Why are there no musical trends anymore?

[AngryAmish]

Maybe I don't see it anymore since (like Terry Funk says) I'm middle aged and crazy but popular music does not have trends anymore. There used to be at various times, bebop, New Wave, Acid Rock, hair metal, hip hop, grunge, New Romantics, White Soul, etc. Etc. Etc.

There are a few scenes out there I guess. EDM. Still a small metal scene.

Why has popular music stagnated?

[arcane1]

1. Less incentive from record companies to invent/chase the next "thing" due to low record sales?

Just a guess, but with digital music and downloading, they are definitely not selling in an album-based scene anymore. Back then, one band gets a hit and all the other companies try to release their own version of that, which created something of an artificial trend in that things would change over time, but supply was playing an unequal role in it?

Of course, I haven't paid attention to pop music since the early 1990's so I could be completely off base

[shenmue]

2. Commercialism

I don't think it's all the artists' fault. I think we can date it back to the laws which allowed huge conglomerates to buy up a ton of radio stations and other media in the same town. That's how Clear Channel got big, and other companies too. Happened around the mid to late 1990s. Same company owns all the stations - guess what, you're not getting a lot of diversity.

Then they came in with the format system. We play this list and no other.

It also hurts that schools usually don't have music classes anymore. More people playing music, more thriving music scenes. Fewer classes, fewer people wind up able to do it. With the unstable economy, a lot of parents can't buy instruments and lessons for their kids.

This all adds up: fewer independent labels and stations. Everything's online now, which in some ways, has promise... You can get apps like Tune In which carry stations from all over the world. You can make your own playlists on Spotify and other apps. So, the listener can get back some of the individuality.

But, I do miss the sense of community we had with local radio when I grew up. I could tell a lot of stories about favorite stations that are now resting in peace.

[djean111]

3. I think there are trends and scenes, but the internet has made it possible for every kind of

music to find its audience, without having to sell a bajillion CDs. Proud of myself, didn't type "albums".
You can go to Spotify or Pandora and tune in to a genre or a singer, too.
Lots of different music on TV shows and movies, too. I hear amazing songs I would never have heard on the radio.

IMO what is played on the radio has stagnated, but that is Clear Channel's doing. IMO and all that.

[TexasProgresive]

12. Why are you proud that you didn't type "album"?

Unless there is one piece on a cd it is still an album. That word is exclusive to describe vinyl 33 RPM analog records which got the name album because there would be many songs cut on one disc as opposed to 45 RPM records which were limited to 2 songs, one per side. Sorry for the rant but I do love words and their roots.

2 a collection of recordings, on long-playing record, cassette, or compact disc, that are issued as a single item.

[djean111]

14. Just a joke. Dang.

I started buying singles and albums in the '50s and '60s. It is an inside joke with my grandson.

[TexasProgresive]

17. Told ya I was sorry for the rant.

At least the words vinyl and CD work since CDs are made of polycarbonate plastic and not vinyl.

And your grandson must be really old (what's that make you? yeah I know, takes one to know one) because he knows what CDs are. All the kids I know just use MP3s.

[djean111]

21. I am in my late sixties. I have about a thousand albums, I think! Many many different genres.

I have a lot of CDs, but never once bought a cassette tape. Seemed too flimsy.
I keep thinking I will find the time to transfer my favorite albums to mp3s, but I know I won't.
My grandson is 19, and yes, he buys his music an mp3 at a time. but he used to listen to my CDs when he was younger. He lives with me, and all my CDs are stored in a glass-fronted cabinet, so he gets curious about what is in there.

I used to listen to Jango internet radio a lot - they do push new acts and Indies and you get a chance to follow acts you like. The acts will email you
A problem I had with Pandora is the "if you like that you will like this" feature. I love rock and roll. I also love Frank Sinatra. I don't want to hear Jack Jones or Michael Bubel sing like Frank Sinatra, I want "the real thing". Pandora also sort of keeps you in your lane, and I want to hear more Brazilian style music sometimes or whatever.
I do like my FIOS TV music chammels, there is a good variety, and, as someone has posted here, I hear a lot of new (and old) music I never would have heard otherwise. Same thing with TV shows and movies. I generally, if I hear one bit of music I like, look up the soundtrack and see what is there.
Pinterest is good too - I pin my favorites, and when someone has the excellent taste of pinning one of MY songs, I look to see what they have that I might like!
Music is really all over the place now, and very accessible.

