Sure, there's no bands anymore. Whatever you say. The six gigs I've got in my calendar over the next three months don't actually exist and/or are just guys standing in front of laptops and/or gyrating lip-synching strumpets. You know best. *eyeroll*
“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” — Stephen Hawking
why are some taking this to be a "new music sucks" thread....isn't it about how a lot of the more successful musicians are focusing on solo rather that band....at least that's how i took it
I'm pretty sure that home taping already killed music. And also ravers killed bands 30 years ago. There are no more bands.
That was a hell of a cool bassline though... As soon as the song finished, I had to grab my bass and play it
Live Music scene and "what's popular/successful" right now are separate entities. I'm older now, not in great health so going out to see a band is in my past, though I'd love to. This doesn't have to become another endless young/old, boomer vs. "those who just weren't there" threads. I envy you going out to see new bands etc, but we all can't. I've seen (years ago) hundreds of bands, most I couldn't even name now, unless reminded. Just saying the music world today is not friendly to bands being wildly successful. Bands who play for the love of what they're doing are, I'm sure endless, and I salute everyone of them.
But the Beatles hit as hard as they did, with a huge wake of British acts behind them, because the American pop music scene was considered staid in the wake of the explosive 50s rock 'n roll era. "Six years ago" meant a lot more back then. There will be new sensations to come, but the older you get the less likely you'll be swept up by them. T'was ever thus. Try telling the K-Pop army that music is dead. Anyway, to the extent that "bands are disappearing" (says a guy in a band that won't go away) it's because everyone can be their own Wrecking Crew with a laptop. And cut touring expenses. And not have to split the money. Of course, they gotta pay more backup dancers these days.
I'm sure this has basically been said, but it pretty much comes down to changes in technology and popular music trends. Today's most popular genres aren't band genres, first of all. Hip hop, EDM, even indie to an extent--you can make them mostly alone and having collaborators at all isn't really beneficial, let alone collaborators in the same room as you. Meanwhile you have ready and cheap access to pro-grade recording software on your portable laptop, and if you do feel like collaborating, the internet means you don't have to be together to do it. The band is just a casualty of all that.
"And the times, they are a changing." Dylan Times have already changed. That's the way I see it. Younger people are definately into different things. So be it, let it be. And their 'times are gonna change too'. Life goes on.
In the last century, the Mellotron was invented so a keyboard player could emulate an orchestra without the fuss of hiring an orchestra. In this century, the singer can sequence notes on a computer without the fuss of dealing with the keyboard player (or drummer, etc). The general question becomes one about jobs for which we can swap people for machines, and jobs for which we should swap people for machines.
Technology changed. Society changed. Music industry changed. Just a whole lot of change. Are we sure people who used to form bands as a way to get laid have found easier/better ways? Hello boys! EG.
For the record, this post has nothing to do with new music sucks whatsoever. My perspective was based merely on the idea that there are less bands than there used to be. To be honest, I don't know if that's true or not, but if it is, that was my point here. I have plenty of new music, but certainly not as much as some. There is plenty of great music coming from solo artists, and solo artists naming themselves like bands.... though I do also love a lot of band albums from recent years. A lot of albums seem to be made by someone who flies people in, either physically, or digitally, to play on an album, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. It is a very different dynamic to a bunch of people living in each others pockets, driving around in a Kombi or a transit van knocking out songs as they go, for the upcoming studio time. I'm sure that still happens, but it seems less than it used to.
Or write a "song" you can't sing and still be able to manipulate it enough to make it seem like you can sing
Ignores the point. Great bands out there. You're talking about the "spoonfed" stuff, served up endlessly, auto-tune etc. Geez, I hope there are still a few clouds to yell at, it's getting dark. But.. Not There Yet.
I agree there are a lot of good new artists making music. It's just with technology, it's so easy to record on your phone, drench it in reverb, tune it and deem it great . Unfortunately, like the OP said, there's no kids getting in the garage and making music.
