Of course, no one still alive today ever heard Beethoven perform one of his piano concertos or direct an orchestra, yet his music is still played today in front of live audiences.
As modern-day original singers and music bands die and retire, do you suppose there’s a great future market for people to perform their songs in front of live audiences? Or will we just have to settle for recordings? (Yes, I know cover bands are a thing, but they’re kinda niche.)
There are already bands that perform hits from groups that have broken up. There was even a Broadway musical, Beatlemania.
Near me, there’s a Neil Young/Crazy Horse band touring (Harvest and Rust), a Van Morrison Tribute band (Moondance), and Notorious B.I.G./Grateful Dead (Biggie is Dead).
Here are some tribute bands performing today:
Hard to say. As much as I like a lot of pop and rock music, I don’t know if it will have the staying power of classical music—it’s in a different league. I’m sure they had a great deal of simple, popular folk songs centuries ago, but they probably faded away after a few generations.
How much demand is there for Glen Miller, Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, and Duke Ellington cover bands?
At least one of those acts is still touring. Does that answer your question?
Don’t know about them leagues…big pop and rock songs have hundreds of millions to over a billion views a piece on Youtube, with the greatest classical pieces of all times getting one hundreth or less of that action. And the rock and pop mega hits aren’t consumed by old folks alone, but by people in their 10’s and 20’s.
I’d be more worried about Mozart and Beethoven’s staying power.
As many people have said for the past 200 years, and yet…
Really, Western classical music’s staying power is demonstrated by the fact that it’s still being played in concerts daily, all over the world, including in places where it’s not native, to an audience that includes, from my personal observation, about 25% of people in the 12-35 age range.
I’m sorry to break it to you, but it’s pop and rock’s staying power that is very much in doubt. At this stage, it’s just wishful thinking. Call me back in 2223.
Classical music has always been niche. It will remain so as centuries go by, but it will still be here when there’s less than 1% of the population who remembers who The Beatles were.
Great demand? No. Some demand? Yes. Though it’s probably inverse, in that if a cover band turns up somewhere, they’ll be welcome, but they’re unlikely to be sought out independently.
Of course, it’s not the same, because when Beethoven (et al) lived, there were no recordings, so music was made to be recorded and transmitted in written-on-paper form.
I do expect there will continue to be a demand for “tribute bands” (i.e. bands that attempt to replicate the experience of seeing a particular band live, to at least some extent), but I expect them to be fairly “niche.” They won’t disappear entirely, but there will be fewer of them as original fans of the original bands die out.
Way, way too bold an assessment, IMHO.
Classical music survived for centuries, because until now, it was the only top dog in town. It is inaccurate to compare pre-recorded music eras to today, where millions of musical performances are available any time, any place, to almost anyone. Classics have been made in the past 100 years by the shipload, and they are all available and readily consumed and remembered.
The really successful acts might be able to create an extended income stream in the way ABBA have done:
But at the other extreme, a fair few local pubs/clubs/holiday camps/cruise ships will welcome cover/tribute bands to bring in more punters.
I would expect cover bands that play the best hits of several rock bands.
Similar to a bar band but more professional staging.
Oldies radio has been programming tributes to a specific era for decades. Imagine that playlist performed live.
Mick Jagger and the Stones could be holograms in 2150. But live people will always perform music.
Years ago I saw a local tribute band, The Next Doors, that was amazing. The lead singer (Jim Morrison) arrived and departed in character. It was a real experience.
Are you talking about cover bands or tribute bands - and what do you mean by “kinda niche”. Because most of the time when I’m listening to live music, it’s one or the other. Whether it’s the Beatles tribute band at the neighborhood free concert or a cover band at a bar, casino, cruise ship or party, I listen to cover/tribute bands a lot more than I listen to bands performing their own original music.
I’m pretty sure there always be both cover and tribute performers - what they cover is likely to change with time. After all, there wasn’t a Taylor Swift tribute act 30 years ago, and maybe 30 years from now the Elvis acts will have disappeared.
Classical music has a lasting influence on modern culture, from ads to movies. Pop songs, on the other hand, tend to lose their appeal after a few decades. They are mostly popular with the original fans and their children, but not with later generations.
One example of a timeless classical piece is Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. It transcends boundaries of culture, age, and class. In Japan, they devote the month of December playing and finding inspiration in the 9th. They call it “Daiku.” The Ode to Joy melody is known and loved by millions of people around the world and I believe it always will be. I doubt that songs like “I Like Big Butts” will have the same impact far into the future. 
If you want to learn more about the power and impact of Beethoven’s 9th, check out this video. It’s an hour + long, but worth watching.
Yeah, I think there’s a distinction to be made between ‘cover’ bands, that play the hits of various other bands, and ‘tribute’ bands, that cover the songs, the musical stylings, and in many cases the look, of one particular famous band.
Mrs. Solost and I have seen a few different tribute bands over the last couple years thanks to a local park that has free shows in the summer. It’s a family-friendly party vibe, with various food trucks and an alcohol tent (the alcohol tent discontinued this summer though). We’ve seen tribute acts to Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, and Bob Seger.
The Tom Petty tribute band was the best. Not just because they were talented musicians, which they were; they have a vibe that they’re doing it because they love the music; not just to make a few bucks-- the lead singer tells little stories and factoids in between songs, explaining how he and his fellow musicians put the band together as a one-off thing after Petty’s death, and the reception was so positive, they decided to keep it up. Or, before one song, he’d say, “Tom was having trouble writing the chorus, so this guy named George Harrison came up with a killer line he could use”. We liked them so much we also paid to see them in a local club.
The Bob Seger tribute band was fun. I had a nice ‘15 seconds of fame’ experience there-- we got to the park early and put our lawn chairs at the front row. Pseudo-Seger was really into crowd work, yelling “everybody in the back sing along! Now everybody in the front!” He saw me just sitting there in front, not singing along, and said “now just this guy!” and pointed right at me. I laughed and waved him off, but he walked up to me with the wireless mic and stuck it in my face. So I belted out my best 4-line verse of “Old Time Rock and Roll” fully amplified to several hundred people. Pseudo-Seger said “huh. You never know what you’re going to get when you pick a rando out of the crowd, but he actually pulled it off.” I think he was disappointed that he didn’t embarrass me.
Can you imagine Mozart writing a song about butts? 
Obviously there is a distinction between cover bands, who play a variety of cover songs, and tribute bands who attempt to recreate a particular band’s performance.
I think it’s clear that there will always be cover bands playing things like weddings and other functions.
Tribute bands though will probably always be a bit of a niche, I think. Can’t see a great future market?
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in F, Opus 93, 2nd movement concerned flatulence. Those guys weren’t above scatological humor and musical jokes.
I’ve never understood the appeal of tribute bands.
On the other hand, the Beatles and Stones started out as cover bands, and they did ok.