music Is rock music dying?

[Anneal 2,194]

On 11/20/2019 at 4:28 PM, Kyoshi said:

Good music in general is already dead, in the US at least. Europe seems to still embrace well crafted music from amazing bands, but the US? Seen something yesterday about some list on the news of "Top 10 albums of the decade" and they mentioned the top 3. #1 was a Kanye West album. That legit made me feel anger. Good music in the US is dead and buried, only alive in the underground scene. Now it is all about the most generic trash possible, whether that be country music or horrendous "hip hop". All corporate, no true musicianship whatsoever. The US general public only wants soulless trash.

Kanye West's older albums were fine. A lot of the hate he gets nowadays are due to his  political commentary (which is all over the place as is) and his tendency to be quite random. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is still considered one of his best works, even among music critics who normally aren't into hip-hop. If that's what he got #1 for, I would say it's actually pretty well deserved. And if your image of country music and hip-hop, let alone "popular music" is limited to the top 40 radio songs, then your image of music is quite narrow.

Country music isn't my cup of tea, but there are still many good country artists like Brad Paisley, George Strait, Ryan Adams, and Carrie Underwood. And hip-hop artists like Kendrick Lamar and Eminem are skilled rappers who have the ability to discuss certain controversial topics within their music. Not all hip-hop is Soundcloud rapping. There are even certain hip-hop groups like Death Grips or clipping who sound completely different from your normal hip-hop. They might not get much radio play, but they are in no way underground, considering plenty of their albums regularly top the Billboard and have a noticeable following online. Some albums have even sold gold or platinum.

There are also bands like the Black Keys, Vampire Weekend, Paramore, and Breaking Benjamin, along with some older bands like RHCP, Green Day, Foo Fighters, and Nine Inch Nails, and many people still listen to them, so I doubt if the general public wants soulless trash that they would continue listening to them.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,561]

1 hour ago, Anneal said:

And if your image of country music and hip-hop, let alone "popular music" is limited to the top 40 radio songs, then your image of music is quite narrow.

When I speak of things like hip hop and country, I usually refer to what it is in the mainstream. After all, that's what the general public wants most. I know there is some good hip hop and country (not much at all), but all of that is buried underneath a mountain of garbage.

1 hour ago, Anneal said:

Brad Paisley, George Strait, Ryan Adams, and Carrie Underwood

I can't stand any of those so...meh. *shrugs*

1 hour ago, Anneal said:

Black Keys, Vampire Weekend, Paramore, and Breaking Benjamin, along with some older bands like RHCP, Green Day, Foo Fighters, and Nine Inch Nails

These bands do come up a lot, but again, they've been very mainstream for a while now. We're talking tens of millions of views on their videos, easily. Even so, those bands might be good, but how the US goes about doing it is treating them like godly celebrities, the music often takes a back seat.

We never hear anything about bands like Epica, Insomnium, Mors Principium Est, Otep, Zeraphine, Paradise Lost, all great bands that never get an ounce of exposure in the US. Otep out of those is the one band from the US and still they are not mainstream in the slightest, probably because they are actually anti-corporate and anti-establishment and that's a big no no in Murica. Meanwhile, Drake and Nikki Manaj are busy getting billions of views on Youtube and that's just two examples. I shouldn't expect anything less from a country that worships celebrities like gods, with a population foaming at the mouth over whatever Kim Kardashian is doing.

[Anneal 2,194]

On 11/26/2019 at 3:45 AM, Kyoshi said:

When I speak of things like hip hop and country, I usually refer to what it is in the mainstream. After all, that's what the general public wants most. I know there is some good hip hop and country (not much at all), but all of that is buried underneath a mountain of garbage.

These bands do come up a lot, but again, they've been very mainstream for a while now. We're talking tens of millions of views on their videos, easily. Even so, those bands might be good, but how the US goes about doing it is treating them like godly celebrities, the music often takes a back seat.

