Our joke of a Music Industry

Another example I want to bring attention to is The Verve

They have seen limited success world wide but have been fairly popular over seas in England over the past decade or so. Their one major hit world wide was Bittersweet Symphony. Really was a great song and one of those that you'll just always remember when you hear the beat to it.

Problem for these guys was, the Producer for the Rolling Stones claimed he owned the music behind the song and would not permit the band to release the song. The only way they could possibly release it was if every cent that was earned due to the song went directly to him, they proceeded to release the song. They made millions and millions for this man who had nothing to do with their music, and they just continued to truck on. It wasn't just about the money for these guys, it was about good music and being able to experience it.

How many bands could we say would of done this in this generaton? Make all this money and see none of it go into your own pocket.

I think it was grossly unfair what that producer did. I'm sure Bittersweet Symphony was a better track then whatever that beat was used for elsewhere. Anyway, bands these days aren't doing much for me. They sound too alike to me except some exceptions like the Go! Team and the Zutons. =/ Those bands are trying to push for something original, something new, yet they get ignored because they don't have a good image. Artic Monkeys are an example of an overhyped band. Got a couple of catchy tunes, but they don't do anything for me. Sounds like everything else.

To true chissler i look at bands today "The killers" "Franz ferdinand "(sp?) "Artic monkeys" "Hard fi" "son of a dork" "fall out boy" "The pussy cat dolls"

Come on! , there all manufactured crappy bands who cant write there own songs and care more about money and publicity than the music

Gone are the days of The doors , metalica and jhonny cash (legend)

The only modern pop band i would credit to now are the black eyed peas , they have orginal enough songs and good lyrics ,Say what you want in my eyes they deserve to be as famous as they are right now

And modern rappers are the biggest joke ive ever seen ,50 cent,Akon, R kelly, and the rest of the same old geniric rappers who sing about how many times they have been shot or how many times there jimmy got waked

And thE women stars in music today are awful "jessica simpson" she cant sing and people only buy her records casue shes hot ,casue of her show or casue she was in dukes of hazerd

I could go on but there is so much wrong with todays music it not even funny
i dont know about you but il take SOAD, Q.O.T.S.A or rammstien over the artic monkeys ,The killers or frans ferdinand any day

Too true about the female "musicians", WAGD!

There's nothing worse than seeing my little sister watching MTV and saying, "I wish I was as pretty as her". It makes me sick. This connects with a post I made about sex being everywhere. Pop "music" isn't about music, it's about using sex appeal as marketing. Same goes for all these "talent" contests, such as, Pop Idol, etc. Who was that women that didn't win 'cause she was overweight? That 100% sums up the pop "music" industry, in my opinion.

Music is a beautiful thing, it shouldn't be ruined by people "singing" about how many times they got laid, how hot they think they are or how many times they've been shot.

No offense, WAGD, SOAD just don't do it for me. I used to like their older stuff, but their latests albums (Hypnotise and Mesmorise) didn't seem original at all. I'll listen to Rammstein anyday, though. They're amazing live, too. PYROS!

Personally, I prefer abit of 80's/90's metal (Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Slayer, etc.), some good old hard rock (Pearl Jam, Guns n Roses, etc.) and some Swedish underground metal (Scar Symmetry, etc.). I'm really getting into my mums CD collection too (The Who, The Clash, The Jam, etc.) Some really great music, in my opinion. I do enjoy "modern" metal, too. Mostly bands who are signed to the label, Roadrunner Records. Killswitch Engage are one of the best metal bands out there at the moment, although, I do prefer their first two albums to The End of Heartache (their latest release). The riffs are amazing.





[edit on 8-4-2006 by xeroxed88]

Rock'n'roll is dead....
R.I.P.
It will be missed.

I don't think its dead, but it sure has been missing for a long time.

I'll remain optimistic and hope to see it make a come back sometime in the near future.

Rock n roll aint dead its out takin a wizz , still even U2 said there will never be a band as good as them again

Oh no, rock isnt dead at all, its just gone independant. With MTV and Much focusing on dancing people muttering out something not quite audible, rock is hard pressed to make it through the media.

But its still there. Just look for concerts in your area. I attended a rolling stones concert last year, and an ACDC concert last year... they are VERY much still alive and rocking! I plan on attending more this year. They had alot of new songs.. it was great!

