The effects of corporate music

It kills me how dismissive this group is of Rap music. It's hardly a "slow period " in music. It's been around since '79 and has crossed over to every segment of the population. It is not my first choice in musical preference. That will always be classic rock. I guess I also prefer classic rap like Run DMC, LL Cool J , Eric B. and Rakim, EPMD and Public Enemy to the overproduced pop of Puffy and Jay Z. Newer stuff like Biggie, 50 cent and Snoop and Dre is also a great listen. Living in NYC, I think this music has brought a lot of ethnicities together. One image that comes to mind is this "posse" of lily-white blonde girls from Conneticut singing in unison to MOP's song "Ante Up!" and copying Rap gestures. Absurd ? Maybe, but I'm feelin it. Maybe you guys should check out Def Poetry Jam on HBO Sun . nites. It's kinda like Rap with no music and more meaningful lyrics.

Having nothing new to contribute to your points about corporate effect,I'd like to consider the end of the Cold War.

As the most abstract art,music is the most difficult art to censor. A totalitarian government would rather have its free thinking,creative people making music that writing pamphlets and making trouble,so it steers many persons into music.(Kodaly's music curricula that were used throughout the eastern block are now catching on in the west.)

With the end of the Cold War,with freedon to travel,a generation of great players is more visible that it was a decade ago.

There are more great players out there than perhaps any time in history. Cuban jazz is blazing new paths that more will travel when that government changes.

The modern composers don't get commercial airplay but many orchestras slip some of their works onto their programs.

Many cross over to work in the studios for hourly pay but art musicians pushing forward their art outside of the commercial mainstream is nothing new.

Yes here in the New York / New Jersey area , their really is not a clear channel , all can hear , radio station that caters to "new rock and roll" . You would have to go out of your way to find a station ie a small independent or college station, then get a strong antenna and hope you could recieve it. So where I am , its basically alternative rock, pop, or classic rock. Again College stations are a good way to go.

Another issue, and this one is just opionion, is that if a new Rock band manages to somehow penetrate the media , I see people jumping all over them as copycats. Case in point the Band Jet. I like them, great to hear some new rock n roll. But I have seen many post they are an AC/DC ripoffs or comments similar. Well if we used that logic "in the good old days" we could have said Hot Tuna was a rip off of Ten years after , which was a ripoff of Grand Funk Railroad , which was a ripoff of Bad Company...well you see my point.

My third point , and this one we will put under a "Crazy Darrylhifi theory" , is that we are never going to hear music like that again, because musicians are not taking drugs like they did in the mid 60's through the late 70's.
Seriously some of this genius, was influenced by LSD and other mind altering substances. Im not advocating kids start taking LSD, just they were different times where getting high was the norm of the hipee culture.

And finally, I have a son , who will be 12 shortly. He would love to be a baseball star. When I was 12 , I was equally split between dreaming to be a baseball star and a rock n roll star. Their is no longer that glamour to want to grow up and be the Beatles , or be the Rolling Stones, so without the desire of kids to get into Rock n Roll , we are left with William Hung and American Idol.
The times, they sure have changed. Long Live Rock.

I agree with you Nrchy. Here are some of my thoughts:

Trend #1: After MTV started making LOTS of money (early 80's), it was taken over by the marketing types. It stopped being about music and more about making money. This meant that talented musicians were passed over for "marketable" musicians and videos were done by less creative (and cheaper to hire) directors with lower budgets. At the same time, deregulation meant that the record companies not longer were dependent on promoting music through local radio DJ's. They could just buy the radio station and play the songs they wanted to promote. I am not much of a lyrics person, I more enjoy the melody of the music. In my opinion the Rap/Hip-Hop influence has killed the melody in most modern rock songs.

Trend #2: I am also an educator and I see another trend that has happened here in the U.S. Most high schools now have greatly reduced band and orchestra programs. Some high schools have eliminated them altogether. I belive this trend has been seen by Viacom, parent of MTV, VH1 etc. I say this because VH1 has been giving grants to keep music programs alive in the schools. I think they realize that without the music programs in the schools there may not be a VH1 in the future. It may be a lost cause because many of our students no longer have the patience to learn music through a high school band program. Why should they be a "band geek" for years when they can pick up a guitar and be cool right away? Never mind that they many times lack the basic musical background and talent to make something meaningful with their instrument.

Trend #3: After the Monkeys it was very uncool to have someone else write songs for your rock group and to have very talented studio musicians help out your sound in the studio and on tour. After Milli Vanilli it became almost impossible. (Even though this incident was an overt fraud, the lesson that was retained was that you must write and play your own music.) Sometimes talented instrumental or vocal musicians are not very talented at writing music. How many excellent orchestral musicians write symphonies? Very few, but almost all of our rock musicians insist on writing their own music. Sometimes this works with the right talent, but many times these musicians would be better with a compromise. Write a few songs of your own, do a few covers, and play a few new songs written be others.I know there are some artists that do this, but I think the ego of many current musicians and some of the Monkeys/Milli Vanilli history of rock and roll prevents this from occuring in a natural way for many artists. I see no problem with occasionally using other people's music for you performance as long as proper credit is given to the creators.

I hope that this era is just a low ebb in the creation of good rock and roll, but I am increasingly pessimistic that the U.S. rock scene will improve. Some of my favorite music lately has been from elsewere. For example, I really enjoy the soundtracks from the anime series "Cowboy Bebop." Most of the performances are done by a Japanese group called the Seatbelts. The styles vary from rock to jazz to vocals. These are talented musicians, but just as importantly they do not seem bound by the culture into playing only one form of music such as hard rock, new age, jazz, etc. They seem to be just having fun playing great music. In contrast many of our talented artists are put into a cultural and corporate straight jacket that is not conducive to the creative process.

There is more great music than ever being released these days. Unfortunately, finding it is the hard part. Much is recorded and released on small labels and ignored by the mass media outlets.

I'd recommend listening to some internet channels. Find one that caters to the sort of music you want. It won't be audiophile quality, but you may find just what you're looking for. One big outlet covering a large variety of styles is
http://www.live365.com
Their service is free,though they'll keep asking you to upgrade to VIP access, which gives even more choices, and stops all the ads. You can even start your own station there if you want.

Other choices are the cable TV music stations, and satellite radio like XM and Sieius. It takes more of an investment and is not as "grass roots" as many of the internet stations. Will be much more diverse than the regular radio airwaves.

Great music is out there are needs your support. But don't expect that it'll find you.

I hope others will suggest good outlets.

Just my 2 cents,

Roger

PS
I have no affiliation with any of the
businesses I mentioned.