According to the IFPI Digital Music Report, global music sales were down by 8.4% in 2010. The blame is placed at the doorstep of illegal down loaders which is a handy fig leaf so nobody has to admit that less people are buying music because today's music is pants.
To be fair it is a bit of a double whammy because it isn't just the music but the new musicians as well who seem to be eeked out of the same squeaky clean template.
The only one creating any excitement is Lady Gaga when she dons another strange outfit but she is a lone loon in a depressingly barren landscape.
A look at the headline acts at these years festivals shows there is a real dearth of up and coming talent.
Bands like U2, Pulp, Suede, Bon Jovi, The Cure, Def Leppard and Coldplay were all doing their stuff in the 80s and 90s but have not been replaced by younger bands so are still receiving top billing at the big shows.
If anyone is to be blamed, it is the likes of X-Factor, American Idol and Disney putting out endless bubble-gum pop and bland, uninteresting musicians.
When was the last time you read about a musician smashing up a hotel room or taking a drunken swing at a photographer. Even the rappers who could always be relied upon for a spot of drunken debauchery have toned it down.
How we long for the likes of an Axel Rose, Johnny Rotten or Iggy Pop to liven things up a bit because Justin Beiber, Miley Cirus and Olly Murs sure aren't going to be photographed slumped outside a nightclub being sick over their personal assistants anytime soon. How boring.
3 comments:
"because today's music is pants."
Sure, most is... But since when has that stopped the masses slurping up the product?
Here are some of the top-selling albums I found from your halcyon(?) years... (on the US charts, but I’m sure they’d be just as dire for the UK ones)...
1986 No Jacket Required – Phil Collins
1987 Hysteria – Def Leppard
1992 The Bodyguard – Whitney Houston
1993 Music Box – Mariah Carey
1994 Cracked Rear View – Hootie and the Blowfish
1995 Jagged Little Pill – Alannis Morrisette
1997 Come On Over – Shania Twain
It's totally subjective of course, but for me, 2011 is a great time to be alive to new music. There’s stuff released every week that interests me (and sometimes I don’t even have to pay for it, making it even better!).
Admittedly, most of the stuff at the top of the charts is pre-packaged crud for the teenybopper market, but that’s not a new development either. It started with The Monkees.
I maintain 1991 was the best year ever for music. Looking at the charts recently, if you are a fan of R&B or ballads this is a good time for you but for guitar based bands it's a very dire situation. Is there really nobody around better than Bon Jovi??
Yep, there's loads. Always has been :)
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