Conference cookie::notes$archive:cd_v1

1260.0. "Where's the new music?" by SWSNOD::SALLOWAY (Jeux Sans Frontiers) Mon Jul 11 1988 06:23

    Anyone who has spun the dial on the radio recently must have noticed
    the upswing in oldies, and a concomitant dearth of exciting new
    music.  The music business is a cyclical industry, but this is the
    first time that rock/pop's past has completely overshadowed its
    present and future.  If you look at the charts, the tours, and airplay,
    the names of what used to be called dinosaurs are all over the place.
    
    Some of the fault lies with the demographics of the music buying
    public, which is getting older every year.  But, I think a great
    deal has to do with the rise of the CD format, and is an unexpected
    result of the popularity of this new format.  As I read these notes
    and look at my own collection, I am stricken with all the names
    that got started in the 60s or 70s.  As we purchase CD reissues
    of the Beatles and Joe Jackson and Steely Dan, there is little room
    left over for the newer, less known bands.  Of course, the steep
    price we pay for CDs makes the impulse buy and experimentation buy
    a rare commodity.
    
    I recently asked a high school senior what kind of music she enjoyed.
    She said, "First, nothing on the radio."  Then she listed the James
    Taylors, Fleetwood Macs, and a few others.  The only new artist
    was Tracy Chapman.  This is a sad commentary on the state of the
    music business in 1988.  Is this a result of the Reagan-era
    conservatism, the dynamics of an industry which has started to retool
    to a new expensive product, or simply a trough in the new-wave/old-wave
    cycle, similar to the disco years of the mid-70s that preceded the
    energetic days of the Sex Pistols, Clash, STIFF records, etc?
    
    -Brian

    There was an article in this Sunday's Globe that was explored this
    topic.  I think it was in the ART section, if you are interested.

    George

    Re: .0
    
    Hmm, you may have something w/Reagan there.  I've always told my
    friends that all the good music was made in the 60's and 70's
    and then in the 80's it kinda came to a slow crawl.
    
    This comeback of great music has a good and bad side.  On the
    good side rereleases and stuff is making the original recordings
    more available.  On the bad side the increased demand has lead to
    increased prices.  Music I used to pick up in the discount bins
    has found itself back into the overpriced bins.

    
    Yes, but does the world really need *two* greatest hits packages
    from Blue Cheer???
    
    Some stuff is best forgotten....
    
    

        I'd like to politely suggest that this discussion would
        be better held in DREGS::MUSIC.
        
Jim Stratton (not the moderator)
        

    A bunch of this has already been said on OCTAVE::RADIO_RADIO,
    notes 2, 17 and others.....
    
    .......jonathan (also not a moderator)

RE. -1 


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