[meaculpa2011]

13. Bingo! We have a winner! n/t

[postulater]

4. Don't you remember the day the music died?

I do.

[yuiyoshida]

16. Haven't you heard?

Music has not died, its moved to Japan!!

[el_bryanto]

5. There are dozens of types of music

out at any time - if anything there are even more genres now. You have to look at progressive music - which these days usually means electronica, hip-hop, house and the like - but artists are still creating new sounds all the times.

Bryant

[thatgemguy]

6. Corporate Interests

Now control media, radio and the recording industry. If they can't make money off it, they don't make it. Look at Country music and all of the pre- manufactured artists, like Taylor Swift and Iggy Azalea, . All designed to fit a specific niche, demographic, and audience.

There are still a lot of good new music and artists out there with different styles, just harder to find, you have to search for it.

Corporate music and radio SUCK!

[lumberjack_jeff]

7. There's a musical trend. It's called "selling soap".

I was at a statewide HS band event yesterday. One of the kids from the host school showed up with a couple of guitars. He and a student from our school did an impromptu jam for the rest of the band. Their choice of music? The Ramones.

I don't think the view that modern music is worthless is unique to old folks.

[LostInAnomie]

8. As far as the commercial aspect is concerned, music has been completely captured...

... by the industry. For the most part, pop and rap have become indistinguishable. Pop and country are almost the same. Rap, pop, and even country are all using elements of EDM. That's three of the biggest money making genres and a newer upstart which should all have little crossover essentially cannibalizing each other.

Add to this pro tools that can make ANYONE sound good have made all musicians interchangeable, musicians that aren't expected to be song writers, and an audience conditioned to not expect much. You've created an environment where music can be mass produced easily by studios. If they can't make a "star" with minimal effort that can be easily interchanged, why would they bother looking for anything new?

[Brickbat]

9. It's more fragmented because of the Internet.

There's actually some great pop out there, and some not-so-bad alternative.

[GOLGO 13]

10. Lots of great new music out there but

You gotta search for it. Ignore commercial radio and start hitting Internet radio stations & You Tube etc. I sometimes put the music stations carried by my cable tv and bounce from the rock, punk, 70's, funk, stoner rock stations. I've discovered a ton of new bands/genres that I never knew existed.

Trends are there but the lines have blurred a lot. Crossover is what corporations are pushing to maximize $$$$$

[bmbmd]

11. If there is a new "trend"

It might be the independent singer-songwriter troubadour type artist. My kid has made a pretty good living for the last six or seven years by touring, sleeping on friend's sofas, developing a social media presence, and cutting a privately produced cd every year or so. I have met, and listened to, a good number of his friends and acquaintances, and have housed a good number of them, also. Their music is fresh, interesting, and personal. They put stuff on I-Tunes, they play on a few local radio stations, and they build themselves a circle of followers. More often than not, their records are financed through crowd-source funding. Even groups with some notoriety have used that means for new projects. I participated in the Del Castillo Kickstarter project a few years ago-got a cd and a t-shirt out of the deal.

[villager]

52. Good for your kid! I think, increasingly, this will be the template for "creative livelihoods..."

I'm an author, and am re-tooling my own "career arc" to include more digital offerings -- i.e., the literary equivalent of "a couple of new tracks," offered digitally, between longer projects, etc.

The only problem is that authors don't have "small clubs" to play for additional revenue (and otherwise, at bookstores, libraries, etc., appearances are generally expected to be free!)

So the model still has to work itself out -- but having a social media presence, and a reliable "circle" of listeners (or readers!) into your art, can provide a great bit of breathing room, I think...

[TexasProgresive]

15. As posted by the others on this thread- it is complicted.

I think the root of the problem with music and a whole lot of other stuff starts with children who don't have enough unstructured time to just do stuff. Yesterday I read a post but I don't know if it was DU or somewhere else. It was a parent who had just moved to (North Carolina?) and visited with a neighbor so that her child and the neighbor's who were of an age might get to know one another. The neighbor picked up her phone and scrolled and scrolled and said that her child had a free 45 minutes on __________. The rest of this child's time was completely filled with planned activities. When does a child have time to learn who to entertain herself?

