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Has music streaming killed the instrumental intro?

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Re: Has music streaming killed the instrumental intro?

#81

Post by cbm-vic-20 »

sbuttgereit wrote: post #20
jgforbes wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this were true, wouldn't radio have had the same affect?

Yes, though a radio station would often times start with an intro and let the record play through the next track (speaking as a child of the 70's when progressive rock / concept albums were at their peak). DJs & programming directors knew that certain tracks would not make sense on their own and would adjust. I have a hunch that it's not streaming that's really responsible, per se, but the "Shuffle" function that's b…

Queen's "We Will Rock You"/"We Are The Champions", Boston's "Foreplay"/"Long Time", and Alan Parsons Project's "Sirius"/"Eye in the Sky" are examples of this. It's almost strange to only hear one half of the pair, and in the case of Foreplay and Sirius, those are completely instrumental.

Re: Has music streaming killed the instrumental intro?

#82

Post by EADGBE »

cbm-vic-20 wrote: post #81
sbuttgereit wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, though a radio station would often times start with an intro and let the record play through the next track (speaking as a child of the 70's when progressive rock / concept albums were at their peak). DJs & programming directors knew that certain tracks would not make sense on their own and would adjust. I have a hunch that it's not streaming that's really responsible, per se, but the "Shuffle" function that's b…

Queen's "We Will Rock You"/"We Are The Champions", Boston's "Foreplay"/"Long Time", and Alan Parsons Project's "Sirius"/"Eye in the Sky" are examples of this. It's almost strange to only hear one half of the pair, and in the case of Foreplay and Sirius, those are completely instrumental.

Good radio stations still honor these unwritten requirements.

Also, "Eruption"/"Running with the Devil", too.

Re: Has music streaming killed the instrumental intro?

#83

Post by klez »

emptyfile wrote: post #78
rainbowmverse wrote: post #36

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…

Yeah I would definitely say electronic dance music, at least how it exists in Europe, is a definite counter example. A dance track will always have a intro and a outro for mixing purposes and will probably be between 5-7 minutes in length, regardless of weather its uploaded on Soundcloud or a limited press on vinyl. As far as pop music goes, it seems only natural that music which was for decades made for radio will c…

And that's why the more pop-oriented tunes have a so-called "radio edit" which skips the intro. Take, for example, Tim Deluxe's "It just won't do". This[0] is the dj-friendly club version. This[1] is the radio edit.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Gw78LeYk8

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfluyMiVuTs

[EDIT: fixed the first link]

Re: Has music streaming killed the instrumental intro?

#84

Post by EADGBE »

noobermin wrote: post #50
dhimes wrote: post #10

[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 used to think this until I listened to a lot more older music. A lot of pop records cut in the 50s to 60s had no "theme" other than the generic love/sex/dancing themes common to all pop music. I think the concept albums we know now are a few of exceptional concept albums that are just as uncommon then as they were now.

The technology advancement allowed the concept of a concept album.

Re: Has music streaming killed the instrumental intro?

#85

Post by boomlinde »

noobermin wrote: post #48
rainbowmverse wrote: post #36

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…

There is nothing harsh about it (in its current form; for all I know GP may have edited something out). The author of the study deliberately and explicitly limited it to top-10 singles.

I think a much broader study would be less interesting in the sense that the top ten music reflects trends in popular music production. The long tail is probably harder to generalize.

This study says something about how many people consume music, or at least how the big peddlers want them to consume it.

Re: Has music streaming killed the instrumental intro?

#86

Post by EADGBE »

conatus wrote: post #57

I run a record label[1] and for our music that we think could have a broad appeal we are at pains to ensure there isn't too much of a instrumental intro for the reasons this article describes. It makes me a little sad that this is the case, but it is. We can watch the drop off stats after a long intro-ed song. [1] Records On Ribs - http://recordsonribs.com

> Records on Ribs gives away its music for free.

> To sell music for profit is to deny its worth. It is to reduce it to numbers, spreadsheets, targets. Desire cannot be quantified thusly.

> We accept donations, but do not expect them. What we do costs us little, but we cannot avoid making a loss. Nor can the artists who have to buy equipment and take time to rehearse, perform and record. Any money you give us will go to loosen these burdens and will be gratefully received. We want to beat the system but we have to survive within it.

Do you fund the recordings? Are these a lot of home studios?

Genuinely interested. Music is way more interesting than programming to me. I may have more questions for you.

Re: Has music streaming killed the instrumental intro?

#88

Post by chiefalchemist »

ibotty wrote: post #74
chiefalchemist wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

EDM? The resurfacing of 90's Eurodance? Is there anything more commercial? Maybe that's my European viewpoint, so please elaborate if I am wrong.

Yes. But in the US it was never given much respect, and thus no mainstrean viability. That changed. I'm suggesting it could be because the gatekeepers lost their control.

Re: Has music streaming killed the instrumental intro?

#89

Post by EADGBE »

dangerboysteve wrote: post #19

intros have been poorly done by many artists. When Pink Floyd does it, wow. When The Tea Party does it it's gimmicky. I could not imagine VH's Hot for teacher without that intro.

5 year old: "Daddy, what's that??!?!??!"

Me: "A drum solo"

Two minutes later: "Daddy, I want to play drums!"

Re: Has music streaming killed the instrumental intro?

#90

Post by rainbowmverse »

boomlinde wrote: post #85
noobermin wrote: post #48

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…

There is nothing harsh about it (in its current form; for all I know GP may have edited something out). The author of the study deliberately and explicitly limited it to top-10 singles. I think a much broader study would be less interesting in the sense that the top ten music reflects trends in popular music production. The long tail is probably harder to generalize. This study says something about how many people co…

noobermin might have read some anti-pop snobbery into my comment. I actually think pop is highly skilled. You don't just throw down some notes and vocals on Canon in D's chord progression and make a global hit. It takes real, skillful work in composition and sound design to make that happen.
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