I find it difficult to define an era until it's over.....and who knows what
will happen in the last half of the decade.....anything goes is the way I
look at the future of music.....

To be honest I find music from every decade that I like...one just needs
to be open about it....

Brendan said:

good stuff.

NDRU said:

,





Almost true, though.

So far ? ... development of the digital informative era which grew during the 90's .
The fact that we're all here on this org discussing this subject ... where did you have that in the 70's or 80's ?
If you were lucky , there was a fanclub noted on the backside of a recordsleeve .
Furtherly you could discuss it with soulmates who dug your music too or meet other devoted fans during concerts .



Buying 45-singles or cd-singles has been replaced by easier acces with downloads . If you want you can get one on your newest Nokia cellular and transfer it to one of your buddies' cellulars which they can add on their i-Pods .
These are the new cassete-decks with more technical posibilities .
( see example-thread : "I Love Downloading Music" )
I'm not up-2-date how the sales-#'s of complete albums on I-Tunes are , but that's one of the things i pity .
Coversleeves can be downloaded too and printed , so that's a big loss from the actual sensation you have when you're buying an album in a store .
But the tecnnology evolves and artists are already adapting their media on their sites by selling their album-tracks individually .
It was discussed here on the org before that it could be the end of the conceptalbum-era . After all the artist and producer discuss in which order they will mix the album than merely & randomly selecting .



The 70's Generation got their buying-info based on radio and some tv-shows ( don't forget that music also came on tv during those years )
During the 80's & 90's , the tv took more over with MTV , and that's where the video-clip evolved .
In this decade the new generation have MTV , MySpace , YouTube , MSN , etc ... the possibilities have broadened .



Besides the much programmed urban styled pop that leads the commercial charts , there is actually a lot of development within the Dance/House scene .
Since the beginning of the House Sound Of Chicago around 1986/1987 , there have been added much more styles like BrokenBeat , Deep House , Electronica , Techno , Trance , etc , and where real instrumentation comes back more and more .
That's why the last years , the Dj-position has changed , since they're bringing those styles to the audience .
Faithless already had their hit "God Is A Dj" . It's a grown concept because Dj/mixer-legend Larry Levan was a star-dj in an earlier stage during the Paradise Garage days in NYC . The focus these days is more on Club-dj's than during the 70's and 80's when radio-dj's were hollered with songs like "Hey Dj " , "Last Night A Dj Saved My Life" , "Request Line", etc .




Bands or groups have become rarer in the Urban Soul scene while there is a flourishing band/group-scene with the Rock-area .
Mint Condition is one of the few exceptions within Urban along maybe some other bands , but not many .




Once again , technology is a main influence in this decade .
New recorded tracks or albums can roughly be completed with advanced computer-programs . The final mixing & mastering though is still one of the exceptional jobs for specialists .
And as a matter of speaking ( & personally ) i have to say that the dynamics of today's recorded , mixed & mastered albums or songs have developed .
With an exception of some 80's maxi-singles , much recorded music from the 80's i've heard is not as dynamically recorded as the current productions . But that's how i experience it .



Together with the more advanced recording-technology , i think that a lot of today's producers have :

- an expanded record-collection from which they can use samples

or

- look for these samples on internet since it's so easy accessable to find whatever one's looking for .

Which has concludingly lessened some creativity as Vainandy already stated before , despite some exceptions which occasionally use real instrumentation .
But on the compositional/writing side , it has become poorer , especially in the commercial scene of Urban styled pop .



I keep my focus on the underground scene . I always have , even during the 80's .
I wasn't exactly hipping 2 "Waka Me Up , B4 U Go Go" , "St. Elmo's Fire" , "The Final Countdown", etc ( yes , even in the 80's there was garbage , imho ).... undergrinding funk & soul was my business .
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[Edited 9/6/06 12:50pm]

Anx said:

obsessed said:

half way thru,and no distinguished sound in the forefront?

Unless we never get back to basics, the pop music of this decade is gonna be and deserves to be remembered as shit. Our very own BlaqueKnight once said that even the worst of the '80s seems miles above the crap of today, and I couldn't agree more. We've hit new all-time lows.

Some people say that we should quit bitching and focus on our quality underground stuff. Well, gee, how can we NOT bitch when it's the popular music that ultimately shapes history? And that, unlike previous decades up to the '90s, we actually had groundbreaking legends and all kinds of wonderful music everywhere (in the midst of whatever crap there was) to proudly represent the progression of rock 'n' roll?