Even growing up on a working ranch with attendant chores i always had time to think, draw, read and just play stupid made up games with my friends, not to mention stupid discussions about stuff we didn't understand.

It only takes one generation to squash imagination.

But the music is not dead. My cousin has a little store in a remote rural area that has live music twice a week. The musicians that come out are all talented, some young, some old. They play country, swing, rock, jazz and whatever. It is always good. They don't play for money but for love- yes they receive a bit of money and tips but I'll bet that just covers expenses. It reminds me of the music I heard in Irish pubs. The musicians were just patrons that brought their talents and instruments to the pub and were rewarded with the odd free pint.

[UglyGreed]

18. Profits and greed

Very few garage bands and auto tune for the pretty folks. It sucks.

[Recursion]

19. If it's too loud you're too old.

Why are there no musical trends anymore?



There have been musical trends since the first caveman banged one rock against another, and they continue.

[greymattermom]

20. live music

I've found amazing live music in Cincinnati and Atlanta at several small venues. I just buy the cds at the venues, and the money goes directly to the bands.

[TBF]

22. Just like the news

and everything else these days. Once you get past corporate gatekeeper Clear Channel you can find the independents who are doing interesting things.

[bemildred]

23. That was all marketing bullshit, and the record companies are losing their markets. nt

[surrealAmerican]

24. It hasn't stagnated.

Think about why, in your youth, the familiar sort of music trends happened: the record companies and radio stations made those trends. Neither of those has the audience to do so any more.

If you're looking for "trends" from those sources, you're looking in the wrong place.

[Vinca]

25. What is this "music" you speak of?

No Lennon/McCartney in the current crop.

[el_bryanto]

31. It's funny how many people are complaining that corporations are killing the music industry

when you consider how much less music was commercially available in the 1960s. More music and more styles of music means that it's harder for one band to grab and hold the top seat. It's the same thing with Television - the more channels, the less overwhelmingly successful any one TV show can be.

There are some incredible modern bands though.

Bryant

[giftedgirl77]

26. Wow, you sound like my grandfather 25 years ago.

Congrats. There's tons of great music out there, my apologies that it's not to your standard.

[AngryAmish]

27. it doesn't have to be to my standard, it has to be a trend.

There are lots of things I like and lots of things I don't. I am talking about trends, like when everyone started making disco records and then stopped. I don't see new genres starting. Something different, like electronic reggea or speed sea shanties. It seems like the music culture has stagnated, like the movies.

Television, otoh, seems to be becoming better. Thar is related to decreased cost of priduction of the digital era and many outlets.

[hunter]

47. Those "trends" were the fabrications of people selling records, creating "mass markets."

Just like MacDonald's created a mass market for its fast food. Billions served.

The internet and advances in electronics that vastly reduced the cost of setting up a quality "recording studio" severely disrupted that model.

As a kid in Los Angeles we'd identify with a certain radio station (KLOS, KMET, etc.,) and buy the music we heard broadcast.

My kids don't pay any attention at all to broadcast radio. All their music comes through internet channels. When they were teens living at home they didn't like driving cars with CD players because there was no audio input jack. They'd rather drive cars with a cassette player because they could use a cassette adapter to play music from their own personal electronics while driving.

[kentauros]

28. Some good answers for you on this thread.

However, as my music tastes are pretty well established, I haven't paid much attention to trends in decades. Oh, I do look for new music, but public radio pretty much weaned me off commercial radio almost 40 years ago.

Try these sites for finding popular music

All Music. All Blogs.

NetLabels

StillStream (is an ambient, non-commercial, zero-revenue independent net radio station based in the United States.)

soma fm (honestly, my favorite radio station!)

[el_bryanto]

30. Mix Cloud is good too

Although you can't always find links to the songs they play, and it's a wide variety of styles. Link here.

It does put the lie to there are no new genres though.

[kentauros]

33. Thanks!

I'll have a look later this morning. Listening to StillStream at the moment

[progressoid]

59. Dammit! I have work to do.

Must. Resist. Clicking. On. All Music. All Blogs.

[kentauros]

66. "Resistance is useLESS!"

To quote Douglass Adams

[ladjf]

29. You've just asked a fabulous question.

First, let me say, that throughout the history of the human race, it appears that music has always been part of our existence. In the earliest times, music was mostly part of spiritual or religious activities. Music of many types will always be an important part of Human history.