Theres another group that came out recently, their style is back from the early 80's... cant remember their name... but their good. They're sticking to what rock was originally about, having fun.

We just need to see some originality in the work being put out. Rock is still out there, but the mainstream media is just pumping us with the same trash over and over. I had Stones tickets to see them in September, but I did not make it. I would love to see ACDC live in concert. Probably my favorite songs to listen to were put out by ACDC.

Thinking back to that comment, maybe rock is alive and well. Its just on the underground scene since our mainstream media is to focused on this crap that is being put out by the steroid freaks that look good on camera.

When was the last male singer to come out who was not a muscle bound freak who looked good on the camera, or female who did not have a chest like Janet Jackson.

Originally posted by Dr Love
I remember driving in the car with my g/f and a Nicklewack song came on and the first lyrics the dude sang was something like "I love it when your pants are down around your ankles". WOW...........that's freakin' genius!!

That's nothing man. I heard a song once while at a friend's house that started out "Let's get f'ed up and die / I'm speaking figuratively of course." I just looked those lines up and it's some Motion City Soundtrack crap.

But seriously, "I'm speaking figuratively of course"? That's a big wtf right there. You don't write stuff like that into your lyrics! That's like saying "and now the next verse will have an ABAB rhyme scheme" or "the chord under this line is a Gm" or some stupid [stuff] like that. It's like these guys literally can't tell the difference between creating art and the final product (not surprising -- I doubt they know what art is). There's some genuine confusion going on there, and it's pretty sad, but when I hear it I only feel insulted. I don't need to be explicitly informed when you've used some literary device.

I think Metallica started going downhill as soon as Cliff Burton died. Ride the Lightning wasn't bad, and Master of Puppets was very nice in my opinion. Then Cliff died, and the only decent parts of the next album were Kirk's solos. Or at least that's the case once you get over the power chords and odd meter changes thrown in just for the sake of having them, because that's about all the rest of that album was.

Anybody still listen to Aerosmith? Those guys have gone more poppish now, but it seems more genuine coming from them than lesser bands.

[edit on 19-4-2006 by bsbray11]

Originally posted by bsbray11

Anybody still listen to Aerosmith? Those guys have gone more poppish now, but it seems more genuine coming from them than lesser bands.

[edit on 19-4-2006 by bsbray11]

I am a huge Aerosmith fan. His old stuff is where he had it, but he continues to write great music. The Who, another great band that has seen success decade after decade. They continue to tour and turn a profit, but their prime has passed them by.

A few months ago this was a hot thread for a few days, alot of opinions getting tossed around. Now that time has come and gone, new members with the board I open this back up and see what people think of todays music industry.

Going out of my way to remain optimistic, I like to think it is on rise however it is tough after the dark days we have gone through.

What of this, charging youth for downloading music! I have read a few stories where teenage kids are being charged for downloading their favorite song. These guys are making millions, and have pushed the law to prosecute downloaders regardless of their age. I can understand pirating laws, but attact those creating the programs. When the law went after Napster, it went after the creators not the downloaders.

So I say it again, what are your thoughts &/or opinions on the state of our current music industry.

