51–60 of 90 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If this were true, wouldn't radio have had the same affect?
You didn't have much choice back then. A few songs were released as single tapes, but a full album wasn't much more expensive, plus many stores did not carry singles, or if they did, the selection was often small. There was no concept of a single CD.
But they were never very popular.
[I didn't read the article, but] I think the move to buying songs one-at-a-time has hurt the whole 'album' concept, including long intros, long interludes, and the idea of a body of work that builds on a theme.
I've sold about 12 albums (though most are closer to traditional EP length). Never sold a single. I remember seeing some data that said that was the norm on Bandcamp. I think albums are doing fine, but maybe the amalgam of loosely connected musical product that most albums are is not working anymore. All the albums I've sold have had a clear narrative thread going through it, while all the random assortments I did ea…
I've about had it with these "Has X killed Y?" headlines. My clickbait detector is tingling.
I do instrumental exclusively, unless you count weird vocal synths. Maybe the author of this study shouldn't have constrained it to the top 10... There's a huge world of music out there. The most popular stuff is a tiny little sliver meant to appeal to the greatest number of people. For me, things have only gotten better since discovering a bunch of weird niche stuff in the '00s, especially since Bandcamp and Soundcl…
I was going to say something similar but not as harsh. I definitely think that the internet has made finding niche music that less of difficult a thing, but when the set you normalize over is the set of popular music rather than all music, his argument is sound. An interesting question (and more difficult one to answer) would be whether access to niche music has increased and more people pursue niches in general toda…
That has to have led gaps for other genres to edge in. Look at EMD a couple years ago. That, I don't think, was driven by top down marketing dollars. I think you're likely talking about less accessible genres, but I think the EMD example still applies.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was going to say something similar but not as harsh. I definitely think that the internet has made finding niche music that less of difficult a thing, but when the set you normalize over is the set of popular music rather than all music, his argument is sound. An interesting question (and more difficult one to answer) would be whether access to niche music has increased and more people pursue niches in general toda…
I would think you'd have to argue that the answer is more. The crux being that mega companies no longer have absolute control over a limited number of distribution channels (e.g., traditional radio). That has to have led gaps for other genres to edge in. Look at EMD a couple years ago. That, I don't think, was driven by top down marketing dollars. I think you're likely talking about less accessible genres, but I thin…
Or am I missing something and EMD is not a typo (quite possible)?
The music business as we knew it died. It has been replaced with this streaming content business. We're lucky we get any new music at all.
Most of it lacks polish, but there is still a lot of good, fun, stuff being made in many genres.
[1] Records On Ribs - http://recordsonribs.com
I recall reading that the push for shorter intros and 3 to 3.5 minute songs was radio, pre-streaming.
This is purely anecdotal, but there are a bunch of songs I can remember hearing on the radio growing up (15-20 years ago, although the songs were much older than I was) that had extended instrumental intros that were almost always cut out; offhand, "Jump" by Van Halen and "Fly Like an Eagle" by Steve Miller come to mind, although I'm sure there are others I can't quite recall (technically the intro to "Jump" was list…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is purely anecdotal, but there are a bunch of songs I can remember hearing on the radio growing up (15-20 years ago, although the songs were much older than I was) that had extended instrumental intros that were almost always cut out; offhand, "Jump" by Van Halen and "Fly Like an Eagle" by Steve Miller come to mind, although I'm sure there are others I can't quite recall (technically the intro to "Jump" was list…
I was flabbergasted when I discovered the The Knack's "My Sharona" was cut down considerably for radio play. When I finally got the album back in the day, I was blown away by the extra bit (including the whole second guitar solo) that I had never heard before.
I haven't listened to a popular radio station in a long, long time, and I don't use any streaming services either. I find music the old fashioned way I guess, but I wouldn't have it any other way. There's no real substitute for getting your hands dirty and digging around for the gems. I found 3 excellent new (to me) bands just this month!
We all have our passions, however, and it takes considerable time and effort to dig. For some, I guess they have other hobbies that consume that time and they're happy to hear whatever comes their way on the radio (or the stream).