Through the years, the art and science of creating music has instinctively closely followed the science of musical acoustics. Mid-way through the 20th Century, Modern harmony had just about reached the limits of harmonic dissonance, leaving composers in a quandary as to how to innovate new practices. The result, major musical forms of Classical music such as symphonies became stuck with no where to go. Classical music repertoire became bogged down in various attempts to explore innovative harmonic systems. Large works such as symphonies fell out of favor among composers and listeners.

Pop music has traditionally used harmonies similar to Classical music, although a couple of hundred years behind. Since the 1940's up to the present, pop music has split off into more and more special niche genres. Ultimately, so many genres were created, the fan base for each became increasingly small therefore cutting the size of their fan bases which in turn reduced the economic possibilities for all.

One genre, the Heavy metalalists, became so disenchanted with the social and political mess society had made that they abandoned contemporary music forms of the period and set out to create their own system with as few traces of contemporary practices as possible. In short, they went to a modal systems that started with a modal system that closely resembled the Greek modes from 2000 years ago. They quickly developed their system which , in effect, re-traced 2,000 years of musical harmonic development in about 10 to 15 years, culminating with a system that was similar to European harmonic practices of the 17th and 18th Centuries. At that point, however, their fans began to notice that they were using standard harmonies which they derisively referred to as , "main stream". As a result, heavy metal died quickly. They were a bright, hot light of popular musical adventure, extinguished by the realities of the harmonic series.

Today, pop music is meandering through various experiments in search of innovative musical expression that relates to the human condition. There are still many gifted performers. The problem is where do they go next? Pop music finds itself in the same situation as Classical symphonic music of the mid-20th Century. They have pushed the simple limits of the harmonic series as it relates to our ability to process audio.

There may well be viable answers to this artistic dilemma. However, I don't think the DU board is the proper place try to initiate those responses. I've probably already tried to cover more material than I should have.

[AngryAmish]

36. This is very interesting and informative

I am not a musical expert just a guy listening to the radio.

Why did the orchestral folk quit in the mid 20th century? Just wanting to make something new? Why not accept the limits of the orchestra and try to make something beautiful? I always figured it was the cost of trying sometging new, even though they do it for the movies.

[ladjf]

38. The orchestral composers didn't actualy quit. But, since they had apparently pushed the natural

systems of harmony to the limit, they ran out innovative ideas. The "serialist" of "12 tone composers" devised a system of harmony
that required all 12 pitches of the chromatic scale to be utilized before using pitches twice

Here is an article from wikapedia explaning the 12 tone system:

"Twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition devised by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951). The technique is a means of ensuring that all 12 notes of the chromatic scale are sounded as often as one another in a piece of music while preventing the emphasis of any one note[3] through the use of tone rows, orderings of the 12 pitch classes. All 12 notes are thus given more or less equal importance, and the music avoids being in a key. The technique was influential on composers in the mid-20th century.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve-tone_technique

The purpose was to use all 12 notes before repeating therefore not establishing any pitch as the pitch center of "key".

Many composers used this system during the mid-20th Century. For reasons that I won't go into here, the technique never caught on with the public.

You are correct in your assertion the beautiful or interesting orchestral music could still be created using the tried and true techniques of harmony and melodic invention. However, over the centuries, the listening public is always looking of newness and rewarding it when it works.

The movie music of today is an interesting topic that is moving in a somewhat different direction with considerable success. Perhaps in another post, I might discuss their techniques and solutions to adapt to the current music market place using some valid new
strategies, based on computer sampling capabilities.

James Hook, a British keyboardist and composer wrote wonder material during the 18th Century. But, his style was about 50 to 75 years behind the times of his period. He published and performed many of his works yet today he is almost forgotten. Even J.S. Bach was considered "old fashioned" by his own children , some of which were themselves composers.

[L0oniX]

46. Any guitar player that desires to be above the rest will gravitate to neo classical metal.

Michael Angelo Batio, Yngwie Malmsteen, Jeff Loomis (extraordinary), Marty Freedman, Chris Broderick, Vinni Moore are probably the top best players in the world ...even Jason Becker is still kicking it via collaboration. These players all do well in other countries. The neo classical metal style requires extreme discipline ...I know ...I play it and work at it constantly when I am not on the console here.