Dude it all went really down hill in the mid 90's. The A&R Executives decided that they were going to make the Producers and the A&R more important than the act. People like Tommy Matolla ruined things by concentrating on developing the Album and not the Act. By this I mean they weren't interested in developing money in the long run, only on quick turn arounds-so we ended up with bands like the backstreet boys, and the current ubiquitus sounds like what ever else is currently selling crap. So all these groups that are being signed and then disappear after a year or so, will they have a box set 20 years from now like the real bands do? no they won't, because there is no money to be had. A good example of how lost these A&R executives are would be Jeff Aldrich SR A&R at Warner Music. He and Warner's Pres. Tom Whalley decided that the Paris Hilton album would be a huge hit, boy were they wrong. The album tanked hard core. Everyone thought they were assinine for putting it together so funding was hard to get, instead Jeff and Tom payed for it themselves. Glad it's biteing them in the ass. Another factor to concider is the cookie cutter mixing and sound engieneering going on with these 2000's to current albums. All the mixers/eng./producers are getting pressure from the Label A&R to create a competative album,so they compress the crap out of the recording to make it sound louder than the last song on the radio, but all it does is destroy the dynamics that would create a nice song to hear. The chorus and Verses are all the same volume, who can even tell them apart. The compression has turned out to actually be damaging to CD players when they constantly have to read the extra loud disc. People can tell the difference and most people when given a choice would rather listen to music recorded in the 80-early 90 because they were recorded better-as strange as that sounds. Because the songs are so compressed they can't be mastered properly and plenty of Mastering People are pretty pissed about this develpoment. The labels have a monopoly(which is falling) on the distribution side of things so they maintain leverage over the artist who ultimately gets no real choice as to who will produce their album,how it will be marketed, and by what gimmicks the labels will use to keep the album selling. Play along or eat s*** in other words is the labels message to the bands. In addition the labels are all using the same producers for every album often without regard of the producers musical expertese. Seriously check out who the producers are that are responsible for the highest chart earners-they are literally about 5 people. And most from the same Management firms. The labels operate alot like they were being run by kids being as petty and backstabbing as your average highschool or junior high. They use these same guys cause they will keep playing the labels game, just for short term money. Luckly this trend has not gone unoticed either and now this very small select group of producers are begining to loose work (thankfully) If your interested in the day to day drama of the idiocy of the current music industry check out Bob Lefsetz. Here is a guy who calls these destroyers of the music industry out daily for their shoddy work and short sightedness. These labels realize that their record sales are down to a 3rd of what they were about 10 years ago and are just trying to make their companies float. You'ed be suprised just how bad some of the major labels are really doing and what tricks their pulling to consolidate costs and appear stable in the public eye. paris hilton album-someone should loose their job over that one for sure. (to quote Lefsetz) Also note howmany of the oldschool A&R are leaving the entire industry in droves, and the coincidence of these new A&R and the crappy entrepidless bands emerging. The old guys who actually brought the good music can't stand the crap either just like the public.

Originally posted by BASSPLYR
People like Tommy Matolla ruined things by concentrating on developing the Album and not the Act. By this I mean they weren't interested in developing money in the long run, only on quick turn arounds-so we ended up with bands like the backstreet boys, and the current ubiquitus sounds like what ever else is currently selling crap.

This has been the point I have been focusing on alot in this thread. The labels who dominate the sound that is coming out, and then the bands who every few years try to completely change their sound and say it was them all along.

How many band members from the 90's have come out and said that it wasn't them and they were embarrassed to put that music out. Hell, the lead singer of Creed said he wouldn't even listen to a Creed song. I guess sex video's are on his to do list these days.

Well said man! Not very often I dish out WATS votes but its time to crack these suckers open.

Originally posted by WERE_ALL_GONA_DIE
To true chissler i look at bands today "The killers" "Franz ferdinand "(sp?) "Artic monkeys" "Hard fi" "son of a dork" "fall out boy" "The pussy cat dolls"

Come on! , there all manufactured crappy bands who cant write there own songs and care more about money and publicity than the music

Hate to be a stick in the mud....but Fall Out Boy writes all their own music, As well as Artic Monkeys.

The state of music these days isn't nearly as bad as people think. Everyone talks about how rock is dead, and there are no self respecting musicians out there... It's actually quite the opposite. The music scene is flourishing right now, maybe not in the mainstream, but it's there. I can garuntee you that if you looked hard enough, you could find a band or singer/songwriter out there that you could absolutely fall in love with and have the utmost respect for as an artist. Not only that, but chances are you could see them in a nice intimate setting for 10 bucks as opposed to the 78924637824633 that you would spend to see a larger more mainstream band. Possibly buy a cd for 8 dollars instead of 20, and 10 for a shirt as opposed to the 40 you would spend at a huge concert. All I'm saying is that the music industry isn't all bad. There are more small band run/ independently run record labels than you could count! A lot of which sign good, touring bands who have a genuine passion for the music they play and the lyrics they sing. Just try it out. You could just be very suprised at the abundance of awesome music out there, in your own neighborhood!

Try www.Purevolume.com...

I'm right with you on that.

First of all I am a fan of Fall Out Boy, as long as they do not victimize themselves in every song they come out with I will continue to be a supporter of their music.

You say the Music Industry today is in a good state. I agree & disagree.

Well the Pop culture scene is certainly on the rise. The death of the boy band has to go down as one of the greatest days in history, and we are seeing legitimate rock bands emerging on a daily basis. The future is bright for us!

The underground scene is always where some of the best music is. Why?

These are the stars of tomorrow who are still in it for the right reasons.

