music in the future

what are your guys' thoughts on what music will be popular, and how music in general will change in the future?

 

Mainstream music will decline and collapse, along with the future of America's economy..

The underground music industry will make it though. There's always a small-town band experimenting with new sounds or reliving the genres of the past. They're always around..

 

Music is already in a decline (Have you listened to the radio recently) The Economy is already in a spiral(just give it a couple more years )

 

I don't know, I'm not into popular music.

 

slap hands!

 

i would have to disagree with your assertion that music is in a decline. a better way of wording it, would be to state that individual thought and critical thinking are in a decline. i can't make myself believe that anybody actually likes 'popular' music. of course, i am probably wrong... and someone will enlighten me as to the wondrous properties of lady gaga and miley cyrus and lil' (insert 'ballin ass rappa'). oh garsh, i must be so out of touch :\

 

Ah well, I also don't really know what will happen to the music I like in the future Anyway, is it so hard to believe that music that sounds extremely uninteresting to you can be good to someone else? That being said, of course lots of people also dig the pop music because it is the mainstream thing to listen to.

 

As someone who interns in a recording studio I have this conversation on a regular basis. Realise that the music business is a consumer driven entity as such there are certain trends that are easily trackable. Here are some things that I see happening that I really don't like:

First there has been this really weird trend of paying more money for lower sound quality in the name of portability. Records sound great and are cheap but not portable. CD's don't really sound as good and are a little more expensive but more portable. MP3's sound like shit, are more expensive but are more portable. It's only a matter of time before there is a player that is about the size of your pinky nail sounds like a fart in a windstorm and the cost makes owning one out of everybodys league.

Second, we have modern recording studios closing down left and right with experienced, competant engineers going with them. The reason being that anyone can buy Pro-Tools and use their plug ins in their own home to make a "Professional" recording. The problem is that you have morons who don't know shit about the science of recording who think that a $50 Sure SM57 sounds like or as good as a $10,000 Neuman U47 and that an
LA-2A plug in sounds like an LA-2A compressor. They also believe that recording and mixing in their bedroom studio with cheap gear will sound as good as recording in a professional recording studio designed for recording and mixing music.

Third, because the technology is so easily available and easy to use musicians don't actually have to be good anymore. Think about it your singer doesn't have to be able to sing anymore we can record 150 takes and edit together the best parts of each take then autotune the living shit out of it. We can program all of the synth/sequencer backing tracks so they will be perfect every time. If we actually use a drummer his time can be absolut shit because we can easily edit him and move him around on the grid until it is perfect.

Fourth one fact that we need to face on a regular basis is that Aretha Franklin sounds like Aretha Franklin but Beyonce doesn't sound like Beyonce. What that means is that if you put a mike in front of Aretha Franklin and say "sing" she will sound like she does on the record. If you try the same thing with Beyonce it won't soud a fucking thing like the record. Beyonce is hidden behind so much compression, delay, reverb, pitch correct, double tracking, modulation, and harmonic exciter that you don't know what she sounds like. And don't tell me you've seen her sing on TV. You've seen her lip synch on TV. Beyonce is an entertainer not a singer.

Fourth, the MP3 has set the buisness of selling music back about 60 years. 60 years ago they didn't have many long playing albums. They had 45s that was 10 minutes of music 2songs one on each side. You only bought 2 songs at a time. The artist didn't have the challenge of filling up a whole album. Instead of having to write 12 good songs to fill an album you only have to write one to sell as an MP3.

Fifth, a general lack of quality control. Every time a new medium comes up to share music the Record industry blames that new medium for its decline in sales. In the early
80s it was the home cassette recorder. In the late 90s it was the CD burner. In the early 2000's it was file sharing. But here is what the industry doesn't take into account they only count the first sale. What that means is that when they calculate how well analbum is doing, calculating royalties, etc. they only coundt when it is sold new. Used CD's are not counted. I have heard some music I've liked over the past few years. Almost none enough to spend $13 to buy the CD. I'll spend $5 and buy it used. I know it screws over alot of buisness people but good burn baby burn. If it was better music I'd pay full price.

Finally, I've heard it said that the music industry is run by a 14 year old white girl from the suburbs. The reason that this is said is that demographically they have the most "disposable income." They take their babysitting money and go to the store and buy whatever the man on tv or the radio tells them is cool. Why do you think that Twilight is one of the highest grossing movies in America right now? Why do you think that Justin Beiber is damn near unavoidable. This is the way Corprate America works.

