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What happened to the meaning of music?


Addictedtoclassic

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Have you noticed that within the past ten years it seems as though the more bands that come out the more they start to sound like each other? I realize there are a lot of bands out there that don't get enough air play that have a good meaning behind their music, but those aren't the bands I'm referring to. It seems to me as though new music nowadays is filled with nothing but references to relationships, dancing, or killing.

Whatever happened to music that mattered? Music that spoke out against an event that happened or told us a story about things going on. In my opinion, pop music, R & B, and club tunes are taking over the radio/video market and I'm going crazy.

I looked at AT40 the other day and it was plastered with dance and relationship songs. And yet, if you look at the Billboard all time albums listing, it's covered with classic rock. This one persons opinion is simple:

The music industry needs to worry less about money and think more about the music.

What's your opinion?

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I think you're right to a degree. Look at who's buying most of the music today, who's watching MTV and VH1, etc. That's who the record companies are manufacturing and promoting music to reach.

There is good music being produced though. You just have to look hard to find it most of the time. And hey, there's always oldies and classic rock...not to mention other genres.

I suggest you investigate some of those genres...like jazz or classical for example.

Dissatisfaction with the same ole, same ole leads to exciting discoveries. Happy hunting.

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MTV ruined it all!

I ask myself the same question ALLLLL the time. This generation is my generation music, and i hate it...with a few exceptions.

Tenacious D

Kid Rock

System of a Down

theres a few around today that still have that Meaning to Music Feel....if you wanna know more about all this....

Songfacts is the place to be! Ive learned alot in the few months ive been here.

Watch the movie School of Rock! Even Jack Black says that MTV killed music today! :happybanana: :rockon:Rock On

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I completely agree with the fact that all those wonderful teenie boppers are buying up all the horrible new music and watching all the lousy videos on MTV, but there has to be something I'm missing. MTV made the world of music almost too commercial causing a flood of bands that don't actually play instruments anymore. Rock 'n' Roll will live forever!

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MTV ruined it all!

I ask myself the same question ALLLLL the time. This generation is my generation music, and i hate it...with a few exceptions.

Tenacious D

Kid Rock

System of a Down

theres a few around today that still have that Meaning to Music Feel....if you wanna know more about all this....

Songfacts is the place to be! Ive learned alot in the few months ive been here.

Watch the movie School of Rock! Even Jack Black says that MTV killed music today! :happybanana: :rockon:Rock On

Sweet psycho! I misread your post and thought you were saying that you hated Tenacious D. I was so hurt. Then I realized what you actually meant, and life was good again.

Addicted, I understand what you are saying about songs today having no meaning. But back when all the good classic rock songs were around, the airwaves were still filled with poppy bubblegum, too.

I'll use 1969 as an example...because it's the year I was born. Some of the top songs of the year were

Get Back - Beatles

Everyday People - Sly & the Family Stone

Time of the Season - Zombies

Aquarius - The Fifth Dimension

All those songs have something to say and were very socially and politically relevant at the time. But that same year, "Dizzy" by Tommy Roe and "Sugar, Sugar" by the Archies were also number 1 hits. Pure bubblegum.

I don't know that I have a point...I think I am rambling...but I think that in time, the true artists of today will be remembered, just like we remember the good classic rock of days gone by, not the Osmonds greatest hits. ::

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I feel the sentiment of lost culture has been with every generation since time began. I remember my father telling me the Beatles were just a bunch of noise. HIS father probably said the same about Woody Guthrie. I am sure more than a few parents have reviled U2. The messages we need to assimilate in order to fulfill our role will always be available to us. Sometimes they are whispers and other times, shouts.

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I was speaking to a friend about this just yesterday.I'll say this, I'm 40, so I automatically gets points knocked off for bias.

The way I see it, is so much music today has been blended together, it's all sounding the same. Crossover country, pop rap, metal/rap mutations...it's all being melted down, so there's less distinctive sound out there.

In my day, (God, I use that alot more than I like), there were very specific categories. Rock, country, soul, Motown...everything had it's own distinctive sound. The lines are blurred to the point now, that someone, say, Kid Rock, is on rap, country, and pop stations simultaneously.

Some may argue that's good, but I personally think it detracts from the very thing you turn the radio on for...the music. Artists compromise their talent (if they had any to begin with), just to make more money, by altering who they are, musically, to sell more records, to a genre that may not have listened to them otherwise.

Plus, the cloning...good Lord, you could string together ..let's see....Lindsay, Brittney, Jessica, ..um..Christina,that one on SNL the other night,JLo,and probably 5 or 10 more, and play all their songs in a row, and they all sound the same. Dance pop. I feel for kids today.

I was telling my friend, there's no loyalty to bands today. Why should there be? The bands aren't loyal to their fans. I understand kids loved Nirvana. I didn't know much about them, but I know this....they stayed true to the music, and the kids loved them for that. My brother , who's 12 years younger than me, was rocked when Kurt Cobain died. Those are the only t-shirts I see nowadays...Nirvana. I was telling my friend, I absolutely cherished my concert tees and my album. Passionate.