It is the system that is killing our industry. One Hit Wonders are the target zone for producers, if they can manage a solid follow up record then thats just alittle icing on the cake. Pump out music as quick as they can, with complete disregard for the quality they are putting out.

Lyrics have become a joke in some cases.

Originally posted by chissler


Lyrics have become a joke in some cases.

Oh man, absolutely!!!!

I'm flipping drop with indvisible tops
Hoes bop when my drop step out
I'm shaking the block with four eighteens'
Candy green with eleven screens
My gasoline always supreme
Got do-do the brown with a pint of lean
It takes grinding to be a king
It takes grinding to be a king

The future is bright however!!!! A lot of the younger kids that care more about music than the money are beginning to get the AR positions at the major labels and are trying to bring out the real talent. Maybe i'm too optomistic for my own good?

Fall Out Boy-Oh the memories. The music group I work for was managing Neal Avron (Fall Out Boy's Producer)up until 5 months ago. He switched over to a mutual friends firm. We're still collecting royalty commissions on these guys. I can say that they are nice guys, who do love music, but that they could probably write more original music on their own with out a producer keeping them in line with the record labels interests.

There are plenty of bands and musicians out there who have passion burning through their viens, you can see them just about everynight at various clubs in LA like the Echo or Spaceland, the Derby,Etc...And in smaller venues all across the world.

THey exist and put out great efforts, but the A&R scout at the show has to convince their bosses that this band will pay rapid dividends to their accounts, or the A&R Exec. gets nervous that they will be viewed by their piers and superiors as non-producers of revenue. They then start a year long process of making the A&R unconfortable so that they will leave on their own or screw up enough to get fired. Believe me the labels are really petty and are full of Jr. high antics by the top brass.

One thing I would like to add is that there are plenty of dopey musicians(alot of them wanna be's) that come to LA and no doubt to a bunch of other major industry cities, who are absolutely lost, no talent(believe me on that one), are completly driven by ego and honestly think that they will become the next diva, and end up getting rreality slamed into their face hard,when everything petters out in a year. These people are like total gold diggers,leeches,tag alongs, and the general population keeps heed with them.

Yeah some of the labels are hiring sharp kids into the A&R department.

Craig Arronson over at Warner Bros got himself a real dedicated assistant who I know for a fact absolutely loves music, is a musician, and plays in his band going on tour for a week or two at a time all around the south west US,playing all sorts of venues fom big to tiny.

Pete Giberga over at Epic also has a reallly good assistant who he's grooming to be an Excellent A&R man.

There is hope with the industry, and the truth is that ALL the majors are quickly loosing their distribution leverage. This is going along way to leveling the playing field with the indies. Check out what Impala(an indy label in france) just did to SONY BMG. Had their mergering deal annuled by the European court. Sony and BMG are trying to get it reversed but still something like this would have been unheard of a few years ago.

I would much rather watch a no talented hippie sing his heart out on stage while belting out lyrics that mean the world to him. Rather than some sell out with abit of talent who has conformed to fit what he thinks the public want him to be.

Be you, write lyrics that represent you and the fan base will form.

Alot of todays music fans are in love with the genre and not the band itself. Bands need to start standing on their own two feet, not riding the coat tails of the genre.

Controversial simply isn't enough anymore.

I watched the show Rockstar: Supernova this passed season. Regardless of your opinions, when I watched Lukas sing you couldn't help but be captivated. The pure emotion he displayed on stage was something to take notice of. He may not of been the most talented singer on the show, but he wanted it the most. Singing and Music meant more to him it appeared, and I think this helped him come out on top.

Not to get off topic, just wanted to use that as an example of singers who want it and others who are simply in the game to make a few bucks.

Chissler you are so right. There is alot more value to people when the musician is being sincere. The acts that are legendary are the ones that stood on their own two feet, and were honest with themselves infront of the people(not just their fans).

There is something to listing to someones voice quiver when they sing a personal song because they are barely able to contol and channel the emotions that go along with the lyrics they are singing. You can tell they mean what they are singing, truly are feeling it, and are being sincere. Bam!!! a true connection between the musician and the listiner is made and the listiner becomes understanding of that person, realizes they are both just humans, and maybe maybe even becomes a fan.

But whether or not the listiner becomes a fan the listiner will catagorize the artist as legit in their minds. Collective acceptance rolls throughout the society and that same artist will begin to develop an honest career-and go on to be remembered in the annuls of music history.