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| From | "Holmes Online" <bholmes_fm@msn.com> |
| Subject | Re: Music Isn't Dead |
| Date | Wed, 4 Mar 2009 08:28:50 -0500 |
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>>It was the last clause that really struck me: "separate, solipsistic
>>twilights." THAT, I fear, is the danger of niche markets getting too
>>nichey. Don't get me wrong: I'm a blogger myself, though I've also been a
>>staff critic and an editor of freelance critics. I think the Internet
>>really is one of the greatest things since sliced bread (and honestly, I
>>don't mind slicing bread myself). But I do wonder if things might go too
>>far.
Agree that it was a great read, thanks for the original post Kerry.
"She's got an eye, not just an opinion, a gift for putting visual experience
into language. For the best critics, it's a calling, not a power trip -
they're trying to discover what they think". Great take.
Of course the splintering of music into niche limits opportunity...first it
was album-oriented radio (too cool to play singles, deep cuts preferred),
then radio formats (soft rock, classic rock, light rock, urban contemporary)
even magazines (kerrang is as limited as popsided was), finally satellite
radio and even labels themselves. Seems that most people stop being
adventuresome in their exploration as they get older and prefer to hear the
music that mattered *when* - the classic rock formula is really the next
generation of 50s/60s oldies radio (and in my town there's an 80s oldies
station)...satellite radio reinforces this whether you like Beatles all the
time, (underground) garage or even comedy. Now there are just that many more
flavors. You're not going to know whether or not you like Chunky Monkey if
all you ever ask for is vanilla.
Having this homogenization is akin to only going to parties with your
cheerleader friends or at your frat house...you know exactly what to expect,
you'll play the same records, and you'll mock and praise similar things.
Where's the influx of a different opinion or experience when the culture is
limited? The same would be true if those of us here *only* hung
here...limited bandwidth the majority of the time. The onus is just greater
to be that explorer, because no one is going to do that for you. One of the
great points in that article was that even though the readers may not always
have agreed with the theatre critic, the critic did go to the plays in the
warehouse and the living room as well as the theatre; now who will do that
"exploring"? For that same reason we'll probably never see another global
music sensation (think Elvis, Beatles, yes even Jacko) - how do you carry a
thosand marbles without a bucket? It sure as hell isn't how many MySpace
"friends" you have.
I don't think we know how effective the net can be yet, and in its extended
beta test period we're finsing both good and bad. It's great that anyone can
write a blog, but that doesn't mean the quality of the writing is good
(ditto e-magazines vs. paper magazines...an editor is a thankless but
necessary job). It's great that a band can post their tracks, touring
schedule and marketing links to sell product and build fanbase, but...how do
you discover a new band in a pool of millions without a beacon? And yes, the
social networks seem to resemble those frats and cheerleader squads more
than a more diverse group (block party?) but it's not as frightening as
watching a second generation of people being steered away from true social
interaction - talking - through computers, texting, earbuds and other
activites that, while purposed as communication, leave us isolated. At the
risk of sounding like the old man who walked uphill both ways to school,
true human interaction is becoming a lost art form itself.
> Watching the VH1 thing made me realize how full of shit I was.
Why? I saw a vh-1 special on the :ten greatest rock bands", and by contrast
it made me realize how full of shit *they* were. Hosted by Mark Goodman
(clue 1) it was capped off by explaining how the Stones were the
quintessential mix of blues and rock and were "as popular today as in their
peak" (clue 2)...then showed the video of them playing "It's Only
Rock'n'roll"... in a tent filled with soap bubbles, dressed as sailors.
Right.
cheers
b
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