Re; expensive cds
Options:
$1 per song on Amazon
YouTube has everything anyway
Sirius radio
I use the last 2. Never without my favorites.
With Sirius, I also get local games like the Cubs and comedy channels.
I pay $10/mo and have unlimited access to pretty much everything ever recorded.
Not a bad deal IMO.
He can't say it, but he really means creativity died when Jessie Jackson in the early 90's successfully pressured MTV to start heavy rotation of rap videos.