I don't know much of what has been going on in the underground of music the last decade, but there are a couple of superstars that have emerged that I 'believe' in. Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, Lana Del Ray I think are just as good as the hype. And while I haven't been completely bowled over by any over Earl Sweatshirts albums as of yet (as I admittedly had expected to be) I will still buy anything he releases.
I like Lamar, but don't think too much of the others. I would add St. Vincent, Angel Olsen, Father John Misty, HER, The Oh Sees. I'm already on fumes. Maybe throw your Lonely Islands in there.
And, even though they emerged early in the oughts, I think Deerhunter is kind of my lifer band these days. They have the exact kind of pop instincts undercut by dissonance and anger and weirdness that makes them very special to me.
Yeah, I like Deerhunter a lot, but I consider them more of the Aught decade. There was a year, maybe 2017?, when a number of some of the better Aught bands released new records - Grizzly Bear, Deerhunter, Spoon, Arcade Fire.... And the only one that I really liked was the Arctic Monkeys one. None of them were bad, but....the Aughts seem like a long time ago, but I'd have little trouble racking up a top fifty list. No way I could do that with the 10s.
A lot of people don't understand the current economics of the industry. For example, it has nothing to do with radio.
I'm pretty up on it. Several friends who are professional musicians and a lot of reading and listening on the subject. The economics of the different streaming systems alone is just fascinating to me. SoundCloud has an interesting new model.
My point is, the human race didn't forget how to write good songs nor did they lose interest in innovation in music. It's all out there but the industry is pushing product as much as humanly possible. Which they have in the past. One hopes that the alternative accesses to music that exist now will slowly erode the system but, of course, it's more likely that the industry will corral it and monetize it for themselves at the expense of creatives. As always.
The labels have consolidated and largely been stripped of A&R departments, and touring only provides a fraction of the revenue it once did, all long before the pandemic. The short jist of this clip is that it's much tougher now for new artists today to become established and make a living as working musicians, and this has been the defining economic model for the past decade.
Then why did you mention 'radio' in this context? It suggests that this isn't a serious discussion.
Seriously, dude. How long have we known each other? No need for this.
I say "radio" because I'm almost 50 years old so when I talk about "radio" I'm using it reductively for the entirety of mainstream music distribution because that was the entirety of mainstream music distribution for my formative years.
But also because I have observed that that is how the majority of regular people use streaming services, as nothing more than what they feel is a tailored radio station. It's even called "radio" on several of the services.
Then why did you mention 'radio' in this context? It suggests that this isn't a serious discussion
Nope, not quite.
.
The labels have consolidated and largely been stripped of A&R departments, and touring only provides a fraction of the revenue it once did, all long before the pandemic. The short jist of this clip is that it's much tougher now for new artists today to become established and make a living as working musicians, and this has been the defining economic model for the past decade.
And this misses the point that I was making or rather tries to evade it by one-upmanship, that the recording industry has always exploited the creatives. Always. Is it worse now, in some ways, sure, mostly due to technology and the new avenues of exploitation it has afforded, but in other ways it's the same old song.
Seriously, dude. How long have we known each other? No need for this.
Sorry, it sounded like some "OK, Boomer" type of dig, as if my issue with the current economic model is that it no longer relies on that old timey radio model.
And this misses the point that I was making or rather tries to evade it by one-upmanship, that the recording industry has always exploited the creatives. Always. Is it worse now, in some ways, sure, mostly due to technology and the new avenues of exploitation it has afforded, but in other ways it's the same old song.
I just wanted to be clear about the specifics of what I'm taking issue with. My thesis is simple: I feel that there have been fewer musical artists of interest who have emerged in the past decade, and the reason for this is that, currently, outside of the top eschelon of the music industry, given the collapse of both physical media and touring revenues (and again I stress that the latter was occurring long before the pandemic), it hasn't been economically sustainable for a young artist to establish themselves.
I'm optimistic. I hope that we'll see some kind of correction to this sooner or later. And maybe in the ensuing years, there will be an excavation, by those dedicated souls who'll have the time to spare, of all of the nuggets that must surely be embedded among the monotonous drudgery of Bandcamp and Soundcloud. A lost genre of discovery awaits those who are willing to mine those quarries. Hopefully at some point in the future, the likes of Shawn Mendes and Ed Sheeran will be as equally obscure as these currently lost treasures are now.
One of the only moments of musical anarchy (or music of any kind) captured on MTV Canada. Even more riveting when you know everyone in that bathroom almost died because of a gasoline leak that flooded the floor and that there were (multiple) open flames nearby.
Sorry, it sounded like some "OK, Boomer" type of dig, as if my issue with the current economic model is that it no longer relies on that old timey radio model.
I just wanted to be clear about the specifics of what I'm taking issue with. My thesis is simple: I feel that there have been fewer musical artists of interest who have emerged in the past decade, and the reason for this is that, currently, outside of the top eschelon of the music industry, given the collapse of both physical media and touring revenues (and again I stress that the latter was occurring long before the pandemic), it hasn't been economically sustainable for a young artist to establish themselves.
I'm optimistic. I hope that we'll see some kind of correction to this sooner or later. And maybe in the ensuing years, there will be an excavation, by those dedicated souls who'll have the time to spare, of all of the nuggets that must surely be embedded among the monotonous drudgery of Bandcamp and Soundcloud. A lost genre of discovery awaits those who are willing to mine those quarries. Hopefully at some point in the future, the likes of Shawn Mendes and Ed Sheeran will be as equally obscure as these currently lost treasures are now.
I feel like so much of the music I enjoy now, despite my advanced age, is from the last ten years and even last ten months of music. Lucius, St. Vincent, Black Pumas, Sylvan Esso, Michael Kiwanuka, Haim, Khruangbin, Jany Green, Phoebe Bridgers, Lukas Nelson, Sharon Van Etten, Masego, Lisa Hannigan, Moon Taxi, Rhiannon Giddens, man, I feel almost worn out listening to so much new music, I still gotta find time for The Dead, and Hendrix, and The Allman Bros., and all the other stuff I like. It feels like an avalanche of creativity now to me, because "outsiders" have new avenues to get their music out there that they simply didn't have before. That's sorta what I mean about "radio", I'm talking about the Ed Sheerans and whoever Shawn Mendes is, those guys don't even cross my feed. If they have new music, I don't even know about it because I'm busy having my mind blown by Michael Kiwanuka, Black Pumas, Lucius, St. Vincent, etc. People ask me all the time, "You know... that song by (whatever mainstream artist)? Oh you know it. You definitely know it." And I'm like, "I don't know who the **** you're talking about? Did you watch that killer Sylvan Esso concert that I know as well as you know that Drake song I've never heard and probably never will?" So, I didn't mean to be condescending, in ANY way, certainly not to someone I have respectfully shared space with for years, what I was trying to say is that I think it's easier than ever (for the listener at least) to live completely outside of "mainstream" music and have a steady flowing river of great, great stuff.
So, just exactly how much does Lars Von Trier want me to hate this movie? I feel I need to know this first before deciding which parts of it I hate most, and which parts feel like the desperately sad last gasp of cinema's most talented bridge troll.
Reply to Topic
