The Future of Music

[NaNaNa]

Its 9 and a half years into the 21st century and music is in a precarious position. Album/record sales have reached an all time low, no small credit to the availability of digital downloads, both legal and otherwise. Musicians have it a little bit easier than Record companies because they can get their income from playing gigs and selling fan stuff, but record companies and labels...Not doing so well.

Basically here are some issues for music

1. The digital realm: Should digital downloads remain legal? And what about the illegal ones, like Limewire. Should they remain free? some believe that music should be free while others believe that there needs to be some degree of restraint to keep the music industry breathing.

2. Bigger risks: With the economy so bad as it is, and with many economic advisers predicting 2009 to be no better, there are fewer and fewer musicians nowadays. Also, there are fewer and fewer gigs to book. Being a professional musician is, in reality, a really low paying job unless you're one of the 1% who get lucky and make it big.

3. The genre of music: Music has always gone through trends. During the age of classical music there was Baroque, romantic, and classical periods. In the 20th century, there was jazz, blues, psychedelic rock, heavy metal, hair metal, thrash metal, grunge, and now power pop. Today, pop and hip-hop music dominate the charts. What will the next prominent genre be, and what about the musicians who play the not do prominent?

Me and my friend are planning on being professional musicians in the future. We have a plan for it. Both of us know the unrealistic status of the musician as the "dream job". But, these issues concern us more than anything.

[Amaranthine]

I'm not a musician at all to say the least, but I do have a "thing" for music. I really live it and breathe it. I love singing, I love the music that isn't superficial and shallow.

I find it useless to sell CDs anymore, but there are people out there that just won't buy i-pods or get into the new age of technology. Nothing is wrong with that, it's just not many people buy CDs. They download them online.

I'm not sure what the next genre is going to be, but man, I hope when the newer genre comes, it will be a breakthrough from the superficial rap/pop crap that's out there. <_< I REALLY hate that music, and I don't understand why it's so friggen popular.

I wish you and your friend luck on becoming musicians.

[action9000]

I find it useless to sell CDs anymore, but there are people out there that just won't buy i-pods or get into the new age of technology.

I"m actually amazed CDs, rather than DVDs, are the media used to sell most music, still.  A DVD hardly costs any more to produce.

Even these days, the quality of the sound on a CD is better than the music you can buy online.  One can simply rip the music from the CD to their computer and they're good to go with the iPods and whatnot. This, combined with having something on my shelf to enjoy having, is why I still like the option of buying CDs.  Again, I do hope DVDs or a larger-capacity media takes over eventually.

[Amaranthine]

Ah yes, the DVDs. I am one of those people that still use DVDs instead of downloading them online or use Blue-Ray. I don't really want a Blue-Ray yet, I may eventually, but I'm not sure.

Now that I think about it, I still see advertisements of CD albums being sold. Hmm interesting...

[Mumbling]

Really... Is pop and hiphop ruling right now? Honestly, I know everyone loves rock, and almost everyone dislikes pop except for a few songs. I dont see why those two genres should be so populair.

[action9000]

Really... Is pop and hiphop ruling right now?

Aye, that it is.  As of, I think a few years ago, hiphop beat out Country as the most popular style of music, in North America anyway..though it might be worldwide, I don't recall the size of this statistic.

I don't really want a Blue-Ray yet, I may eventually, but I'm not sure.

I only use blu-ray becuase I have the feature on my PS3.
I'm not buying music on blu-ray yet; I don't have a blu-ray drive in my computer to copy the music to my computer, plus blu-ray discs are expensive (and not common yet).

I dont see why those two genres should be so populair.

I think in a lot of cases it's becauase "average Joe" or "Jane Doe" can listen to a pop or rock song, hear a catchy tune and sing along while doing whatever.

As for hiphop..I sincerely wish I knew why it was so popular.  If anyone can explain the appeal of R&B and hiphop to me, that would be awesome.

[NaNaNa]

as strong as my disdain for people who make it big on effortless pop songs is, i do admit that its very easy to get into something like pop music. Rap/hip-hop I don't get too much. I don't know all that much about it so I can't judge but, yeah I'd like someone to explain that to me too.