We never hear anything about bands like Epica, Insomnium, Mors Principium Est, Otep, Zeraphine, Paradise Lost, all great bands that never get an ounce of exposure in the US. Otep out of those is the one band from the US and still they are not mainstream in the slightest, probably because they are actually anti-corporate and anti-establishment and that's a big no no in Murica. Meanwhile, Drake and Nikki Manaj are busy getting billions of views on Youtube and that's just two examples. I shouldn't expect anything less from a country that worships celebrities like gods, with a population foaming at the mouth over whatever Kim Kardashian is doing.

I would like to make another point: you don't need massive amounts of exposure to make good music. It's always been that the more experimental genres of music tend to be less accessible to the public, while popular music is generally more formulaic so it can be the most accessible and easiest to listen to. This is something that is not unique to the contemporary era – even back in the 70s and 80s, the radio was over-saturated with arena rock or hair metal bands (and trust me, it was just as formulaic as popular music today), but only the good ones are remembered nowadays while the majority of those bands are simply forgotten about. And in the 50s and before, barbershop quartets were the norm, so plenty of songs at the time...kind of sounded the same. Again, most of us only remember the good groups at the time like the Ink Spots or the Chordettes.

Additionally, virtually all of the bands you just mentioned are metal bands, and people have to acknowledge that most metal genres will never get any airplay nowadays – certain genres like death metal or thrash is simply considered too aggressive and fast to be played on most radio stations. Not to mention certain subgenres like melodic death metal or technical death metal are considered far too niche to even remotely get any attention outside of dedicated fans. This is something most of the metalhead community already accepts, and in fact believe that not getting any mainstream exposure is a good thing; most metal bands have the freedom to experiment all they want without feeling beholden to public opinion or major record labels. They can likely survive on their own with their dedicated metalhead fanbase, away from the spotlight of "popular" music.

Rock music is inevitably going to go down that path too as popular tastes change, but maybe being out of the popular spotlight could be beneficial to the genre – we may see more experimentation than even before, much like what's happened to jazz and emo when they both phased out of the radio. Parts of the public may want music that is simply easy to listen to, but there would always be massive dedicated fanbases for these genres. Imagine music like a bunch of streams intertwined with each other, with the lake in the middle where the music is the most formulaic and experimentation doesn't happen – it would be dumb and completely unfair to judge certain music genres by that big dumb lake.

[Stone Cold Steve Jobs 22,413]

Rock music is very much alive. All genres are. They just change a little over time. A good musical genre can adapt to the changing tastes of consumers, and Rock does that often. 

[Denim&Venöm 16,886]

Yes, it is. Anyone who disagrees is in denial. 

Look at what's on the radio. Look at what sells out the arenas. Look at who gets rotation on MTV and VH1. Look who gets featured on the talk shows. Old bands. Bands who got their starts in the 70s to the 2000s. There are no new bands that have captured the public's imagination. It's all the old guard. Rock is dated and cliche. Society has moved on. Pop, Rap and Country now dominate. They've managed to innovate. Rock hasn't. Not for 30 years. And musicians are starting to realize that. There's no money to be made in rock, not unless you're willing to play it safe and basically be a covers band. The idea of experimenting, being bold, daring and pushing the envelope is not financially viable in 2020. A band can't last forever playing the club scene in a cargo van. There has to be a payoff and when that doesn't come, the members will quit and try something that is rewarding. 

And that is why rock is dying. Bands want to be new, exciting and different. Record labels, radio stations and sponsors want tried, tested and safe. The music going public is indifferent to it all and has moved on. There is no call a rock revolution. No one is bemoaning the stagnation in rock because those people have moved on. And no, rock isn't going underground either. Punk, hardcore and metal are underground. Rock is mainstream. Has been since the 60s. It's part of it's identity, the mass appeal. With out that, is it even rock music anymore? And just because you have a band or two that still play the style doesn't mean the genre is still relevant. People still make disco music, that doesn't mean the genre is making a comeback. 

