1/27
09:05 PM - Apr 30, 2024
2/27
By 1996, most radio stations were bought up by entities like Susquehanna and Clear Channel. Live regional DJs were replaced by prerecorded shows with ad slots sold locally. Now ad delivery is the primary task of radio stations. This also means there's a homogeneous flavor to broadcasts nationally.
09:05 PM - Apr 30, 2024
3/27
The homogeneous nature of the broadcasts killed regional musical hotspots, and lack of live DJs means fewer political discussions, less playing non-corporate music, less opportunity for musicians to be "woke" in interviews. Combine that with high live concert ticket prices, and that's a trend.
09:05 PM - Apr 30, 2024
4/27
Also, fewer people being able to afford live shows, the death of record stores, & the ubiquity of music untethered to a physical medium like a record or CD (do you really own music in a cloud?) means consumption of music has changed. Once you could bet 90% of your peers had heard what you heard.
09:05 PM - Apr 30, 2024
5/27
You could ask your peers what they thought about a popular song, and they'd have an opinion. Music was a common bond. Now, everyone collects what they like and are siloed off online into fandoms or music nerd fiefdoms. You can't be sure you like anything in common with your local friends.
09:05 PM - Apr 30, 2024
6/27
So, long answer, because it makes corporations more money to automate and make every station of a certain genre sound alike. It makes tracking sales easier. It also means music is a less effective distribution model for protest or commentary. Musicians have to make a living. It's harder than ever.
09:05 PM - Apr 30, 2024
7/27
Short answer: Because the connection between fan and artist was deliberately tampered with, for profit. The way younger folks discover music has changed. Bonding over shared musical interests has gone online. Seeing live music is hard on a budget. Owning physical media is seen as quaint.
09:05 PM - Apr 30, 2024
8/27
That's how I see it, anyway.
Full disclosure: I was a college radio DJ post-1996 & college radio (or streaming stations online) is the closest you'll get to how radio used to be. (There are FCC rules that stifle profanity over the airwaves, so there goes a lot of angry political music right there.)
Full disclosure: I was a college radio DJ post-1996 & college radio (or streaming stations online) is the closest you'll get to how radio used to be. (There are FCC rules that stifle profanity over the airwaves, so there goes a lot of angry political music right there.)
09:05 PM - Apr 30, 2024
9/27
Nick: "Interesting. I see all of that, but I'm not sure that explains why even in the 80s and 90s you were still seeing social protest movements based around music in a way you just don't now."
09:05 PM - Apr 30, 2024
10/27
In the 80s and 90s, you had MTV and live regional DJs. The big shift in my area happened in 1996, and there were holdouts until the 2000s.
09:07 PM - Apr 30, 2024
11/27
Nick: "But there's crazy accessibility to share new sounds we've never seen B4. Of course ppl think about the 60s, but what about the growth of rap & hip hop in 80s America? Or the explosion of electronic music in Thatcher's Britain carried on illegal radio stations? Where's the modern equivalent?"
09:07 PM - Apr 30, 2024
12/27
There are few if any pirate stations these days, & where we used to discuss/share music face to face, it's mostly done online now, so your area's concerns/politics may differ drastically from your friends in other states/countries. In a global online market, you silo your music by being too specific
09:08 PM - Apr 30, 2024
13/27
(I messed up my original posted replies, so have threaded them here to make the conversation easier to follow, because the subject interests me.)
09:10 PM - Apr 30, 2024
14/27
I am friends with working musicians, & this is a discussion I've had with local musicians in Atlanta who still do gigs, current/former college radio DJs, and, to a lesser degree, musicians you might recognize (Dandy Warhols, Strokes, Ash, Coldplay, Soundtrack of our Lives, Division of Laura Lee, &c)
09:17 PM - Apr 30, 2024
15/27
Both the market and being a working musician have both changed drastically in the past 25-30 years. Radio has changed. Marketing has changed. Streaming is here for good. Owning physical media, though newly cool for some, is devalued overall. Being overtly political in a global market is challenging.
