Music industry troubles caused by radio?


Apparently the music business is in trouble. For the first time since the Beatles, sales are diminishing. Some people think it's because of internet downloading and perhaps that is part of the problem but I think it's more because there's not much new worth listening to. The thing is, I'm sure there are amazing musicians out there who we're just not hearing. They probably fall outside of the narrow range of music that most radio stations choose to play.

I can remember discovering FM in the '70s. It was amazing. Low key, huge variety, minimal commercial content, and whole album sides sometimes. In the '80s, I enjoyed a paricularly cool modern rock station where once again, variety ruled. Then along came the '90s. The bean counters took over and issued an edict that the same 40 songs should be played over and over ad nauseum. Pick a genre and you can almost predict the song that will be played based on the time of day. With less variety, there are fewer opportunities to introduce new artists and a bland, homogenized form of radio pap results.

Maybe I'm just becoming an old fart but I can't think of many bands worth mentioning that actually came on the scene in the '90s. The artists that I find are still worth listening to emerged in the '60s, '70s and '80s and continue to record today.

There might be reason for hope. If XM can offer a more diverse pallate of music, maybe some of the fun of radio could return.
jlambrick
Yeah, this is a complex issue and one that I cannot address outside of the U.S. In the U.S. we have 3 major corporations that own the majority of the stations. Payola is real, in that the stations are paid by the record companies to promote certain artists. Because of this unholy alliance we hear the same junk no matter where we turn the dial. Listenership of music radio is declining at an alarming rate since people are so bored with the music they are turning the dial to talk radio and the corporations are responding by adding more talk radio stations each day. Local advertising rates are based on listenership and is declining since so many are tuning out. Each market area can only support so many talk radio stations. Clear Channel is rethinking it's payola relationship with the manufacturers. This was in our local McPaper yesterday. advertising profits are down for the stations. The stations claim the revenue from payola isn't making up the difference. These are the first signs of a business plan that is doomed for failure. Look for the music giants to either get into the radio business or watch as it crumbles from the bulk of its' own weight.

The younger generation of which others here have spoke do indeed do things much differently than we older folks have done in the past. While I believe that mp3 access to music helps to sell more manufacturer software in my age group, the same cannot be said about the younger generation. When I was in college in the late 60's and early 70's our hippie FM station played a complete "new" album every Tuesday night without commercial interuption. I would record it on reel to reel and listen to it a couple of times. If I liked it I would buy it. If not, I would record over that on the next Tuesday evening. My mindset hasn't changed through the years and I believe it is a harmless practice when done in this fashion. The younger generations have been trained since the advent of the CD to accept inferior sound reproduction. Now, you CDP lovers out there, don't get angry at me. Early on, everyone that could hear agreed that CD sound was horrible but never-the-less, vinyl disappeared from the shelves and was replaced by this rotten medium. The music the younger generation listens to has changed in most cases where high quality playback is a detriment to the desired sound. This stuff was/is meant to be played in one of those obnoxious cars that irritate you as they drive by your home. Simply put, the younger generation doesn't know what good playback is, doesn't care about reproduction quality (being instead attracted to the sleazy message) and is comfortable stealing an inferior copy and living with it. The music industry through it's promotion of artists that represent nothing more than ex-convicts and their value system is reaping what it has sown. If you lie down with dogs you will get up with fleas.

The people that are really wounding the recording companies are those that download huge amounts of music and that's it. They have a free library at a quality level that is satisfactory to them. They are theives beyond music. They buy their college level class assignments online and have no problem with that. They come mainly from single parent households. Fathers are an obstacle to all the fun. They have been trained to embrace moral relativism. The end justifies the means. Society is reaping what it has sown. It's now affecting audiophiles to the extent that quality software is difficult to find for playback on a revealing system that is CD based. This is not a comdemnation of CD source. If you have read any of my posts you will note that, while I may be vinyl based because of my age, I don't have a problem with CD players and own one and don't bitch about how "bad" it is. To me it's all about the music.