Check out this young girl...

http://www.truthinshredding.com/2014/06/tina-s-vigier-excalibur-special.html

[ladjf]

50. I'm not sure what "neo-classical metal" is but about 20 yrs

ago I heard a guitar solo by a player in the "White Snake" band take a long ad lib cadenza solo and when he broke into his version of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, the kids in the audience went nuts. They would never have dreamed that the solo material was based upon a 300 year old work.

Please tell me more about "neo-classical metal style".

[L0oniX]

58. ...guitar players that have studied classical music such as Paganini...

and or were brought up listening to classical music and or played violin like I did in school and in an orchestra. Yngvie for instance directly ripped off some of Paganini's arpeggios. I also listen to a CD of Paganini for the influence. Yea the 300 year old classical is some but not all of the stuff great guitar players are made from IMO. Pentatonic players might as well cut off their middle finger and pinky ...they just get in the way. When you see a guitar players fingers all on the bottom edge of the neck from top to bottom when playing you know they put in the time and discipline. If you see their thumb wrapped around the low E string they most likely will not use all 4 fingers ...especially the pinky. Those players will forever be limited to pentatonic blues styles ...probably followed Hendrix, Clapton, Page and the like ...unless they get to know modes. Just my 2 cents on it.

[ladjf]

60. Thanks for the good information.

What you are saying about the importance of classical technique is also true for pianist. David Torkenowski , a prominent New Orleans
blues pianist was classically trained and his jazz technique is amazing. Brubeck is another.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

79. You're right.

People who study classical music and develop serious chops, go into jazz when they get bored, because classical and jazz are the only two complex forms of music.

Jean-Luc Ponty graduated from the Paris Conservatory with the Grand Prix for outstanding student, in violin, and went into jazz fusion. He learned most of his tricks from Stephane Grappelli. He made a double album many years ago called Canteloupe Island with George Duke and Frank Zappa.

Andy Summers, the guitarist of The Police, studied a lot of classical and now plays jazz. This does not surprise me, because I thought The Police was the last truly great rock band. And they broke up right after I saw them on the Synchronicity tour, when they were excellent. Andy Summers has an instructional video on Youtube of jazz chords that I have watched. I fried my brain listening to him talk about suspended, diminished, 7ths, 9ths, 11ths and 13th chords.

As far as heavy metal, it's modal like much folk music, and sometimes has a drone, which is why you can play "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC on a bagpipe. I watch Angus Young playing complex figures that are much like Bach, yet it's surrounded by noise and a screaming vocalist who sounds horrible (the guy who replaced Bon Scott).

And jazz started with Claude Debussy and developed from his classical, called impressionistic, works.

All the above about 20th century classical music stagnating in 12 tone and hitting a wall is true. There is good and non-cacophonous classical music being written today, but it's sort of hard to find. Aarvo Part and John Tavener are doing this kind of stuff.

[corkhead]

32. I don't know about that, the overuse of the "autotune" and excessive use of "hey" "ho" "la" and

numerous other meaningless words as substitutes for actual lyrics seems to be a trend to me

[L0oniX]

43. Yeah yeah yeah - Beatles

[BillZBubb]

53. Correct about autotune, but meaningless syllables have been a pop staple forever.

The Beatles in countless tunes. "Hey Jude"!
The Eagles.
Any Do-Wop band.
Etc. Etc.

[Ampersand Unicode]

74. The mispronunciation sucks too.

"I can't live without chew."

Well, of course not, you no-talent, Autotuned numbskull, you die if you don't eat food!

[reddread]

34. driven by fashion, drugs and/or technology

wait for a sea change there and see what follows.

[FSogol]

35. Actually, the problem is that music is so individualized that there are too many trends.

Most trends get zero radio play or notice by the mainstream. Ever seem this website? Its author is trying to understand all the trends

http://everynoise.com/engenremap.html

By clicking on a style, you can hear a sample.
By double clicking on a style you can see every group that makes up that genre and here samples by clicking on the band.


Lately, I've been listening to what he calls, Lo-fi.
I don't always agree with his classification system, but very interesting and an attempt to identify musical styles.

[Avalux]

37. I don't see it that way at all. Trends were corp. record company created and driven.

People were conditioned to the latest 'trends' and their 'labels' because the record companies pushed them on us through radio play and record sales.

