Last night after rehearsal, I decided to watch a documentary called Before the Music Dies at Hulu. Apparently this movie was about “the reason why so few companies currently control the music played on the radio and for sale at retail stores, and whether corporations really have the power to silence musical innovation.” Needless to say, I had to watch it.
Here is a link to the documentary if you want to watch it yourself.
Whatever Happened to Music?
I’m sure you have heard the expression (and the song) “Video Killed the Radio Star”, well apparently video not only killed the radio star but the music star and good music itself. What do I mean by that?
Before video any person that had any real talent person could be a star. People didn’t care about what you looked like, all they cared about was whether they could feel your music and whether it was good or not.
Then came MTV, which virtually transformed music forever. No longer was the music itself important, but the look and the style also played a big part in the success of an artist.
Video was only the beginning. Throughout the 80′s and 90′s Clear Channel started buying radio stations throughout the U.S., then in 1996 something happened that changed music industry forever.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 become a law. It deregulated media ownership, allowing a company to own more stations than previously. So what did Clear Channel do? Well, they went on a buying spree, purchasing more than 70 stations and other media companies.
The New Music Age
With the acquisition of all the radio stations, Clear Channel had a virtual monopoly on music. Making money out of music became a formula for Clear Channel. Apparently their play-lists consists of songs chosen by focus groups where they sit people in a room and they measure how good a song is whether they like it in one listen.
I don’t know about you, but some of the best music I have heard and some of my favorite bands took me a while to get into.
Imagine that you’ve never listened to The Beatles. Then imagine that one day you were played one of their songs and you didn’t like it.
Now think what would’ve happened if the music industry realized this and erased ALL The Beatles songs and chose to never play them again because you didn’t like that one song. Yup! You would’ve missed out on some good music.
An example for me would be Pink Floyd and Aerosmith. Both are amazing bands, but I am honest when I tell you that I did not like their music very much when I first heard it. Dark Side of the Moon is one of the best selling albums of all time and its not because its easy to listen to or because its contagious. Its because its an experience that deserves multiple visits in order for you to understand its depth.
Music that seems really good when you first hear it dies fast. Real music grows on you.
Payola in Radio
Another thing that is killing music is payola in the radio. This is basically where record labels pay the radio stations to “spin” the tracks of the artists they choose.
No longer is the evolution of music based on what the people want, but in what the corporations decide. To make matters worse, the people at these labels are usually not musicians or people that truly appreciate music (like they were back then). They are business people who care about making a quick profit on an artist.
They are betting on a formula. They bet on an artist who looks good, and on music that they believe the masses will like. When that doesn’t work or when the artist doesn’t make any money, they will dump the artist and start the formula all over again. The sad thing is that the formula is repeated over and over again, not realizing what the true problem is.
The Stars of Yesterday Never Existed
It is true that Ray Charles never would’ve gotten signed today. Bob Dylan would be playing at coffeehouses if he was born 20 years ago. Pink Floyd wouldn’t stand a chance if they where unknowns and they wanted to get signed today. All the great artists of yesterday never would have existed today in the current state of the music industry.
Most first albums from music artists flop. Not because the artist is bad, but because the artist hasn’t developed to their full potential yet. The Red Hot Chili Peppers didn’t score a hit until their fourth album, KISS didn’t become huge until they had a few albums. The current formula for these major record labels simply does not work.
So What Needs To Be Done?
If the record labels want to succeed, they need to get “real” artists who hurt, who bleed, who are ugly. Artists that have a talent to move you and to make you feel things that you’ve never felt before.
There is still good music being played and being written. Its just may not be on MTV or in your radio station. Its in the local coffeehouses and the half empty bars down the street. Music is not dead. It is simply not heard.