If you think I'm up on a soapbox attacking you personally, you have got it wrong, unless you are part of this overall problem also. I realize I'm painting with a broad brush and that there are tons of great young people with very high morals. I applaud them. Given their environment they are truely gems in todays society. However, if you have sat on the sidelines and played your fiddle (kept your mouth shut) while you watched Rome burn then don't attack me for my views. You have aided and abetted the enemy. Flames are welcome because, believe me, I will wear them like a badge.

I take comfort in my analog front end, having recently acquired hundreds of "as new" albums. Add that to the thousands of LP's I already have and color me simply sitting on the sidelines and laughing at all the moaning and groaning from the enablers in the audience. To the good folks in these forums that are CD based I strongly suggest investing in an analog front end, buying all the software you can get your hands on, enjoy what you have and let the scum have the rest.

Oh yeah, if you sense that I'm a little fired up you are correct. My little household, that has been nurtured with a solid moral compass, has been wrecked by the adult moral relativists enabling their morally void offspring (and perverted sense of seff-rightousness) this past weekend. The problems the radio/music industry has brought upon themselves is a reflection of the larger issues in society. Connect the dots if you dare.

This post is directed to U.S. residents. Canadians that sit comfortably on our northern border, taking advantage of our military strength, in the knowledge that with your puny little 50,000 member military you will never be attacked because of the U.S. need not comment. Is it any wonder that you can afford more social services without needing to invest in a real military? You sit silently as your fellow Canadians verbally attack this great nation yet enjoy the benefits of being our neighbor. Where is the Canadian outcry against the Canadian government being a funnel through which so many unsavory characters enter my country? My concern is about the United States. Should the moral relativists in my country that I am speaking about ever gain the majority of the power here, you will then reap what you are helping to sew. If they are content to lie, cheat and steal their fellow countrymen, make no mistake that, with all the power this nation posesses, they will have no compunction doing as they wish with our northern neighbors.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em guys.
Stereophile said it best: the last great rock album was
Nirvana's Nevermind. As far as radio is concerned, the
variety ended the day Led Zep's Stairway to Heaven came
out, 1971 or 1972. For me, the day WFLN, 95.7 in Philly
went from classical to shit music is the day radio music ended in Philly. Screw NPR, they went from a mix of music and talk to just talk: much cheaper. I think the bands that are out there that are rock tinged are trying hard to be good rockers, I like Godsmack and the Hives; good music but just not great music. The classical/ jazz markets are putting out great music on CDs/Records but their sales are so miniscule that they really do not count for much. Every generation thinks its was the last great musical generation;
its nothing new. Music has been hard-wired in our brains
since Man hit two sticks together. Music will be with us
as long as Man is around. The music industry itself has
changed in the past and will do so in the future, but how is unclear. End of the aphorisms.
Lugnut,

I was reading your post and felt it was well done, certainly nothing that could be considered anything less than someone voicing an informed opinion and willing to air his well thought out views. Debate is healthy and lets people consider the subject at hand from a different viewpoint.

The last paragraph is rude and uncalled for. Since you seem to struggle with civility I would suggest when posting on AudioGon you keep anything that is not related to audio or music to yourself.

Regards, Jeff (one of your unwelcome Canadian neighbors)
Jeff: So who will win the Memorial Cup, the Ottawa 67s or the Sudbury Wolves, maybe the Brandon Wheat Kings.......
The one thing that is great about this country is freedom of speech. Who cares what Lugnut says; in fact who cares about what anybody says; does not matter one iota!!
Lugnut - As to your point about the rise in popularity of CD's in the 80's, I believe that your assertion that they sounded worse than LP's is somewhat incorrect. For 90% of the music listeners, the CD player represented an enormous advance in audio quality over the inexpensive, typical turntable systems of the day. The convenience of the format and the obvious improvement of audio quality made their success a no brainier in the marketplace. From an audiophile perspective, the move was a giant step backwards, but then as now, we make up such a small percentage of the consumer market that our needs aren't likely to be addressed by the majority of manufacturers.

As for the rest of your post, the comments you made at the end are appalling, and completely uncalled for. I'm sure that whatever problems you might be personally experiencing are not being created by our neighbors to the north, and that neither the Canadians nor anyone else are responsible for your apparent unhappiness. I agree with Jeffloistarca - please try to keep your posts to something related to audio. In that context, they're worth reading and responding to.