Now that listening to the radio and buying records/cds are not the only means of exposure, there's a ton variety out there worth a listen.

[go west young man]

41. Good stuff.....

Here's some more underground bands in the same area musically.

The good stuff is buried underground you just have to search for it. The cream no longer rises to the top......the crap does.

[Avalux]

63. Thanks!

And I completely agree with your statement - the cream no longer rises to the top, the crap does. So true!!

[ladjf]

39. You have created a lot of interest in you question. There are some very insightful answers on

this thread. This reminds of the "Old Days" of DU when people actually mutually dialogged if search of good answers.

[Alittleliberal]

40. EDM is a massive music scene.

[L0oniX]

42. Metal is still big ...everywhere but here ...although MAB seems to do ok.

MAB does good because of the real guitar players that are still here.

[theboss]

44. We need to bring back strong corporate synergy

Seriously, what you are lamenting is the utter loss of power of the music industry.

20 years ago, David Geffen would put all his power behind Nirvana, team up with Viacom to get the video in heavy rotation on MTV, and get the local rock station in every major city to play it once an hour....boom....massive musical trend in a matter of weeks.

Today, Nirvana would be putting up self-financed Youtube videos and drawing about 1000 people to every show.

Really, the only shared culture right now is among suburban teenage girls. Teenage boys and everyone else are splintered in a zillion different pieces.

Seriously, in 1983, the Motown 25th Anniversary special was seen by 50 million viewers - and I think everyone of those people immediately bought Thriller. I'm not sure such an audience is possible in 2014 - even though the population is much bigger. The highest American Idol finale ever had 36 million viewers.

[hunter]

48. No, thank you, and good riddance.

I've abandoned television and radio entirely. No broadcast, no cable, no satellite. My television is strictly a movie player. No commercials.

I think it's a good thing that the market for electronic media is now as fragmented and as diverse as, say, the market for books or paintings. There may be fewer "stars" but most artists were never going to be stars or superstars anyways, or even full time artists. My parents are both artists and, like most artists, they had regular jobs too, regular enough that they are now enjoying retirement.

The only remaining market for large audiences now seems to be movies and we are beginning to see movie theaters with digital projectors being used for broadcast events such as concerts, sporting events, and live theater.

[Yavin4]

45. Death of Clubs in NYC

A lot of trends in music came out of the dance and rock clubs in NYC. CBGBs, Studio 54, The Limelight, The Tunnel, etc. all of these clubs set new trends in music and dance.

[Savannahmann]

49. Antics have replaced music in the video industry.

Before M-TV, there was a chance for a record to get some play if the song was good. One hit wonders abounded, but those bands all got replaced by the shock value of the artist instead of the quality of the music.

Let's take two of the "big" hit singers. Brittney Spears and Miley Cyrus. Neither girl can sing. Don't watch the videos, listen to the music. The women sing in the same tone, it gets louder, or softer, but it never changes pitch. Every song is in the same vocal key, and it never changes. Lady Gaga is the same way. So the answer to get the fame is outrageous behavior. People watch the videos to catch the outrageous behavior, they go to concerts, and even buy the songs on Amazon or iTunes, but they are thinking of the image instead of the song.

So the Record execs know what sells, and they search for the next thing. They know what it will take, and I'm certain they are listening to the key ingredients. A Futurama episode had the Beastie Boys playing. Lela checks the computer on her wrist and says. "They're rhyming with an 80% success rate, I think that means they're illen." That might as well be the record company guru's approach to the music these days.

Second, there is no desire to help the musician and the groups grow.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers were a young band with the talent foundation. But their music lacked something in the first couple albums. They were a niche surf punk group. The Studio locked them in a room with George Clinton. Their next records were big hits, their music had the more complete sound it was lacking, and the talented Flea became the best Bass player in the world IMO with that little nudge. The talent was there, but it needed something to really approach greatness.

Imagine if they had remained nothing more than a niche market surf punk band. By getting schooled by the Master of Funk himself, the band took it to the next level, and have endured for nearly four decades. If the studio hadn't invested the time, and money into the band, then we would likely never have heard of them, and IMO our lives would be poorer for it. (As an aside I first heard them in the mid Eighties in California on the radio station KROQ.) I've probably bought the Mothers Milk Album four times, or more over the years.