I'm not saying the '90s and so far the '00s HAVEN'T had any semblance of greatness. Far from it. For example, the '90s were a glorious period for all the alternative scenes in music (rock, R&B, hip-hop.. you name it) and not every pop chart-topper throughout the '00s has been a dud. Some have been quite acceptable.

But crap is what mostly dominates these days and something needs to change.

Completely Unforgivable Garbage....So far

tony23k said:

Nope ....and what's your "take on it"? You haven't really said...you just
asked us...

So far (so far)
So bad (so bad)
Least fun (least fun)
I've had (I've had)
Come on (come on)
Lets dance (lets dance)
People snap out yo trance!

All I hear about is predatory games no glory shames
A people born to luv and blend together
Dont believe me check the weather
Bad guys still black good guys still white
Same tired lies same fake azzed fight
The two thousands suck but you know what?
Good lookin'

Faith is on the one
You cant block the sun
Faith is on the one

obsessed said:

well..as came into the new millinium,I thought "New Age"music had a pretty good shot
I would say the first half of the 00's will probably be defined as Hip-Hop/R&B era.
It's influence on other styles of music is undeniable.

The decade of plastic beats.

The victory of ad lib vs. melodies.

The victory of sound vs. songs.

The victory of dating shows vs. music videos

etc.

squiddyren said:

Yep , another way to define this decade . Less to no groundbreaking artists .
Many subjects here on the org discussed are about the 80's icons and some currently charting artists like Beyonce , Justin , among a few others .
There might be some groundbreaking talent out somewhere now , not getting the opportunity to break through

Also , the dissapearance of many sub-labels from major record company's .
Universal is one of the few company's left .
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[Edited 9/7/06 5:23am]

so far,this decade sucks BRING BACK THE 70s!

100MPH said:

I think you're right about the lack of record labels, and most of the remaining ones don't seem to be interested in nurturing genuine talent unless it can sell millions.

So as far as what's popular I'll remember this decade for its boring rap and hip-hop, boy bands with a never ending supply of vacuous ballads, and a plethora of 2-chord rock bands who won't last more than 3 albums.

Having said that, there are at least some popular musicians out there that are, if not groundbreaking, then at least interesting and somewhat original - Beck, The White Stripes and Sigur Rós spring to mind.

But that's just the popular stuff, and fortunately there is plenty of groundbreaking talent out there. You just have to search a little harder for it. I don't listen to commercial radio anymore, I have at least 25 music tv stations I never watch, and yet I have no shortage of interesting new music to listen to.

So I'll remember it more for interesting hardly-ever-heard-of stuff like Herbaliser and DJ Format (brilliant hip-hop - far better than all the popular guff), and quirky different music, from quirky, different musicians like Chenard Walcker, Run, YouTM, FortyOne, Emm Gryner, Lemon Jelly, and Woodstar.

AsylumUtopia said:

Yeah , the music industry has changed so much .
It's crazy actually , since the information-channels have been broadened much more in this digital era , and therefor it has become easier to spot new talent .
The industry has changed in that matter that a given chance of fully creative freedom in an early starting stage , like Prince once got , has probably become lesser these days .
Alicia Keys is one of the few examples which has been embraced by the organisation of Clive Davis .

tony23k said:

Sounds good to me.....
I really thought you were looking for more elaborate answers or something..
I coulda said 'that' myself.....
I see lots of ppl really gettin' in to the question in here....

obsessed said:

I am.
the impact of certain styles of music.
especially if it influences/changes the shape of music for a decade.
Will Hip-Hop in it's present form, flow into 2011&beyond?
It will be interesting to see

the decade of shitty music

until I see some changes which probably I wont then i will be listening to r&b, hip-hop, dance, pop, and rock from 1960-something until 1999 which in my opinion good music died after the year I graduated from hs.

vainandy said:

Suprisingly, I been hearing songs today sample stuff that came out like 6 or 7 years ago when the music was already sampled. Sad too.

VinnyM27 said:

I feel you on that one. In the 90s when I was growing up, I listened to the 60s,70s and 80s music and I didnt really appreaciated the 90s music until around 1998 or 1999. And right now I have yet of showing the same acknowledge of this decade's msuic.