Rock had it's time. It's was on top for the better part of 50 years. But it's time to move on.

 

[Luigi 7,869]

Nah. Rock Music would not simply die out. There are new rock bands out there that don’t get much recognition. People though Rock was already dying in the early 21st century. Just because it’s not the most popular does NOT mean it’s dying 

 

But I will say that good music is dying. It’s really gone to hell. Brandi Carlile, Justin Bieber, and that time Lana Del Rey lost her innocence on camera

Edited January 27, 2020 by Eren Jaeger

[EpicEnergy 22,557]

I don't think it's dying, it's just not as popular as it used to be.

[Splashee 28,538]

Last time I posted here, I had a very good argument. But now it seems rock music has passed away  I guess I was wrong before

[ExplosionMare 18,015]

It better not be cause I can’t stand all the generic rap music people blare out of their earbuds 

[Sonic Shimmer 4,119]

No, it’s just not as popular with young mainstream audiences as it used to be. All musical genres will be passed in popularity by something newer eventually.

That definitely didn’t mean it’s dead. Punk hasn’t been popular in the mainstream since the 80s and heavy metal never was (with a few exceptions like Metallica, and that’s largely because their sound became less metal in the 90s). Both genres still have a thriving underground scene.

[Vefka 1,499]

It may seem so because of the majority of famous (celebrities, popular youtubers, etc) people listen to pop/rap, but a lot of people still listen to rock. Rock music is not mainstream anymore, that's all

 

[Jesse Terrence 2,967]

It kind of is. Even the underground and alternative circuits are far less active nowadays. We are more stalled than dead, but stalling brings death anyway.

Also, many popular bands are either changing their styles a lot or downright doing mediocre albums. But is not new, though. We could take a very popular example like linkin park, which  previous to Chester's death was on a slope because they changed their style into something less nu metal and more pop. It didn't do any good to their music but they kept pushing it to the point their albums were meh.

They aren't the only ones, and it seems all the popular bands try to keep up with the times, but modern music can't mix right with rock and most bands just fail to remain interesting when trying to follow the trends.

As for new bands in underground circuits such as extreme metal or weird alt or even math rock, well, there's not much that's new but not never seen before.

[vampireponyprince 184]

coming from a music background and a music producer background I can say in my opinion no its not dead its just splitting off into different sub genres spin offs. like the old metalcore band Asking Alexandria can now be classified as new rock and roll with how much they dialed down the heaviness and put in more rock based influences. if youre talking about rockabilly, there are some new bands here and there.  its been breaking off into genres like "prog" "new prog (polyphia)" math rock (covet) , Midwest Emo, southern rock (shinedown) its definitely fractured not dead just more spread out I know it seems like nothing is the same but hey nothing stays the exact same over a steady course and many years

also look globally too like the band Biffy Clyro!

[Tom Gallagher 33,538]

I just hate the fact that people don't even play instruments anymore. The whole thing just became way too manufactured and any old idiot who claims to be a musician can make it.  I know synthesisers became very big throughout my favourite musical decades, the 70s and the 80s, but people still sang and sang for real. They didn't tune their own voices to convince tone-deaf people that they have talent. There's a reason why I listen to an 80s radio station because all the current stuff just gets me angry! 

[ExplosionMare 18,015]

7 hours ago, TomDaBombMLP said:

I just hate the fact that people don't even play instruments anymore. The whole thing just became way too manufactured and any old idiot who claims to be a musician can make it.  I know synthesisers became very big throughout my favourite musical decades, the 70s and the 80s, but people still sang and sang for real. They didn't tune their own voices to convince tone-deaf people that they have talent. There's a reason why I listen to an 80s radio station because all the current stuff just gets me angry! 

That’s all I listen to as well. I can’t stand today’s music 

[DubWolf 16,784]

I need my rock. It drives me.

Like this .