Now, assuming we can change the Human Animal to reject shock value, we can get some real musical development going on. But since we seem determined to reward singers who can't sing but can prance about in pasties and G-strings I think we're pretty much boned.

[Man from Pickens]

51. What they call "music" these days isn't

Nothing more than the results of focus-testing to see what might sell an extra album or two. Can't decide what is the worst, the endless recycling of yesterday's catchy hooks, the reduction of harmonic complexity into preschool-level simplicity, the dumbing-down of subject matter, or the pretense that if you sing everything like you're having a religious experience it sounds good.

If you want real music you'll have to find it underground because the industry isn't producing any.

[DetlefK]

54. Do you really think, it will suddenly stop after all this time?

Blues

Rythm'n'Blues

Rock'n'Roll

In the 70s Disco broke off from Rock'n'Roll.

In the 80s Metal broke off from Rock'n'Roll as a counter-movement to Disco. Punk and Rap broke off from Rock'n'Roll as well. Disco mutated into Electro as keyboards and synthesizers became the instrument of choice for melodies.

In the 90s Electro gave birth to Techno when electric instruments were used for rythms now instead of melodies. Metal and Punk have a baby named Grunge. The public taste switches from bombastic shows of big-label bands (with lots of hairspray and elaborate costumes) to down-to-earth bands.

In the 2000s Disco and Electro formed Pop-Music.

In the 2010s (so far) there was a shift back to a more instrumental tone. The pirating-problem leads to a loss of profits for record-labels, only live-shows hold steady. Music-videos become too expensive, but while some relegate them to mere marketing-tools and pay for them by showing a particular smartphone for a few seconds, other musicians focus on music-videos as an art-form and strive to new artistic heights.

...

And this is just the Rock'n'Roll-branch of music!!!!!!!

I guess that the trends towards life-shows and acoustic-visual expression will meld into some kind of performance-art.




Here's a timeline:

[djean111]

55. There is also something called Stageit - online concerts, pay what you can

I don't know if there is any sort of genre besides indie, but might be worth a look, I do not recognise any groups....

https://www.stageit.com/

[kwassa]

56. There aren't a lot of new musical ideas out there.

Mostly there is just endless re-hashing of the same rock music vocabulary that has been around for the past fifty years or so. Endless variations on very old themes.

Even if those variations are well-crafted, they are not particularly new, therefore not terribly exciting.

And very distinct musical voices and viewpoints are rare. Most new artists fit within well-established commerical norms and patterns.

[Initech]

57. There's lots of good albums that have been released this year.

A lot of people say that the music industry is dying. Bullshit. The music industry isn't going anywhere. What is going away are the traditional distribution methods. Because even seasoned veterans like Trent Reznor and Thom Yorke are discovering that you can make way more money if you release your material yourself than going through an intermediary.

Here's some of my favorite albums released this year:

Devin Townsend - Sky Blue
The Black Keys - Turn Blue
Mastodon - Once More Around The Sun
Jack White - Lazaretto
Ian Anderson - Homo Erraticus
Lunatic Soul - Walking On A Flashlight Beam
North Atlantic Oscillation - The Third Day
Phish - Fuego
Wolfmother ' New Crown
Hozier - Hozier
Opeth - Pale Communion
Interpol - El Pintor
Weird Al Yankovic - Mandatory Fun
The Gaslight Anthem - Get Hurt
Elbow - The Take Off And Landing Of Everything
Death From Above 1979 - The Physical World

[Avalux]

62. Please add "TV on the Radio" to your list.

They've got a new release out Nov 17. Can't wait!

[dilby]

64. Seeing them on December 11th.

And Can't wait for the 17th to come around.

[Initech]

68. Damn no Los Angeles dates on the current tour.

Oh well there's always the next one!

[dilby]

70. Wow that is weird, to think they would play Portland OR and skip LA.

Usually Portland is just a layover for bands who are playing in Seattle and LA. It's one of the downsides to the music scene here, most of the really good shows are mid week.

[Initech]

65. Yes I am a fan of that band.

But how can you review an album you haven't heard yet? This isn't the iTunes pre order section.

