I just took a look at the current weeks Billboard 200 Charts.

That is the absolutely worst list of 200 top albums I've ever seen.

Unless things change dramatically and soon, the history of music is truly OVA.

Graycap23 said:

I just took a look at the current weeks Billboard 200 Charts.

That is the absolutely worst list of 200 top albums I've ever seen.

Unless things change dramatically and soon, the history of music is truly OVA.

LOL

I know, it's only going to get worse. I don't expecct a change any time soon (i.e. never).

Graycap23 said:

You've done better than me. I haven't checked since 2000.

it's already all over....its' been over

we just seeing the bottom dropping out now firsthand

I feel we are really reaping what we've sewn after years of piracy and the resulting steep decline in the music industry. It's just become an almost impossible career option for the mid range musicians and songwriters, who were the backbone and trailblazers of the industry, and who after years of toiling to just getting by, became the greats of years gone by.

.

We can't expect a great industry if only the manufactured superstars can sustain a full time career.

.

Supporting independent music is crucial in boosting the overall quality again. The majors will no longer take any chances in developing artists who aren't already established. Image is 90% of what they're interested in, in the current climate. We all need to research and take note of the up and coming bands/artists in our towns, then support and spread the word about them.

.

nd33 said:

I feel we are really reaping what we've sewn after years of piracy and the resulting steep decline in the music industry. It's just become an almost impossible career option for the mid range musicians and songwriters, who were the backbone and trailblazers of the industry, and who after years of toiling to just getting by, became the greats of years gone by.

.

We can't expect a great industry if only the manufactured superstars can sustain a full time career.

.

Supporting independent music is crucial in boosting the overall quality again. The majors will no longer take any chances in developing artists who aren't already established. Image is 90% of what they're interested in, in the current climate. We all need to research and take note of the up and coming bands/artists in our towns, then support and spread the word about them.

.

Agreed.

I see nothing but solo acts and tracked "live" sets coming from the majors now, unless they were already established. Even the country acts don't have a proper band -- singers in the front.

Cinny said:

I see nothing but solo acts and tracked "live" sets coming from the majors now, unless they were already established. Even the country acts don't have a proper band -- singers in the front.

Speaking as someone who LOVES music...........this is depressing.

Those charts have been dead since the early 1990s.

There's been a thread on this every year since the org started y'all think every new year is the worst. 2015 will have one soon enough.

Gunsnhalen said:

There's been a thread on this every year since the org started y'all think every new year is the worst. 2015 will have one soon enough.

It has.........every year is worse than the last.

Graycap23 said:

Gunsnhalen said:

There's been a thread on this every year since the org started y'all think every new year is the worst. 2015 will have one soon enough.

It has.........every year is worse than the last.

As someone pointed out, this was all in the cards from day one. The bar got lowered and lowered and lowered. The Labels have one way of finding talent, one way to market, no room for error and do it ll very very cheaply. Most money goes on advertising, very little on the act of making the music anymore. That with the onslaught of digital music services where almost everything now is free, the room for you to be an artist really is not in MUSIC, i suggest looking for another profession, serious. It can be done indie but the reality is that it cant be done for long on your own, most successful long standing indie artists were really artists that had been on a label and already had their day in the mainstream, I mean shit Chicago, The Eagles and the Foo Fighters all are 100% indie own there rights, but lets be real, they all had careers with labels and the base just followed them. New Acts will not get this day, an they will not invest in learning music, creating music, because there is no room to waste $$$ especially now you can make your album with a music app and a laptop, and beam it out to people, no $$ investment. But now with even digital sales tanking, its really a bleak future, get used to it.

lastdecember said:

Graycap23 said:

It has.........every year is worse than the last.

As someone pointed out, this was all in the cards from day one. The bar got lowered and lowered and lowered. The Labels have one way of finding talent, one way to market, no room for error and do it ll very very cheaply. Most money goes on advertising, very little on the act of making the music anymore. That with the onslaught of digital music services where almost everything now is free, the room for you to be an artist really is not in MUSIC, i suggest looking for another profession, serious. It can be done indie but the reality is that it cant be done for long on your own, most successful long standing indie artists were really artists that had been on a label and already had their day in the mainstream, I mean shit Chicago, The Eagles and the Foo Fighters all are 100% indie own there rights, but lets be real, they all had careers with labels and the base just followed them. New Acts will not get this day, an they will not invest in learning music, creating music, because there is no room to waste $$$ especially now you can make your album with a music app and a laptop, and beam it out to people, no $$ investment. But now with even digital sales tanking, its really a bleak future, get used to it.