In closing I don't see it changing anytime soon. The music buisness is just that. It is also consumer driven. If it were to change it have to be a consumer driven change. As people who buy music the ones who buy the most would have to change their buying habits and seriously threaten the profits of the industry. Unfortunately the industry panders to 14 year old girls who want nothing more than to be "cool" and the entertainment industry dictates to them what is cool. Every year another generation crosses that threshold where what was cool last year isn't cool this year. and there is another generation of consumers there to take their place. Long story short. We're fucked.

Peace Out,
Rev J

 

very interesting Reverend.

as for everyone else, i know pretty much no one listens to popular music here, but i was just pondering what u guys think how popular music, it being crappy or not, will change.
for example Enrique Iglesias is releasing new music and i heard a snip-it and it is terrible. but it's a good example of how music has changed. his music sounds like a stupified lady gaga sound. or that terrible teeny bopper song that was popular a while ago that just said "shake it" over and over again.

and also just what kind of genres haven't been discovered yet, or what do you think what will happen to genres like trance, house, dubstep, dnb, jungle, rock, alternative, "indie", hip hop, w/e.
like who knew back in the 60's or something that a genre like drum n bass would be around.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqoQ6SK0T_g"]YouTube- Fallen Angels - Hello Lover (Desired State Snare Mix)

 

I know I came across as a little pessemistic in my last post but I do have some optimistic views too.

I see that more and more bands are going to see that a Major Label record contract isn't the golden ticket they thought it was going to be. The one artist on a major with the best royalty rate was Michael Jackson who got a 20% cut after he sold about 2 million records. A recently signed band can usually expect 5 to 8 percent after the first 2 million albums. If your album soesn't sell over 2 million you're SOL buddy. Most record labels are generally subsidiaries of larger companies that sell other things for example BMG is a subsidiary of Segrams the people who make Canada Dry Ginger Ale amongst other things. Even though BMG is losing profits left and right they will still be subsidised by Canada Dry Ginger Ale Segrams Gin etc.

But I see an alternative coming up in Genre Specific Indie Labels. For example you have SCI Fidelity records owned by the String Cheese Incedent that specialises in Jam Bands. I see other artists puting out their own music and starting collectives with other like minded individuals pooling talents that range from production to promotion creating an underground alternative to the shit we are constantly being fed.

As for the music itself. I dont see technology as being completely evil. It does give us an opportunity to hear music of other cultures. I see more cross cultural synthesis affecting genres. I know from my personal experiences that I have written Fingerstyle Funk tunes based of rythms found in Indian Music. I think we are going to see alot of looking backwards and forwards at the same time to find something new. I also believe that whatever we are are exposed to from other cultures will mix with the culture we grew up with to creat something different from both.

I believe it will be cool to know how to play again.

Peace Out,
Rev J

 

When I was in high school and rock & roll started,I thought that was it. How could music progress any more than Jerry Lee ,Little Richard,et al. Perry Como,Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennet just did'nt get it!Little did I know. But growing up in the big band era--well R&R was a monumental change. So good music of some kind will ,I think,always be available and who knows what's next.

 

I also think that record companies (and movie studios ) are well known for screwing artists left and right which should have led to their demise long ago.

 

Music is just going to become a gay techno. Justin Bieber "rapping" over shitty, repetitive beats.

 

Techno and trance are both actually pretty cool if you choose the right artist.

See below for some awesome trippin' music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH_8e9JYtRs"]YouTube- Hallucinogen - LSD (Music Video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1jPeG1LlaQ"]YouTube- Shpongle DMT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPC6qso1N0k"]YouTube- 1200 micrograms Marijuana

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvhYvcv46MA&feature=related"]YouTube- Astral Projection: Ambient Galaxy

 

That won't be mainstream though. Trance has been around for ages.

 

I also think there is potential when musicians from different backgrounds and traditions play music together with a healthy disrespect for musical boundries such as:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC4nKFm2qps"]YouTube- TABLA BEAT SCIENCE AT THE FILMORE
Techno, Dub and Indian Classical Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmez8xlIw88"]YouTube- Spam Allstars - Electrodomesticos

Electronic Descarga. DJ, Guitar, Congas, Timbales, Trombone, Baritone Sax, Flute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2ABqG-yzK0"]YouTube- Spam Allstars & Pee Wee Ellis

I just love these guys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlA8WZPLZJU&feature=related"]YouTube- Vida Blue with The Spam Allsta Live at The Fillmore Ochimini

Same group with live Bass, Drums, and Keys added.

Peace Out,
Rev J

 

ask bill and ted, dude

 

It better not.