Music was such a huge part of our lifestyle growing up in the 80s - high school and college age. What would it take for music to become just as important to that demographic now as it was back in the 80s and early 90s? There are no bands that have debuted in this century that are nearly as important to the youth as Guns 'n' Roses and Metallica. The longevity they'v had is incredible! I grew up in the 80s and our two biggest hard rock/heavy metal bands are the same ones as now, 30 years later!!!
What Would It Take For Music To Become As Important As It Was To Young people In The 1980s?
- Thread starter Blackjack
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It could improve for one thing.
Where is the incentive for a band to work that hard when there is no longer any money to be made in music because of illegal downloading and the bankruptcy of 95% of record companies? In the 80s the incentive was you could became a world famous millionaire. Now they're selling singles for 99 cents! 45 rpm single cost the same 30 years ago; there's no adjustment for inflation. If you expect people to devote their lives to being professional musicians there has to be an incentive!
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For every guy back then that dreamed of being a rock star or musician, pussy was a huge motivation. Now even a basement-dwelling, autistic Sherdogger can get laid through social media....no need to learn those 3 chords and rock all night to get some action.
But yeah, the money's not there any more, either.
Not all women are created equal. Do you really think the "autistic Sherdogger with social media" is getting anywhere near the quality of women as a band that had a video on MTV? MTV was huge back then. Music is so weak now that the formerly poplar Music Television Network no longer even plays music videos.
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Well, I'm not going to argue with you. Just saying it's a whole lot easier to get laid these days than it was back then. And most musicians will admit they first picked up a guitar to get chicks. That's not the answer to the question, but there is some connection there.
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seems the same, my 15yo boy loves his music and is always making beats and shit, good stuff too. electronic has replaced rock as the dominent sound
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Go make some half decent house music and you will be swimming in pussy
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Ironic that "Radio Ga Ga" would be played on the radio in work just as i opened this thread. Nowadays kids have far more options for entertainment whether that be television, video games or mobile phones. They are also not just available to the well off.
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They still like music. I don't think any of you were spending 1000s to attend shitty EDM festivals.
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Have you never heard Jake Paul?
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I think two reasons personally...
1.The music that's given prominence today generally isn't as good as the 60's to the 90's, even alt music has become very commericalised pushing safe music rather than music people really become strongly attached to. Theres good music out there but you need to search hard to find it a lot of the time.
2.The modern media means listenrs are fragmented much moreso than they were in the past intyo different teastes/genres rather than having strong movements like punk.
I think the result is that music is much less a kind of shared social experience these days and muscians don't have the iconic presense they did from the 60's to the 90's. This is IMHO part of the reason why sports stars have become so much more important in the last 20 years IMHO, they've tended to take up this role as cultural icons(even older names like Tyson and Ali arguably become more talked about) as theres more shared experience of them across the whole of society.
Do you see the music scene ever changing back to something much more similar to what we had from the 60's to the 90s where musicians did have the iconic presence you mentioned, and where we'd have a less fragmented music scene like we did back then? If so, what would it take?
I believe we'd need a new business model for the music industry because it's absurd that they're selling singles for the same price they sold 45 rpm singles 35 years ago! They're selling albums for the same price they sold them for 30 years ago!
Second, something needs to be done about these parasite ticket agencies that buy all the good seats they possibly can to evert rock show and then re-sell them for anywhere from 3 times to ten times the original price! The fans get screwed and the artists don't see any of that money either. It goes to people who play no part in creating the music or in helping the artists in any other way either. They're parasites and need to be dealt with like any other pest that spreads filth and disease.
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I'm thinking it was the breakout popularity of mtv and the music video. Mtv was HUGE and there was no competition from video games or the Internet. People would sit around and watching music videos. .. it gave bands way more personality.
I respect the athletic abilities Tyson and Ali once had but when a society goes from having artists as its biggest cultural icons to men who praise God after their boxing matches for giving them their talent to turn other mens' brains into pudding, that's the sign of not just a society in steep decline, but to be brutally honest, it's the sign of a sick society.
I lived through that time and yes, when MTV made its debut, there ws plenty of competition from video games. Atari was a huge name in video games when MTV made its debut with games such as Space Invaders and Asteroids. I was in 7th grade then and while they provided competition in a sense, they were two entirely different things. Playing video games didn't hurt music; it hurt board games such as Monopoly and Life. Eventually junior high kids become high school kids and the lure of shooting Space Invaders is decimated by the enticing idea of learning to play a music instrument, to have a creative artistic outlet, and the possibility of joining a rock band which not only provides a huge boost to one's social status at a time when kids are obsessed with improving their social status, but also affords many otherwise nonexistent opportunities for meeting the opposite sex.