09:21 PM - Apr 30, 2024
16/27
The more popular an artist, the less likely you'll hear anything truly confrontational or political. There are exceptions (mostly from established artists in the biz 15-20+ years or indie artists with low name recognition outside their fanbase). I suspect this is partly why protest songs are rare.
09:24 PM - Apr 30, 2024
17/27
You're seeing more "one person with an instrument" artists making music in home studios, & artists with parental money (Strokes and Eisley come to mind) smoothing the way, but you're also seeing fewer overtly political/protest groups because it's a harder path to popularity and being able to survive
09:28 PM - Apr 30, 2024
18/27
Nick: "That would imply there's still considerable scope for new music within those silos! Punk, rap, the various sub genres of EDM...all forced their way from niche social protest subcultures into public consciousness. Now I want to know what I'm missing in the silos!"
09:33 PM - Apr 30, 2024
19/27
Me, too! You have to tune in to dozens of decentralized places to stay up to date, rather than getting into from a handful of music mags and what you hear on the radio and friends.
FWIW, working musicians still network and share intel/news/gossip. They HAVE to!
FWIW, working musicians still network and share intel/news/gossip. They HAVE to!
09:35 PM - Apr 30, 2024
20/27
Note, too, the sheer vastness of the USA. I live here and I didn't fully grasp it until I drove from coast to coast after college. It is huge. Expecting corporate radio to do more than pump out lowest common denominator (profitable) music is futile.
09:38 PM - Apr 30, 2024
21/27
Europe (including the UK) is also vast, but there isn't exactly the same homogeneity from country to country. Protest music, if and when it comes, is likely to start there. It has a chance to escape (e.g.) clubs and go further.
09:41 PM - Apr 30, 2024
22/27
The US used to be a powerhouse because our vastness combined with regional music meant greatness had a shot. Now we're vast but everyone is ignoring the radio and finding stuff they like through (for one) TikTok audio snippets. Or movies/TV using a song they are compelled to hear again. (IMVHO.)
09:44 PM - Apr 30, 2024
23/27
Nick: "Where do you even start?"
I used to read interviews in music magazines (fave bands being asked "who are your influences?" led to great discoveries) and talk to friends working in record stores ("I liked this, what else should I try?"). Now I use tools like https://www.music-map.com/ and Disc
I used to read interviews in music magazines (fave bands being asked "who are your influences?" led to great discoveries) and talk to friends working in record stores ("I liked this, what else should I try?"). Now I use tools like https://www.music-map.com/ and Disc
09:50 PM - Apr 30, 2024
24/27
With Discogs, I often buy cheap sampler/compilation CDs. I'll pick a genre I typically like, e.g., power pop, find a big seller with lots of stock, find a label promo or music mag freebie, see if there's an artist or two I like, and buy it mostly blind (or look the unknowns up on YouTube).
09:54 PM - Apr 30, 2024
25/27
Home taping (and Napster/Kazaa/Limewire/pirating) didn't kill the record biz.
Video didn't kill the radio star.
Radio was killed for short-term corporate profit.
The record biz cheated artists until they rejected that biz model.
Video didn't kill the radio star.
Radio was killed for short-term corporate profit.
The record biz cheated artists until they rejected that biz model.
10:06 PM - Apr 30, 2024
26/27
Who you really need to talk to is working musicians who still gig and put out albums, especially those who have been around since before the mid-90s. Those folks can discuss this in much better detail than I. They have MANY OPINIONS about it, and are experts on the topic. I'm just a passionate geek.
10:10 PM - Apr 30, 2024
27/27
The image mentioned in the first post, which threading messed up (and which I didn't notice was missing until much later):
11:15 PM - Apr 30, 2024
Autotune and the same handful of chords, it’s mostly overproduced and sounds the same is the reason it doesn’t appeal to me
In response to Milla Mélomane.
09:37 PM - Apr 30, 2024
In response to Gibson59 💚 🌿 🌬.
Yup. It's only going to get worse. Which is why we dig deeper, because popular lowest common denominator music is a drag. There's great stuff out there. A lot is self-produced and distributed. Finding it is much more challenging! It take a lot of time/motivation/interest (my ADHD helps, LOL).
10:02 PM - Apr 30, 2024
