Why Music Has Lost it’s Charms (Article)

I couldn't agree more. I've always loved CCR, Chicago, B,S&T etc.

Now it's time to accept those days are well and truly behind us. To be honest they are dead and gone; never to return. In part you can blame the proliferation of the so called Talent shows; Talent-less might be more appropriate.

There's still excellent music being recorded, but not what might be classified as popular.
 

@sns Yeah, I agree.  The access we have today to music from any era is amazing.  It’s awesome.  I wish I had it in my 20s.

I agree with those that find the popular mode of modern music consumption unceremonious and utilitarian, just an endless, homogeneous matrix of files.

However, no one twists our arm to only stream and only listen to digital files.  One can still listen to music in any format.  I would just like to see something where this more immediate, fluid music commerce of today could also provide artists with better pay!

There is an incredible variety of great music still being created all the time. One just has to keep an open mind and be curious and willing to put the time in to search it out. I find great new music literally almost every day. I also don’t limit myself to a narrow scope of genres. For me there is truly only two types of music - good and bad. I just saw Damien Jurado (incredible acoustic show in a small converted church in Fayetteville, AR), saw Jimmy Buffet in Rogers, AR recently, I’m seeing Ray Wylie Hubbard at Cains Ballroom in Tulsa this Friday, Kaleo in Tulsa soon, followed by Marty Stuart and Junior Brown in Eureka Springs, then War on Drugs again here in Bentonville, followed by Dave Mason & Saucerful of Secrets at The Tulsa Theater in October. May even see Boz Scaggs in VA in early August. I’m all over the place in terms of genres because there is great music to be found all over the map. There are older musicians in the concert mix for me currently, but it’s not always this way for me. I’m just not interested in the mainstream corporate music, but that’s not a new phenomenon. There will always be the Budweiser of music playing in arenas and stadium with crappy acoustics (although I have to say I enjoyed Garth Brooks at Razorback Stadium earlier this year). Anyone that says there is no good music any more isn’t making the effort.

@bigtwin 

"You haven't become your father"

I am 67 as well and when I was in my teens, I not only listened to popular music, but also to old blues guys like Howlin' Wolf, Otis Spann and John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. I listened to the Mills Brothers, Al Jolson and Patsy Cline.

You know why I listened to them. Because they were great artists and what made them popular in their day, still resonated with me. Good music lasts.

Why are there so many "oldies" stations these days? Because the 60's and 70's were the golden age of popular music. It's not nostalgia, it's that the music was just that great.

@tylermunns While I understand the attachment to physical media, I have well over 3500 vinyl. Isn't the true intrinsic value of recordings the music itself?

As far as the business model of streaming, don't blame it on streaming, nothing inherent to streaming that makes it unfair to artist's renumeration. Blame this on a society/culture that doesn't value artists in general, mass taste means only a few artist reap vast majority of rewards, the rest are lucky to make a living salary or do it expecting little or no income.

For those who think the golden age of music all in the past, music business models existent in those days were far worse for vast majority of artists. Extremely limited number of labels controlled entire music business, percentage of artists getting studio time for recording miniscule. I often think about how many great artists were never recorded, what a waste. Funny how people often remember things with rose colored glasses.