I know......

You can get recommendations on Spotify based on artists you like if you don't like what's popular/on the charts. In 2015, no one really has an excuse for listening to music they don't like.

guitarslinger44 said:

You can get recommendations on Spotify based on artists you like if you don't like what's popular/on the charts. In 2015, no one really has an excuse for listening to music they don't like.

I have pleanty of good music 2 listen 2. My biggest grip is where the music biz is going. It is NOT pretty man.......good thing I can make my own or I'd really be musically on suicide watch.

Graycap23 said:

its' all over......the industry knows it too

people associated w/the industry is just trying to make as much money as they can before it all implodes.....toast....

it stopped being about the music a very long time ago

[Edited 1/3/15 19:17pm]

Graycap23 said:

lastdecember said:

As someone pointed out, this was all in the cards from day one. The bar got lowered and lowered and lowered. The Labels have one way of finding talent, one way to market, no room for error and do it ll very very cheaply. Most money goes on advertising, very little on the act of making the music anymore. That with the onslaught of digital music services where almost everything now is free, the room for you to be an artist really is not in MUSIC, i suggest looking for another profession, serious. It can be done indie but the reality is that it cant be done for long on your own, most successful long standing indie artists were really artists that had been on a label and already had their day in the mainstream, I mean shit Chicago, The Eagles and the Foo Fighters all are 100% indie own there rights, but lets be real, they all had careers with labels and the base just followed them. New Acts will not get this day, an they will not invest in learning music, creating music, because there is no room to waste $$$ especially now you can make your album with a music app and a laptop, and beam it out to people, no $$ investment. But now with even digital sales tanking, its really a bleak future, get used to it.

I know......

But do what I do, i dont look at Billboard watch award shows, follow trends etc...I buy the artists i like, i find new here and there, but mostly ones that i have grown up with still record, the charts are useless, once i stopped working in the music world, i stopped caring or pretnding to care about charts and billboard

I think with the newer generations, other things have replaced buying records & CDs like X-Box & Playstation & cell phones & internet. Music isn't as important, it's just something in the background. Also, an Ipod is not really the same thing as having a component set, stereo, or boom box where you have to buy something to play on it. You need nothing, it's just files. There's no cover to look at or a label logo and you don't have to sit in the house to listen to it or turn the record/tape over. It's more passive. There's music on video games like Beatles Rock Band, Michael Jackson: The Experience, and the radio stations on GTA. Actors do voiceovers or have their images in games.

.

A game disc often costs way more than a CD and people wait outside stores when a new hot game or console comes out. They do the same with Jordans which can cost over $150. Cell phone bills aren't cheap and many school kids have them. Their money is spent on these things instead of music. Decades ago there wasn't as much competition. People have gone on to the next thing in technology. It's like television killed the radio serials & plays like the infamous War Of The Worlds. Record players killed the victrola. Vinyl killed shellac 78s. Car tape players made the 8-track popular in the early 1970s. FM killed AM radio as far as music goes, and AM replaced the Top 40 stations that left with talk radio stations. The Walkman decreased the sales 8-tracks and increased the popularity of cassettes. CDs killed records & tapes. DVD players killed VCRs.

.

MickyDolenz said:

I think with the newer generations, other things have replaced buying records & CDs like X-Box & Playstation & cell phones & internet. Music isn't as important, it's just something in the background. Also, an Ipod is not really the same thing as having a component set, stereo, or boom box where you have to buy something to play on it. You need nothing, it's just files. There's no cover to look at or a label logo and you don't have to sit in the house to listen to it or turn the record/tape over. It's more passive. There's music on video games like Beatles Rock Band, Michael Jackson: The Experience, and the radio stations on GTA. Actors do voiceovers or have their images in games.

.

