October 2010

The following is an excerpted article from RollingStone, Issue # 1117:

While the rest of the music business continues to crumble, one genre seems immune: country music.

Four of the Top 10 albums in mid-October - Zac Brown Band, Darius Rucker, Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith - are by Nashville acts, and Taylor Swift's new album is poised to be the year's biggest seller.

"Country" now encompasses a broader range of styles than ever: pop-crossover acts like Lady Antebellum and Sugarland, modern honky-tonkers like Brad Paisley, stubborn traditionalists like James Johnson and country-rock favorites like the Zac Brown Band.

The second-biggest selling album of the year, after Eminem's Recovery, is Lady Antebllum's Need You Now, which has sold nearly 3 million copies. "Country went through a period when even people in Nashville couldn't tell one from another", says Ken Levitan, who manages Johnson and Kings of Leon. "Now there's more individuality. Everybody doesn't sound the same."

In many ways, Nashville is the last bastion of the old-school music business. Fans overwhelmingly get their music on CD: 80 percent of them buy that format and only 26 percent download.

Radio remains the principal outlet for breaking new acts, thanks to 3,000 country stations nationwide, compared to 802 Top 40 and 350 "active rock" stations.

Country benefits from exceptionally loyal fans--and a concert biz that knows how to cultivate that bond. Major tour rarely charge more than $70 to $100 per ticket.

[Edited 11/2/10 10:41am]

i guess alot of redneccks don't know how to use or own computers and ipods?!

i listen to pretty much everything,BUT COUNTRY. unless u count the score to brokeback mountain. i love me some heathcliff ledger.

I like some country. Being from MS its hard not to. I dont like downloaded music that much. CD-R's just dont sound as good as factory pressed disc. I still buy all my music on cd and download only what I absolutely have to.

meisme said:

I like some country. Being from MS its hard not to. I dont like downloaded music that much. CD-R's just dont sound as good as factory pressed disc. I still buy all my music on cd and download only what I absolutely have to.

Wrong, cd-r's sound exactly the same as pressed cd's if you have burned a lossless download.

Maybe your cd-r's don't sound as good as pressed cd's because you have downloaded an Mp3 then burned that to disc.

But if you can download in lossless format and burn that to disc, it will be exactly the same sound as a pressed cd.

[Edited 11/1/10 8:23am]

meisme said:

I like some country. Being from MS its hard not to. I dont like downloaded music that much. CD-R's just dont sound as good as factory pressed disc. I still buy all my music on cd and download only what I absolutely have to.

CD's sound flat and don't sound as good as records, and MP3's are the worst. I've never downloaded anything, but people have given me CD's with stuff they downloaded, and I rarely listen to them. I'd rather listen to a scratched up record than a MP3. I usually buy CD's if there is no record version or if I don't have much money, because a vinyl version of an album today costs way more than the CD. I'll also buy the CD if it contains extra songs, like some remastered albums. But in some cases the remastered CD just sounds like they pumped up the bass or made the songs louder, and they still don't sound lke the original albums.

MickyDolenz said:

meisme said:

I like some country. Being from MS its hard not to. I dont like downloaded music that much. CD-R's just dont sound as good as factory pressed disc. I still buy all my music on cd and download only what I absolutely have to.

CD's sound flat and don't sound as good as records, and MP3's are the worst. I've never downloaded anything, but people have given me CD's with stuff they downloaded, and I rarely listen to them. I'd rather listen to a scratched up record than a MP3. I usually buy CD's if there is no record version or if I don't have much money, because a vinyl version of an album today costs way more than the CD. I'll also buy the CD if it contains extra songs, like some remastered albums. But in some cases the remastered CD just sounds like they pumped up the bass or made the songs louder, and they still don't sound lke the original albums.

Yes, many albums claim to have been remastered, but often the only work done is levels boosted. These are not true remasters.

Mp3 is a terrible format imo. But downloads these days do not necessarily have to mean Mp3. However, the likes of Amazon, itunes etc still do not offer a lossless alternative to Mp3, which is crazy, considering the likes of Apple offer the apple lossless format for ripping on itunes.

Do you know why vinyl is more expensive to buy than cd's? Is it because they are usually produced in smaller quantities?

meisme said:

I like some country. Being from MS its hard not to. I dont like downloaded music that much. CD-R's just dont sound as good as factory pressed disc. I still buy all my music on cd and download only what I absolutely have to.

What part of Mississippi are you from. I'm from Jackson.

MikeyB71 said:

Do you know why vinyl is more expensive to buy than cd's? Is it because they are usually produced in smaller quantities?