HERE I GO, AGANE ON MAH OOOHWN

GOING DOWN THE ONLY ROODE IVE EVA KNOOOWN

 

[Envy 6,039]

7 hours ago, TomDaBombMLP said:

I just hate the fact that people don't even play instruments anymore. The whole thing just became way too manufactured and any old idiot who claims to be a musician can make it.  I know synthesisers became very big throughout my favourite musical decades, the 70s and the 80s, but people still sang and sang for real. They didn't tune their own voices to convince tone-deaf people that they have talent. There's a reason why I listen to an 80s radio station because all the current stuff just gets me angry! 

I can agree with your first sentence! Although for me the electronic problem started full force in the 80s and has been a problem ever since. However, it feels like in the 2010s it has been taken to another level where pop music doesn't even have instruments at all anymore. It's just auto tune (with strange effects, too), obnoxious synthesizer and all kinds of really obnoxious, strange electronic sounds.

I know there is still plenty of good pop music out there today and you have to look pretty hard for it, but geez, just one day at my job they played all modern mainstream pop and it was all as I mentioned in the first paragraph. It was unlistenable.

You go back to synthesizer usage in the 70s and it still isn't my favorite sound, but even still it was more tolerable because they used actual instruments alongside it!

I'm going to give an example of a Bread song. I love Bread. This song is a little cheesy, I have to admit, but it provides an example of synthesizer usage (which was very rare in their popular songs) that is much more in harmony with instruments. This song has the classic David Gates instrumentation alongside the synthesizer and it still works.

MAKE INSTRUMENTS POPULAR AGAIN. Please, for the love of god.

[Splashee 28,538]

I think Rock is a little bit messy. It is up there with Rap when it comes to popularity

I hope Rap will die soon

[Trot Shuffle 3,700]

It might actually make it's way back around but older audiences need to be open to the idea of innovation again instead of wanting people to sound like [insert classic Rock group here]. Also, a group has to take advantage of marketing on social media to a young crowd. Like, make memes and such but then the audiences hear the music and go "hey this isn't too bad" which helps to boost their popularity and that's when major record labels and such will see that and go "Wow we can make lots of money from this." They should take caution when signing though as these kinds of deals are almost never in the favor of artists. It would be better to sign to a more small independent label so they can focus more on the music but also not get squeezed to death by the industry. Plus, these major labels already have enough money and attention, many don't actually care about music these days. That's why today's music is more forgettable than ever before, everyone's just there to make a buck. So, why not work with people who do care?

Similar to what's happening to Laufey, though she claims to be "jazz" (or, whoever is marketing her is) but she's more bossa nova-ish and easy listening IMO. Regardless, she's selling out shows as if she were Taylor Swift to a young generation, but with music that was once seen as "old people music."

There's lots of nostalgia baiting happening at the moment with younger audiences showing their interpretation of music from 20+ years ago, actually. Especially with new interpretations of Breakbeat and Synthwave. I'm all for it, as long as they do it not for fame or money but for loving the music!

[Clawdeen 12,125]

Eh. It’ll always be here. It’s just not as popular at the moment. These things come and go in waves. All it’ll take is one certain band to come out and suddenly everyone will be rock music fans again. That’s the thing with popular trends. They come and go. 

[Iforgotmybrain 3,840]

As a form of popular music? Yeah it’s kind of past its prime. I think Coldplay was probably the last huge rock band we’ve had. Either them or Imagine Dragons but I think Coldplay at their peak were more popular.

As a genre as a whole? No way. It’s way too diverse to be a dead or stalling genre. There’s still a good amount of bands making great rock music. Queens of the Stone Age had In Times New Roman last year. Ghost’s releases are always bangers. King Gizzard is releasing consistently good  albums. Black Country, New Road released two albums I’d almost consider masterpieces back to back in 2021 and 2022. There’s still a lot of great rock music out there, it’s just not reaching the chart or playing on the radio.