There's no passion in music, only money. Why do you kids think we old timers still listen to stuff that's 30 years old? Because it's GOOD MUSIC!

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In response to that, I'm 26 years old and listening to music older than I am for that exact same reason, because it's good music. I can play Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Doors, or Lynyrd Skynyrd and see the song in my mind. It's almost like a miniature movie playing throughout my head. I can see these people on stage having the greatest time of their life. Playing outside in front of 100,000 people that only had to pay $20 to see the concert. Everybody is just there having a good time and not acting stupid in a mosh pit or trying to pick a fight with the person next to them. I can see the bands playing music because they love to do it and not because they get paid to do it. Then I hear some stupid song on the radio sung by some no talent boy band who's making money hand over fist and has no heart in their music at all.

Just because you can sing doesn't mean that you're an artist. True artists can not only sing but also write lyrics, put on performances without lip syncing, play instruments (some of the time), and basically love the music and could care less about the fact that they're getting paid for it. If you took the money away from Justin Timberlake, all you'd have left is Cameron Diez's booty call.

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Another thing that furthers the case that it's all about the money, touring.

Now, I realize money today is bigger than back when I was cutting my teeth on music, but man...Bands like Grand Funk, The Who, Steve Miller, etc, toured for, literally, years at a time. It wasn't unusual for Aerosmith to play the Philadelphia Spectrum two nights, then 8 months later, play two more nights, on the same tour.

Now, it's 6 months, 18 shows....c'mon, man, you're gonna tell me you love music? You don't love music, you play music because it makes you money, which is your true love. You play as little as possible, and still be able to maintain your posh lifestyle.

That's all I have to say about that.

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Have you seen the price of concert tickets for The Rolling Stones or The Eagles? Neither of which will play small venue...

This last July I saw what is, to me, one of the greatest concert get togethers ever:

Lynyrd Skynyrd

ZZ Top

Allman Brothers

Little Feat

John Fogerty

Rick Springfield

Pat Benatar

Huey Lewis & The News

John Waite

Chris Robinson & The New Earth Mud

plus some other smaller named bands...

4 days of music and camping, all outdoors, only $100 per person. Now you tell me these people don't still have a lot of love for music. Some bands have "sold out" and some bands still just love to play.

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I like the music I listen to that's coming out these days :headphones: Bob Dylan can pack a lot of wallop and meaning into his songs, but if I don't like it - there goes its staying power with me. Not everyone perceives the same event the same way. Personally, the more I read and hear raving reviews and praise of Pink Floyd or Led Zep, the less interested I am in listening to them. I already know they made great, ground-breaking music, so to say, "Pink Floyd/Beatles/Led Zep is awesome" is hearing something in an endless, dizzying loop. There is more to the world of music than the same four bands. In a way, it's not expanding your horizons by sticking to the same thing without sight of anything new; to me, without varied taste in art, music, etc... it's just as bad as listening to to-day's meaningless music, but I digress - we all perceive the same thing in different ways.

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The music industry needs to worry less about money and think more about the music.
Addictedtoclassic, you have managed to sum up what I have thought for years. I couldn't agree more. People write songs now because their manager tells them they have to, not because they feel it. They write songs to get rich, not to write songs.
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In a capitalist society kiddies - we get what we pay for and what we demand - no demand = no supply - so when we stop buying the crap that Clear Channel and RIAA$#%$! want us to - start searching the net for new artists that haven't sold out and supporting them by buying tickets and spreading the word about them - it would put the soul killers out of business and artists would be happy to make a living instead of a killing. Stop buying cd's at walmart -go to your local indie stores instead, buy cd's from local talent- go to the places they play and spend your money there. If there's a major label release that you can't live without then buy it used or from one of the indie stores. Really - advertisers won't pay for crap unless they think it's what we want to hear.

Oh and Clear Channel really sucks - get Serius. :happybanana: :drummer: :neener: :guitar:

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So what do you think would happen if CD's were only $5 and the artists were only making pennies from each one?

They already make that much off CDs. The rest goes to pay for lawyers, managers, and everyone else who has a piece of the artist. It's a b!tch to be in the biz and this is why guys like David Bowie had to be become business savvy so as not to get jipped off the royalties. Bottomline is is that everyone does what they do for the money. Artists just have an unconventional way of making it. We all like to be promoted in our jobs, right? Recognized for what we do and excel at and how much ass we kiss. Artists just have a different way to go about it. I accept the idea of "selling out" as long as we all recognize it to be such. A lot of us have our price and for fellows like Gene Simmons and Mick Jagger, it comes by way of millions. They sold their Rock 'n Roll spirit, the meaning of their music, for millions and millions. I'd say it's not a bad gig at all, but, then, don't start lambasting mediawhores like Shania Twain for "crossing over" to sell more albums either.

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