A game disc often costs way more than a CD and people wait outside stores when a new hot game or console comes out. They do the same with Jordans which can cost over $150. Cell phone bills aren't cheap and many school kids have them. Their money is spent on these things instead of music. Decades ago there wasn't as much competition. People have gone on to the next thing in technology. It's like television killed the radio serials & plays like the infamous War Of The Worlds. Record players killed the victrola. Vinyl killed shellac 78s. Car tape players made the 8-track popular in the early 1970s. FM killed AM radio as far as music goes, and AM replaced the Top 40 stations that left with talk radio stations. The Walkman decreased the sales 8-tracks and increased the popularity of cassettes. CDs killed records & tapes. DVD players killed VCRs.

.

.

I hear what you're saying and it's true that video games have taken some of the attention off music for young people. Also, it's totally fair that a game costs several times more than an album too, because they usually take several times the manpower to create, with larger teams of people working on them for longer.

.

However, I was having a similar discussion with a few people, when one of them rightly pointed out that music is in fact more popular than ever. More people than ever before have personal music collections. The biggest corporations in the WORLD are literally battling for distribution control of music (Google and Apple being the largest players). The stakes are high, the rewards are large and those guys know it.

.

There is currently an unreasonable disparity between the relative popularity of music, and the income from it actually making it's way to the music creators (writers/performers/producers/engineers).

.
The money in the music industry trickling down to the creators, has inversely paralleled internet speed/data storage - ie, as data has gotten quicker to download and cheaper to store, that has nearly destroyed the possibility of a sustainable career in music. Make whatever conclusions you want from that

nd33 said:

Graycap23 said:

guitarslinger44 said:

You can get recommendations on Spotify based on artists you like if you don't like what's popular/on the charts. In 2015, no one really has an excuse for listening to music they don't like.

I have pleanty of good music 2 listen 2. My biggest grip is where the music biz is going. It is NOT pretty man.......good thing I can make my own or I'd really be musically on suicide watch.

I think you have to take into account that a lot of the best stuff isn't going to be heard on a mass scale. Some of the best music I hear here in Nashville is the street level stuff.

How's your music going man?

MickyDolenz said:

I think with the newer generations, other things have replaced buying records & CDs like X-Box & Playstation & cell phones & internet. Music isn't as important, it's just something in the background. Also, an Ipod is not really the same thing as having a component set, stereo, or boom box where you have to buy something to play on it. You need nothing, it's just files. There's no cover to look at or a label logo and you don't have to sit in the house to listen to it or turn the record/tape over. It's more passive. There's music on video games like Beatles Rock Band, Michael Jackson: The Experience, and the radio stations on GTA. Actors do voiceovers or have their images in games.

.

A game disc often costs way more than a CD and people wait outside stores when a new hot game or console comes out. They do the same with Jordans which can cost over $150. Cell phone bills aren't cheap and many school kids have them. Their money is spent on these things instead of music. Decades ago there wasn't as much competition. People have gone on to the next thing in technology. It's like television killed the radio serials & plays like the infamous War Of The Worlds. Record players killed the victrola. Vinyl killed shellac 78s. Car tape players made the 8-track popular in the early 1970s. FM killed AM radio as far as music goes, and AM replaced the Top 40 stations that left with talk radio stations. The Walkman decreased the sales 8-tracks and increased the popularity of cassettes. CDs killed records & tapes. DVD players killed VCRs.

.

This for sure.

Part of the problem with music is that a lot of decisions that affect artists and consumers are being made by neither of those groups.

Graycap23 said:

Gunsnhalen said:

There's been a thread on this every year since the org started y'all think every new year is the worst. 2015 will have one soon enough.

It has.........every year is worse than the last.

The entire 21st century has been worse than the 1990's thus far!

guitarslinger44 said:

Graycap23 said:

I have pleanty of good music 2 listen 2. My biggest grip is where the music biz is going. It is NOT pretty man.......good thing I can make my own or I'd really be musically on suicide watch.

I think you have to take into account that a lot of the best stuff isn't going to be heard on a mass scale. Some of the best music I hear here in Nashville is the street level stuff.

How's your music going man?

U would not recognize the place.

I'm trying 2 carve out more time.......but u know how that goes.

Gunsnhalen said:

There's been a thread on this every year since the org started y'all think every new year is the worst. 2015 will have one soon enough.

RIP Music, one of the great arts,

Oh well, it had a good run while it lasted.

Guess I'll start bottlecap collecting.