"GAME ON" lawsuit against Carrie Underwood

blackcoffeeblues

Student Of The Blues
since the public has, by and large, proven that they are not interested in unproven songs) and therefore concert attendance would be bigger and my t
You are right---people want to hear a song they can relate too----not a song they have never heard before...If I could sneak in 3-4 a night I could get away with it--if I played 2 in a row...they lost all interest. So I guess it comes down "go with what works for the public". There the ones buying the beer and dancing-which gets you paid...sad but true. Damn Moto 0.21 your walking in tall cotton there. I checked my status out on Soundcloud the other day--I had 224 listens--9 likes and 2 thumbs down. OH WELL probably a couple of "Rappers" no feelings hurt here-- And I am pretty sure the 9 likes was from "Many Moons". :)
 

sdbrit68

Student Of The Blues
The monetization of the music industry has shifted dramatically. Joe Bonamassa rode this wave better than anyone. I don't think he wrote more than one song per album on the first several he did. Now he does because he's big enough that people will listen because of his name.

** end rant **

Do you think any of this could just be a change in the style of music ?

I mean, right now, DJ's are treated like gods, people talk about the DJ and worship them like the guitar gods of the 80's, they treat putting beats together like they did an amazing ballad 30 years ago.

So because of that, big arena shows are not supported by the millenials, they prefer the dance club rave type of thing

add in, the singer songwriter was huge for a minute over the band thing. Heck, even country music isnt the same, they have all that hick hop stuff now.

I am hoping / believe that writing new songs and putting out an album will come around again. Even back in Elvis day, someone would release a song, then he would cover it, blues suede shoes and hound dog come to mind right off the bat, foghat stole from etta james.

Then the awesome 80's hit
 

Griff

Vice Assistant General Manager
Staff member
Do you think any of this could just be a change in the style of music ?

I mean, right now, DJ's are treated like gods, people talk about the DJ and worship them like the guitar gods of the 80's, they treat putting beats together like they did an amazing ballad 30 years ago.

So because of that, big arena shows are not supported by the millenials, they prefer the dance club rave type of thing

add in, the singer songwriter was huge for a minute over the band thing. Heck, even country music isnt the same, they have all that hick hop stuff now.

I am hoping / believe that writing new songs and putting out an album will come around again. Even back in Elvis day, someone would release a song, then he would cover it, blues suede shoes and hound dog come to mind right off the bat, foghat stole from etta james.

Then the awesome 80's hit
I believe it's likely many things, but yes I also believe it will come back around.

If you look at pop music throughout history (and I'm talking about, since the 1600s) the pendulum has swung back and forth between simple and complex.

Using your 80's analogy is a perfect one, the shred guitar players playing in bands that actually had key changes in the guitar solo!!!

But all that vanished with the first chord of "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

The same thing happened to Beethoven when Debussy came along (I hope I'm remembering my music history right, please don't hold me to getting the composers correct.)

We went from the bubble gum pop of the 60's to the prog rock of the 70's, and then back again in an instant when disco hit.

It's happened many times, and will happen many times more... except that now all music is on an equal footing.

I have a lot of students that bring in a 30 year old AC/DC album like it's brand new. They can't tell from listening to it that it's not, whereas we could tell our parents' records because they sounded "old" due to technology.

Now we have all these pockets of people that like different things - but for the first time in human history, whatever people want to hear can be accessed immediately, no matter when it was made.

My kids in high school (OK, college now) and their friends have VERY different and eclectic tastes compared to the current crop of millenials. I think the next 10-20 years will be a very interesting time to watch, indeed.

You really can't have a discussion about the music business anymore without taking into the account the demographics of the audience. Could Joe Bonamassa do what he did if he was a hip-hop artist? I don't know, that's hard to picture.

It's a business, and like all businesses it is a slave to the concept of how much must be spent for a given return on the investment.

With proven songs being cheap, it's not a good investment to write a new one, or to write one that's not formulaic. Songwriters know where their bread is buttered.

My friend from college wrote music for Disney for many years (he wrote the song "Live The Magic" that was played during the fireworks show at Disneyland's 60th anniversary, as well as co-wrote much of the "High School Musical" stuff) and while he made a fortune doing that, he's selling financial services now.

Maybe he got tired of doing it, but as a brilliant guitar player, I suspect he got tired of pandering to the lowest common denominator and figured he would do something moderately interesting to him while he plays for fun on the side. A lot of guys my age are doing that now because we got tired of playing to people who don't know and don't care.

Oh look... I'm rambling again :)
 

Rad

Blues Newbie
Maybe he got tired of doing it, but as a brilliant guitar player, I suspect he got tired of pandering to the lowest common denominator and figured he would do something moderately interesting to him while he plays for fun on the side. A lot of guys my age are doing that now because we got tired of playing to people who don't know and don't care.

Oh look... I'm rambling again :)

Funny, reminds me of the many discussions I had with my sister years ago. She was a struggling visually artist just having finished her MFA degree and her art was very esoteric and not selling. My point to her was that it can’t be so esoteric that people can’t relate to it. They need to connect with art if they are going to buy it.

Years later, her art is more mainstream and she has had shows at places like the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and has sold a number of pieces for big dollars. It would not have happened if her art had not changed.

You do have to produce art like music or paintings that people want to see or hear if you you want to make a living at it.
 

Griff

Vice Assistant General Manager
Staff member
Funny, reminds me of the many discussions I had with my sister years ago. She was a struggling visually artist just having finished her MFA degree and her art was very esoteric and not selling. My point to her was that it can’t be so esoteric that people can’t relate to it. They need to connect with art if they are going to buy it.

Years later, her art is more mainstream and she has had shows at places like the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and has sold a number of pieces for big dollars. It would not have happened if her art had not changed.

You do have to produce art like music or paintings that people want to see or hear if you you want to make a living at it.
Very true...

On the flip side, however, the internet has allowed music that otherwise would have never seen the light of day to actually be consumed by small groups in faraway places that actually like it.

I don't know if visual art would work the same way, but it's amazing how many cool little bands now have a following in remote areas of the world that they would have otherwise never been able to reach.
 
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