Because the market is not that big for records today, and few stores carry them. The actual record stores that do, generally still stock more CD's than vinyl, so can sell the CD's cheaper. It's like a store like Best Buy will buy more way more copies of a new major act CD, than a bookstore like Borders. So Best Buy will sell the new release for $9.99 the 1st week or two, when the Borders will sell the same CD for $18-20. The average regular price at Best Buy is around $13.99, still cheaper than Borders. When CD's first came out, they cost more than records and cassettes, because it was a small market. Today it is the opposite. But CD's are just not the same visually, I think that is why not much thought is given to cover artwork today.

purplemookiebut said:

i guess alot of redneccks don't know how to use or own computers and ipods?!

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking, lol. They haven't figured out the whole downloady-thingy, lol.

PDogz said:

purplemookiebut said:

i guess alot of redneccks don't know how to use or own computers and ipods?!

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking, lol. They haven't figured out the whole downloady-thingy, lol.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

I don't listen to country but I DO buy CDs.

Same here. I'm not a country music aficionado, but I generally buy physical CDs (and digital singles).

RodeoSchro said:

PDogz said:

That's EXACTLY what I was thinking, lol. They haven't figured out the whole downloady-thingy, lol.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

Ahh, I see you're from Houston. Sarcastic laugh noted, lol. Evidenced by your participation on prince.org, I will assume you're NOT a Redneck, and have complete mastery over your computer and other technological advancements.

Going to a Wal-Mart is a social event for rednecks...why not supply them with music to go with their lifestyle.

That's rite' Bubba, I said it!

signed, Billy Joe Jim Bob

Dayum!!! As with rap, seems many just dismiss the genre, and amplify the bad in it.

Steel guitars are nothing to sniff at you fuckers! You wish you could be as badass as Marty and Waylon!

Characters of refinement still purchase in physical format.

Double post...................so I'll reiterate: Do not broad-brush the world of saddles, pistols, picklock keys, lanterns and ladi sexi mexicana..........just cos most of you are hairdressers called Raymondo who carry rubber fists w/you when you go out for a nights dancing. And that's not even a stereotype.

[Edited 11/1/10 20:08pm]

People who grew up on rock music in the 70s, wound up crossing over to country in the mid-late 80s. A lot of country fans grew up listening to Def Leppard and Van Halen, and when Garth Brooks came out and the tribute album to the Eagles, you saw people who hated country embracing it, because it was closer to the type of music they grew up listening to. Bands like Skynyrd and ZZ Top would never have been considered country, or John Mellencamp, but today, they're in that loop. So is Bon Jovi because of his crossover hit with Sugarland.

I don't know where the Dixie Chicks would fit in these days, but they did win a Grammy for their CD. But was it because it was good music, or because it was a political statement being made from the recording industry?

But when "O Brother Where Art Thou", Dolly Parton's comeback, and the Krauss/Plant collaborations happened, that was Gen Xers who loved the Johnny Cash stuff from the 90s. Hank III brought punk rock and country music together. Kid Rock also brought a bunch of different styles together that was a throwback to southern rock, even though he's from Detroit. But then you had Toby Keith covering a Ted Nugent song, Brad Paisley doing heavy metal solos at a country show, Travis Tritt showing up to play with VH, and Billy Joel singing with Garth Brooks.

You also had the "alt country" genre, which is Wilco, Ryan Adams, etc.

Someone like Taylor Swift can sound country, but make a pop hit, a dance remix,and be able to have hits in those genres. I don't think "Fearless" was anything amazing, but for someone her age, she is able to write songs from an honest point of view.

Granted, most of it's "safe" because they can usually depend on the artists to write radio friendly songs that don't have to be censored.

In NYC and LA, you're going to have a hard time trying to find a country station, but in most cities, it's def. out there.

This is def not the first thing I noticed from country fans.

One thing I cannot take away from them is their loyalty to the artists they support,,,,,good for them.

the CD as a physical format will be fine as long as people keep downloading albums and burning them on Sony CD's or whatever...

I only buy original CD's that I consider really good or even groundbreaking: 15 or even 20 during the last 5 years...

not surprised about country though...even if 00s country is just as bad as shit-hop, rednecks and traditionalists refuse to download country albums...

in some parts of America, YOU CANNOT talk about p2p, unless you want to be treated as a true CRIMINAL-THIEF by your neighbours...

dalsh327 said:

People who grew up on rock music in the 70s, wound up crossing over to country in the mid-late 80s. A lot of country fans grew up listening to Def Leppard and Van Halen, and when Garth Brooks came out and the tribute album to the Eagles, you saw people who hated country embracing it, because it was closer to the type of music they grew up listening to. Bands like Skynyrd and ZZ Top would never have been considered country, or John Mellencamp, but today, they're in that loop. So is Bon Jovi because of his crossover hit with Sugarland.

I don't know where the Dixie Chicks would fit in these days, but they did win a Grammy for their CD. But was it because it was good music, or because it was a political statement being made from the recording industry?