I remember recently I got the Led Zeppelin DVD when I was in England last week, and while I did enjoy the copious amounts of videos on a paltry two disks, I couldn't actually find a way to put the import the videos into my computer or how to convert the files into plain old mp3. Computers right now still treat CDs as the main medium for music, so when that changes to DVDs or Blu-ray, music is going to come out in those formats.

[Petrie.]

Funny how I read this topic while listening to some Beethoven pieces from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.  Got it on CD for less than $10 last August.

I'm one of those audio snobs (Tim can confirm this).  CD's are the only way to do music. 96khz sampling of dvd audio or whatever it is Blu-Ray can give is pure marketing.  Only my pet bat can hear that high.  If I like the songs on an album enough, I get the cd over a download.  If I can't do it immediately, it goes on a wishlist for later.  The reason cds remain popular is because of people like me who like music and will actually listen to it on decent setups.  Might as well pay for full quality if you like most of the songs on the cd rather than buying them separately.

What genre will be popular?  Right now, country is pretty big, but its not the traditional country stuff like Dolly Parton.  Today's country is like a rock-country fusion (think Shania Twain) where there is less on the folk stories and accoustic instrumentation and more drums and bass lines.  The rap and hip-hop of today is peculiar for sure and I don't know why the main point of these tunes goes around rape, incest, drugs, shootings, etc.  When rap was in its infancy (see Sugarhill Gang) rap was like a party gig where you were out to dance and have a fun time.  I'd say the modern country sound will remain popular for now.  Just think, ten years ago it was the boy bands and bubblegum pop, neither of which are common anymore.  Rap and hip-hop will have their day soon.  I think with the internet, you'll see a lot more indie or alternative rock showing up.

[NaNaNa]

I'd say the modern country sound will remain popular for now. Just think, ten years ago it was the boy bands and bubblegum pop, neither of which are common anymore.  Rap and hip-hop will have their day soon. I think with the internet, you'll see a lot more indie or alternative rock showing up.

Well keep in mind that not all genres of music are a fad. While boy bands and bubblegum pop died in the decade they started in, lots of genres have stood the test of time. Country music is probably the best example of this. The genre lasted longer than any other genre in American history, albeit with significant changes along the way.

I don't think Rap/Hip-hop will be as venerable as country music in the future, but I do think that its roots (notably R&B and blues) will stick around for a while.

Indie music hasn't been growing as much as its been pulled out of obscurity. I guess thats an upside of digitally sharing music, the underground can be exposed to a wider audience. Or maybe that's a bad thing to the hardcore fans.

As for Alternative Rock, I think eventually people are going to overuse the formula unless they get creative. I believe that's why I like bands like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd so much. They were innovative, they did loads of genres that altogether couldn't possibly be confined to merely hard rock or progressive rock

[DarkWolf91]

Most indie kids I know get a sense of superiority out of liking bands that most other people haven't heard of. I'm interested to see the future of the genre now that it's been pulled into the limelight and exploited by advertising agencies.
Also it's sort of ironic that it's become a genre/subculture in the first place, considering the nature of it.

And good luck with your career as a musician, Nanana!
My sister is doing the same. She's mostly a blues guitarist, though of course she can play many other instruments and styles

[NeoGenesis005]

About the statistics I don't see how Rap/Hip Hop can top all the rest.  Most of the Lyrics made up don't come out with sense.  Some of them usually talk about Guys and Girls getting down, Gangsters do gangster actives which I consider ignorant and Drugs.  Those are one of the main reason why I don't be into it because its inappropriate and raw yet Most of the people call it Music.

[NaNaNa]

About the statistics I don't see how Rap/Hip Hop can top all the rest.  Most of the Lyrics made up don't come out with sense.  Some of them usually talk about Guys and Girls getting down, Gangsters do gangster actives which I consider ignorant and Drugs.  Those are one of the main reason why I don't be into it because its inappropriate and raw yet Most of the people call it Music.

Minus the gangster thing, that was all lyrics were about back in psychadelia and proto-metal

[Petrie.]

One thing I see about alternative bands / indie rock is the production is defenitely more low-key and sometimes vocals are harder to understand, or the point of some of the songs are very cryptic and you got to do a google search to find the meaning.  This isn't bad, but if I wanted an articulate poetry class, I would've taken it when I was in college.  In essence, it probably won't appeal to everyone.  That's the main reason I do not listen to a lot of alternative rock...trying to digest all of the lyrics is not something I always have the time to do.