The Truth About Popular Music

[redbreegull]

this is not a jab at anyone in particular, I am just always confused when people bemoan the death of the traditional corporate music industry. In the first half of the 20th century, the recording industry got a national and then global stranglehold on the availability of recorded music to the public as the technology developed. At the time the result was likely that the industry, for the most part a few big companies, brought a lot more music into people's lives than they were used to hearing. But now we have the internet and we have quick and easy access to... everything. Why do we need "the music industry" around? Why is that important in a traditional sense? Like Elphenor said, the music industry is the source of all this bad music we are complaining about. That's what they push. They want to sell the most records to the most number of people (metaphorically, more like get their song played on the radio the most number of times, have people buy singles on itunes, etc.) and because the internet has so increased access, they have had to focus even harder on producing the most tasteless, bland, completely inoffensive background music for your shopping experience at Target. Their hold on basically all niche markets has evaporated because of the multiplication of media via the internet (rock is now a niche market). If I want to hear new music and I am into Delta Blues, or Appalachian style front porch country, or black metal shoegaze post rock crossover, all those specialty markets are not likely to be dominated by the major labels and the traditional gatekeepers anyway.