No, there is a point to control by the music industry. It’s not just the radio stations, but the record companies that control their own distribution channels. They do not have a need to promote music as art. Which would be fine, if it turned out to be profitable. But the problem is that they’re just wrong. They make terrible business decisions but are protected from their own stupidity by the government, through things like extensions of copyrights, narrowing of ‘fair use’ exemptions, and monopoly control and pricing. They have found a ‘formula’ that they have been using not just to market music, but to create pop ‘sensations’ that make big dollars for a short period of time and then fade away without leaving a wake.
The long-term result is a gradual thinning of the musical culture and history.
All that said, there is some great music still being made today. Check out Beck’s new album, or Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco.
As my dear friend Zoo said, no matter what people say, it is about the money, but it should not be only about it; if choose to be a musician you are taking a shot to make a living out of something that you love, but anyone who tries this, at least as a band, must be aware of how difficult it is to succed in the music buiseness and that if you do succed it´s probably just luck, and one should be thankfull of that kind of oportunity because you can make a great amount of money by doing what you love (what else could anyone ask for…?). I think that this is exactly the problem today… most people no longer care about the music… I think it´s sad, don´t you?
P.S. By the way, I am a long way from my 30´s yet, and if you want tu use pronouns Lorain I suggest you go with “him”
Oh, come now. Not another “good-old-days” type thread. OK, music has certainly become more commercialized in the past several decades, but your OP can be displaced to the 70s or 80s with just about as much validity.
Let’s take the 80s. What were the Top 40 bands? Wham!? Bryan Adams? Huey Lewis and the News? Bon Jovi? Quiet Riot? Vangelis? Where were XTC? Or the Jam? Joy Division? Sonic Youth? Or any of a million other talented bands? You did get a few notable exceptions like Prince in there, but for the most part, people listen to crap. I don’t think it’s any different now than it was 20 years ago.
Musicianship does not make a good band. It can help, but I prefer a band with raw passion and quirky musicianship than a technically perfect band with little soul. Of course, Slipknot doesn’t do it for me - their music comes across as contrived and soulless. But there are plenty of good bands out there. Just dig.
For the people I know and hang out with, music is an important part of their lives, and I really doubt they have stopped appreciating the true value of music.
It just comes down to one fact: Top 40 music sucks. In any decade. I don’t think it’s a reflection of the down-sizing of the role of music in a generation’s life. Good music has always taken a little bit of digging to find.