[Avalux]

67. Haha sorry you're right - it shouldn't be on your list (yet)!

Here's a preview though, I love it:

[dilby]

69. Here is a song from the new album

And it's awesome so you know the new album is going to be full of win. Plus when has TV on the Radio ever produced a bad album, I mean OK Calculator was not that great but it served it's purpose.

[Orsino]

61. Same reasons pop stars don't get mansions anymore.

The product enriches only the machine, and the machine does not select for creativity.

[Xithras]

71. Indie Pop? Folk Rock? Indietronica? Dubstep? EDM? There are trends.

The real change is that the power of radio and the music companies has been largely eliminated when defining these trends. A few decades ago, one label would find a "new" sound and push it out to all of the radio stations. The rest of the labels would bandwagon to find similar sounds, and push them out as well. The result was nationwide "musical trends" that defined eras. The labels blindly followed each other, and they chose the music that hit the airwaves.

The Internet has permanently changed that model. Nowadays any half-decent band can get signed can start offering their music on Pandora, iTunes, Play, or any of the dozens of other musical outlets available to listeners. People can choose the music that suits THEIR tastes, instead of the record companies dictating what is, and is not, "popular". Because music listening is so user-focused and fragmented nowadays, trends tend to encompass smaller groups of people. When they do rise to the top, they don't last as long. That doesn't mean that the trends don't exist, but that there are a lot more of them competing for your attention, and none rise as high as the pre-Internet trends did.

I was reading something a couple of years ago that bluntly declared Alternative Rock to be the "last great American musical trend". The author wasn't a huge fan of Alt-Rock, but simply believed that the segmentation of the market meant that no musical genre would ever again achieve the kind of cultural success that Alt-Rock or Grunge had in the 90's.

[Ampersand Unicode]

73. The current trend is crap. Looks to be staying that way.

No music necessary. Just shake your ass on a stage and simulate having anal sex with Alan Thicke's D-list son.

Or, pretend you're an eighties pop star, even name your album after your birth year despite not being born until after (or being an infant when) the Berlin Wall fell, and sell millions of records to brainless, overweight, teenage sycophants who have no hope of emulating you, yet somehow think you're a "role model" despite having accomplished nothing of merit in life besides knowing how to straighten your hair and adopting a cat named for a Law & Order character. (All this success despite -- or because of -- having a computer-generated helium voice, no real lyrical substance, and borderline personality disorder.) Rhyme idiotic shit like "Born in nineteen eighty-nine, not nineteen eighty-eight (eight, eight, eight...), and I don't care 'bout haters 'cause haters gonna hate (hate, hate, hate, hate...)." Dance around in a stupid music video containing pretty much every cheesy yet immediately recognizable eighties meme from a VH1 special: Robert Palmer models, Frankie Say Relax shirts, Rubik's Cubes, breakdancing, the piano from "Big," John Cusack's boom box, 8-bit Mario Brothers graphics, the 3D Dire Straits animation, the A-Ha cartoon, Pee Wee Herman's bar-counter dance (complete with the shoes), and ageless Rob Lowe (with or without "shy bladder syndrome").

Do all this and then flash "Feminism" in life-size neon letters on a stage. Everyone will love you and you don't even have to work for it.

Meanwhile, John is still dead, and Elvis has left the universe.

(Can you tell I especially hate Taylor Swift?)

[Marr]

76. It's not just music. Have you noticed that fashion is hardly changing?

Turn on a 20 year old sitcom and most of the clothing would be completely unremarkable today. In 1990, twenty year old fashion would've stood out like a sore thumb.

[AngryAmish]

77. I have some underpants that are 20 years old.

But your point is well taken.

[longship]

78. That's why I haven't listened to "popular" music for decades.

Yes, there are a few I still like, mostly older songs.

But RAP/HipHop/whatever-it's-called utterly sucks. Loud doesn't make good. Louder doesn't make better. That stuff is unlistenable to me.

Give me Bach. Or a Mozart opera. Or Brahms. Or Ralph Vaugh Williams. Or Philip Glass. Or Arvo Part. Or Charles Ives. Or Alban Berg. Or Benny Goodman. Or Duke Ellington. Etc.

Popular music lost its way. Nobody will remember much of what is played today in the future. Yet, for instance, Glenn Gould's 1955 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations will still remain one of the greatest interpretations of very great music.

Some music is timeless. Little of that is today's popular music.

My best regards.