But when "O Brother Where Art Thou", Dolly Parton's comeback, and the Krauss/Plant collaborations happened, that was Gen Xers who loved the Johnny Cash stuff from the 90s. Hank III brought punk rock and country music together. Kid Rock also brought a bunch of different styles together that was a throwback to southern rock, even though he's from Detroit. But then you had Toby Keith covering a Ted Nugent song, Brad Paisley doing heavy metal solos at a country show, Travis Tritt showing up to play with VH, and Billy Joel singing with Garth Brooks.

You also had the "alt country" genre, which is Wilco, Ryan Adams, etc.

Someone like Taylor Swift can sound country, but make a pop hit, a dance remix,and be able to have hits in those genres. I don't think "Fearless" was anything amazing, but for someone her age, she is able to write songs from an honest point of view.

Granted, most of it's "safe" because they can usually depend on the artists to write radio friendly songs that don't have to be censored.

In NYC and LA, you're going to have a hard time trying to find a country station, but in most cities, it's def. out there.

Excellent post

dalsh327 said:

People who grew up on rock music in the 70s, wound up crossing over to country in the mid-late 80s. A lot of country fans grew up listening to Def Leppard and Van Halen, and when Garth Brooks came out and the tribute album to the Eagles, you saw people who hated country embracing it, because it was closer to the type of music they grew up listening to. Bands like Skynyrd and ZZ Top would never have been considered country, or John Mellencamp, but today, they're in that loop. So is Bon Jovi because of his crossover hit with Sugarland.

I don't know where the Dixie Chicks would fit in these days, but they did win a Grammy for their CD. But was it because it was good music, or because it was a political statement being made from the recording industry?

But when "O Brother Where Art Thou", Dolly Parton's comeback, and the Krauss/Plant collaborations happened, that was Gen Xers who loved the Johnny Cash stuff from the 90s. Hank III brought punk rock and country music together. Kid Rock also brought a bunch of different styles together that was a throwback to southern rock, even though he's from Detroit. But then you had Toby Keith covering a Ted Nugent song, Brad Paisley doing heavy metal solos at a country show, Travis Tritt showing up to play with VH, and Billy Joel singing with Garth Brooks.

You also had the "alt country" genre, which is Wilco, Ryan Adams, etc.

Someone like Taylor Swift can sound country, but make a pop hit, a dance remix,and be able to have hits in those genres. I don't think "Fearless" was anything amazing, but for someone her age, she is able to write songs from an honest point of view.

Granted, most of it's "safe" because they can usually depend on the artists to write radio friendly songs that don't have to be censored.

In NYC and LA, you're going to have a hard time trying to find a country station, but in most cities, it's def. out there.

Some of Dylan's material can be called country, and plenty of Neil Young and Tom Petty's most popular work surely comes under the umbrella too. It gets tricky w/all the subgenres but I think of country as the folk music of the united states, like blues, gospel and bluegrass. Perhaps it only differs from traditional english folk in its blues influence, but I'm not sure.

vainandy said:

meisme said:

I like some country. Being from MS its hard not to. I dont like downloaded music that much. CD-R's just dont sound as good as factory pressed disc. I still buy all my music on cd and download only what I absolutely have to.

What part of Mississippi are you from. I'm from Jackson.

joshb80 said:

vainandy said:

What part of Mississippi are you from. I'm from Jackson.

I have a few friends that live in Jackson.

*bows down*

that part in the song about the redneck not allowed in the club cause of blue jeans..

well that one lady on the 2004 opening night concert was a redneck . she made it onstage. you know who im talking about it you seen the concert. she sticks out like a sore thumb looking like larry the cable guys twin sister. quite distracting for me at least when shes dancing behind prince

Who Still Buys CDs?

TODAY:

MickyDolenz said:

meisme said:

I like some country. Being from MS its hard not to. I dont like downloaded music that much. CD-R's just dont sound as good as factory pressed disc. I still buy all my music on cd and download only what I absolutely have to.

CD's sound flat and don't sound as good as records, and MP3's are the worst. I've never downloaded anything, but people have given me CD's with stuff they downloaded, and I rarely listen to them. I'd rather listen to a scratched up record than a MP3. I usually buy CD's if there is no record version or if I don't have much money, because a vinyl version of an album today costs way more than the CD. I'll also buy the CD if it contains extra songs, like some remastered albums. But in some cases the remastered CD just sounds like they pumped up the bass or made the songs louder, and they still don't sound lke the original albums.

Funny because, when Tabu Remastered Cherrelle's Fragile...I put it to my computer...turned it into a WAV file...these fools STILL did not turn it up all the way, I had to do it myself Then I bought it on vinyl..thing sounds 10X better than the mp3 and the remaster cd I bought....UGH!

elmer said:

dalsh327 said:

People who grew up on rock music in the 70s, wound up crossing over to country in the mid-late 80s. A lot of country fans grew up listening to Def Leppard and Van Halen, and when Garth Brooks came out and the tribute album to the Eagles, you saw people who hated country embracing it, because it was closer to the type of music they grew up listening to. Bands like Skynyrd and ZZ Top would never have been considered country, or John Mellencamp, but today, they're in that loop. So is Bon Jovi because of his crossover hit with Sugarland.

