What we often see lamented is actually something that should be a cause for celebration.
Yes, it is sad, so sad to see those times recede. Nothing lasts forever. And we are sad because at heart we are generous souls who only wish to share what we know, what we have heard, what we hear.
But what times we have lived through. The future may agree. Music lovers to come may look back on us with envy!
Thoughts?
It was a beautiful thing, all that music.
Perhaps finding the happy medium is harder than we know.
Yes, we know
It’s nothing new
It’s just a waste of time
We have no need for ancient ways
Our world is doing fine
Another toy
That helped destroy
The elder race of man
Forget about your silly whim
It doesn’t fit the plan
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
I think we're in the Golden Age of Free Music, because somebody will eventually figure out how to plug all the holes and make people pay again. It's the capitalist thing to do.
Music itself? Not going away.
There's a contradiction in terms.Originally Posted by rcarlberg
Good Morning...
Feel like I want to add something to this GOOD post. The subject matter has been talked about, in different ways, here at PE for some time. I went through the public education system in the mid-section of the 70's. Band, Orchestra, the Choir, Theatre.... all were there to explore and to encourage an appreciation for the music aspects of the 'arts'.
QUITE unfortunate if what I have heard is correct - that many public school systems have opted to no longer have those said as part of the educational experience. Yeah..... wonderful times indeed!
Carry On
Chris Buckley
Well, I think "opted" is the wrong choice of word here. They have had their budgets gutted through a continuous campaign to take taxpayer money from struggling public schools and send it to private schools that are thinly disguised as "charter schools." Many public schools have had no choice but to cut budgets for the arts. It's shameful.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
^^^
Spot on.
Back to the topic at hand, I for one feel that it is the passing of an age. When we (or many of us here) were young I think we were privileged to witness an amazing time when originality and experimentation were not only supported but became a commercial success. Of course there was plenty of trendy, mass-marketed crap, exploitation and knock-offs.
Before and since that golden era (let's say roughly mid-60's - mid 70's) of course there has been great music being made, but especially after not in the same way, not even close. In fact most if the "newer" trends excep possibly Hip Hop (which I don't give a dead rat's ass about) I find fairly unoriginal or derivative including punk, grunge, shoe gazer, metal etc. etc. It was all done in the golden era and usually better. All IMHO of course...
Thx. Couldn't have said it better!
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
So Long And Thanks For All The Prog
The Prog Corner
We're more or less past the time when one could make a living as a musician. I have to kind of chuckle when I read some millenials' Craig's List ads, thinking they're going to "make it big." Yea, good luck with that kid.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
^ The funny thing is, the writer of the ad was probably fully involved with the free download culture that made the economically viable musician next-to-obsolete, but never made the connection between the two.
Will the last one alive turn off Wakeman's Mellotron? Please and thank you.
^^ Or Memotron as the case may be.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
Between 2003-2017, we probably had over 100 kids here as interns. These are bright kids from colleges; you don't get internship for credit if you aren't good.
A lot of them were in the music business field or in business and wanted to be in the music business.
I would guess that maybe 5 of them - maybe - had ever paid for recorded music.
I often thought to myself, "And what fucking business is going to be left by the time you graduate your expensive college and do you think you are going to be working for, kid?", but since they were working for us for free, I kept my thoughts to myself....
Last edited by Steve F.; 03-24-2018 at 11:23 AM.
Steve F.
www.waysidemusic.com
www.cuneiformrecords.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin
Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]
"Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"
please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.
I think it's still around, not as much prog. But (and I'm speaking outta me ass as I'm not a working musician) I still think some can make enough to retire on, make big money, and more power to them. Acts like Radiohead, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Maroon 5, even a lot of the rappers/ hip hop, etc. They're not prog, but doing well. I assume they still have to tour a lot.
Right.
Evangelicals: The End Is Near
Jehovah's Witnesses: The Beginning Is Near
All depends on how you look at it
Whether You look at through lens of fundamental religion or immediately after getting whacked in the skull with a lead pipe, the results are pretty much the same.
And Frank once said:
When we talk about artistic freedom in this country We sometime lose
sight of the fact that freedom is often dependent on adequate financing.
It was the best of times...it was the worst of times.
I'm guessing the sad irony of it escapes them.
The Prog Corner
Yes Frank. That's the spirit. I am 44 years old (kind of a baby by PE standards) and I even look with envy to all of the people who actually lived the 70's rock music and experienced it as a direct, everyday phenomenon. Some of the stuff I hear in here is inconcievable for me, watching The Horrible Hoo live with Keith Moon on the kit, or Led Zep or Gentle Giant or whoever. Simply mythical! It is a great blessing to have lived this.
Hell, even I feel privileged for having discovered the immense richness of this music, albeit later than it happened. I consider it an incredible source of creativity and entertainment that will be studied for centuries after. And it has made my life far more beautiful.
You can lament the "Golden Era" and decide nothing good was ever released post 1979, or you can encourage the young artists out there trying to keep it all alive. I choose the latter. Every year I try to buy as many releases from that year as I encounter and that appeal to me. Last year, for example, I bought at least 50 releases from 2017. In most cases they were either debut albums or sophomore releases. I am also making an effort to get my lazy 52-year-old butt out to see these bands when they play in my city. I realise these bands may not quite reach the lofty perches of the bands who influenced them, but there is still some fantastic stuff being released. Bands that have found a way to create an alloy out of 40 years worth of influences. I listen to "new" music almost exclusively, rarely reaching for classics from yesteryear. The glass is half full, my friends....
"Corn Flakes pissed in. You ranted. Mission accomplished. Thread closed."
-Cozy 3:16-
^^ As music becomes less and less of a viable way to make a living, it becomes more and more of a labor of love. Instead of giving the record label that formulaic hit song they're expecting, musicians will be more inclined to produce creative music.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
The demise of the paid music experience and by extension the record companies is much the same as the end of the Studio System in Hollywood. Sure , theres still bright spots in the movie world today , but the shear volume of quality cinema of Hollywoods Golden Age is just not here today. Same with music IMO. No more label cultivation and promotion . Groups like Yes and others benfited from the time a label bought them. Theres a lot a variety today, but even the talented deserving , most likely wont hit big. I still buy physical music, I feel Im enabling artists I like , to make more of what I'de like to hear. Labels had many negatives , but overall I think the past was better than the present.
Well spoken sir.
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