In the 1960’s we had the Doors, the Beatles, and Janis Joplin. During the 70’s there was Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd and then The Dire Straits, Talking Heads and Metallica of the 80’s. In the 90’s it seemed the only good music to come out of it was the Cranberries, Massive Attack and the godfathers of grunge, Nirvana, which to some music connoisseurs was “the day the music died.”
Most wouldn’t go that far, but as time passed and the new technologies and people’s states of mind began to shift, one would think the music of the late 90’s and 2000’s would surpass everything and bring something new and extraordinary. When hip-hop started to become popular in the early 90’s with Ice Cube and A Tribe Called Quest and then Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G., the music industry saw something new and different. Maybe it was a little risky, but it was listenable, artsy and had something to say. Following the deaths of Kurt Cobain, Tupac and Biggie, no one quite knew what happened and what came over the music industry, or what didn’t, and as we got closer to 2000, music was mostly unoriginal, redundant and elementary.
This doesn’t mean that all music that came out then and is coming out now is bad and lacks quality. There is still real great music and inventions in the industry that bring some amazing sounds and genres to life, but they are few and far between. At the same time, the quality of our beloved genres, rock and hip-hop, have dropped drastically. So much that just about every hip-hop song out there is about girls’ butts and booty shakes, and as far as rock goes, sometimes all you hear is loud noise and screams. Some bands like Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne are getting too old and don’t have the energy to be like their youth, but they have managed to stay on the radar for three decades.
The way music is being produced today, bands can only manage a few years on top, then you don’t hear their names any more unless they turn to actors or TV hosts.
Social networks allow musicians, amazing or horrible, at a rapid rate, to announce their involvement in the industry. Before, it was MTV or an album at Amoeba that officially dubbed a person or group as respectable musicians, but the social networks have homogenized the market. It certainly isn’t helping to distinguish the rare talent that strums in the night.
It’s clear with the arrival of Rock Band and Guitar Hero even grandmas and grandpas can feel like musicians. And for kids, these games hinder their ambitions to excel on a real guitar or drum set. These games are becoming their source of education and understanding of music. So, why would they go and learn how to play guitar or drums when all they have to do is push a button to become a guitar hero?
Maybe it’s just the way society works; as time goes by different things become popular. Maybe in 10 years punk rock or boy bands like the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync won’t exist anymore, and meaningful, moving music will come alive and create another musical renaissance. Music is an art that can make or break our feelings, bring peace and joy to us, help us meditate and understand our culture better.
This understanding won’t occur while banging on toy drum sets, singing about bootylicious hos or screaming our lungs out for five minutes.
really don’t understand why music about grudges, angst, suicide, drug and other negative factors of life an art. You got to be kidding me. Some of them cannot even sing great live.
What is wrong with the Backstreet boys music? Their music talks about love, family, mostly about positives factors of life and why aren’t considered good music? They have good harmonies, good melodies, good lyrics that works to different people and they have good voices and can sing great live.
Oh! The hypocricies of the so called musical people.
You’re looking for great music in the wrong places if you’re turning on the radio or watching MTV.
In fact, there’s more great music out there than there was 10+ years ago, you just have to find it online.
agreed. MTV and the radio are truly the last places to look if you want “music”. perhaps if you were engaging in an experiment on torture of the eardrums…
instead, go to websites such as http://pitchfork.com/, http://last.fm/, or even Wikipedia! I found most of the music I listen to today by typing in “List of post-rock bands” in the search box.
Music snobs have existed since the beginning of time. “Great music” must be created and performed only a certain way for it to be considered great? The same person who writes the song must play the instruments and must sing the song? The songs must be about certain topics? Give me a break. The LIMITATIONS that music snobs put on what constitutes good music is itself anathema on music. From that point of view-only Shakespeare should be making the costumes and sets and performing his plays. Performance art, whether of theater or music, IS an art and those musicians, Madonna, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra and yes, the Backstreet Boys and the Supremes, therefore are artists of the performing arts. Music, in its INFINITE variety, is beautiful and should be praised all its forms and presentations. I suspect if the author were honest-it is not the existence of music he/she disdains that bothers him/her the most, but the fact that the music industry ie music labels put their money in the development of such genres and little is made by the more eclectic forms he/she loves. Man, that’s life. Holds true for far more than music. Argue the idiocy of the labels if you will, but not the actual artists. Trust me, as music “fashion” changes and artists become less popular, if they love the music they make and continue to work, or they disappear. Case in point-those Backstreet Boys mentioned. Their history would suggest they are nothing more than a manufactured vocal group intended to only make millions for their producers and label and then sink into obscurity. But despite their drop in popularity and ability to fill stadiums they keep working, they keep making music, they keep entertaining. As all the copycats-nsync, 98*, OTown fall away, they just keep doing what they love-and THAT validates them if nothing else does as musicians in their own right.
if you honestly believe the Black Eyed Peas are musicians just because they do what they “love” (because it makes them money), then you are naive or deluded.
The beautiful thing about music is that each person is going to react to it differently. There are no rules when it comes to music. That is what makes it an art from. People are going to hear different things.
It’s not up to us to say which song or what band is going to give that person their musical fill. It’s up to them.
Music hasn’t declined. It isn’t dead. It hasn’t gone anywhere. Maybe the type of music you’re looking for isn’t as prominent as it used to be, but it is still out there. Like Sam said, you just gotta look for it.
One thing I will oppose though is the invention of auto pitch. In my opinion, inventions like those where the artist doesn’t even have to sing well is what’s going to restrict the industry. That invention in my opinion disrupts the credibility of the music. But who knows, maybe some people don’t care about those things. Maybe they just need the beat to get their hips moving. Maybe it doesn’t hinder them from being inspired by that artist, by that song.
And look at it this way, we still have the music of the old days. We still have the music that has influenced generations. It’s still here. Music isn’t dead. Well, in my heart the music isn’t dead. it is very much alive and a large part of my existence.
Your title caught my attention. I’ve recently started to listen to music from my grandpa’s time. The Doors are awesome.