I don't know where the Dixie Chicks would fit in these days, but they did win a Grammy for their CD. But was it because it was good music, or because it was a political statement being made from the recording industry?

But when "O Brother Where Art Thou", Dolly Parton's comeback, and the Krauss/Plant collaborations happened, that was Gen Xers who loved the Johnny Cash stuff from the 90s. Hank III brought punk rock and country music together. Kid Rock also brought a bunch of different styles together that was a throwback to southern rock, even though he's from Detroit. But then you had Toby Keith covering a Ted Nugent song, Brad Paisley doing heavy metal solos at a country show, Travis Tritt showing up to play with VH, and Billy Joel singing with Garth Brooks.

You also had the "alt country" genre, which is Wilco, Ryan Adams, etc.

Someone like Taylor Swift can sound country, but make a pop hit, a dance remix,and be able to have hits in those genres. I don't think "Fearless" was anything amazing, but for someone her age, she is able to write songs from an honest point of view.

Granted, most of it's "safe" because they can usually depend on the artists to write radio friendly songs that don't have to be censored.

In NYC and LA, you're going to have a hard time trying to find a country station, but in most cities, it's def. out there.

Some of Dylan's material can be called country, and plenty of Neil Young and Tom Petty's most popular work surely comes under the umbrella too. It gets tricky w/all the subgenres but I think of country as the folk music of the united states, like blues, gospel and bluegrass. Perhaps it only differs from traditional english folk in its blues influence, but I'm not sure.

Def Leppard and Taylor Swift did "Crossroads" on CMT, and they discussed some interesting things:

1. 2-3 million is "huge" these days. That's coming from a band that sold over 10 million copies of "Hysteria".

2. There's not much difference between a pop song, a rock song, and country song. If you want to make a pop song country, you add a fiddle to it and if you want to make it pop, you change the beat to make it more of a dance hit. Shania and Mutt Lange had put a "pop" and "country" version of "Up" out.

A lot of music we listen to was based from the south, whether it be folk or gospel. Fact: Woody Guthrie took the melody for "This Land is Your Land" from a gospel song. Woody's success allowed him to bring Leadbelly to New York to be heard on the radio. What matters in modern music is how Alan Lomax was able to get out and record those songs that people would eventually bring into their own artistic portfolio in the US and abroad. Pete Seeger had also helped him out, and to me, Seeger should be considered one of the most important people in music, because he's always been a part of it and continues to be a part of it in his 90s. He also gave credit where credit is due, but his agenda's been more about social commentary in music, which has always been controversial, as well as being about traditional music.

And yeah - "We Shall Overcome" was one he did. It's not his to take credit, but it's one that he did in his set that would take on a life of its own. But think about the journey that song has taken in the past 50 years. It went full circle in Washington DC from 1963 to 2009.

Bob Dylan had said that Tiny Tim, the same one who sang "Tip Toe Through the Tulips", had a lot of respect from the musician community, because he would try to find songs that had either rarely been recorded, or predated recording, and brought them into the modern age.I mean, think about when a song like "Try a Little Tenderness" was written - the Depression Era!

Dylan wasn't really a folkie. In his high school yearbook, he wrote he wanted to be Little Richard. And his haircut kind of indicated a little of that, too. Playing an acoustic got him gigs because it was cheap and portable. But he wasted no time getting a rock band together and commenced to changing rock music overnight. Lyric writing went to a whole other level.

No one really knows where some of these songs come from, or who the originators were, because a lot of them morphed into a "traditional" song, and whoever created it was long forgotten.

I'll tack this on.. Bono, Van and Bob discussing different subjects, but read the part about traditional music..

http://www.interferenza.com/bcs/interw/84-jul8.htm

actual physical CDs??

might have to steer the music into country, methinks

$$$$$$$$$

PDogz said:

RodeoSchro said:

Ha. Ha. Ha.

Ahh, I see you're from Houston. Sarcastic laugh noted, lol. Evidenced by your participation on prince.org, I will assume you're NOT a Redneck, and have complete mastery over your computer and other technological advancements.

LOL, thanks. As noted below, I am The Second Funkiest White Man In America, but part of being so funky is appreciating many other types of music.

I do love country music and always have.

I still buy CDs, and not country ones either. I can get a new CD for $9.99 or less (for CD quality) and then just rip it into iTunes. What's the big deal about buying CDs?

Anything I download from iTunes or Amazon is a lossy version that sells for usually more than $9.99.