Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] more music to grade by...

[Mike Miller <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On Sat, 18 Dec 2004, Jonathan King wrote:

>> Obviously, they don't know a good thing when they have one.  Right now 
>> they have a stifling grip on the music business.
>
> You make no sense.  They ARE the (pre-recorded) music business.

All I'm saying is that these companies used to be more innovative.  They 
used to look for real musical talent to promote and they used to nurture 
those artists.  The companies want Britney-Spears-type packages to sell 
and they don't want to take chances with new ideas.


>> They don't want to take big chances with their money, so they work to 
>> promote things that fit in with what is already popular.  The obvious 
>> effect is to crush innovation and cause stagnation in popular music.
>
> Only in pre-recorded popular music on major labels.  To be honest, there 
> is so much music out there these days that I can't understand the "crush 
> innovation" comment much.  They don't promote innovation because it 
> doesn't seem to sell, or sell as well as other stuff.

That is not how it works.  Popular music is constantly changing.  People 
like what they hear.  The "powers that be" have always been, as you point 
out, but they are working the system differently today than they used to. 
They used to pick talented, creative people and support them, helping them 
to develop into stars.  Things are different now and there is much more 
phony packaging and focusing on image.  If a group doesn't hit it big with 
their first CD, they are usually dropped.


>> What can we do?  Don't buy popular CDs.  Listen to more free MP3s on 
>> the web.  Support local bands.  I don't know how much we can do, but we 
>> have to do something.
>
> But what you like and support what you like.  Expecting or hoping that 
> everybody else will like it strikes me as a fairly hopeless endeavor, 
> but there's lots of good stuff out there.  So tell people out there what 
> seems to be good.

That's always good advice, but these days we can shun the corporate music 
industry altogether and we'll still be awash in a gazillion CDs.  Every 
local band is making CDs these days, but they aren't getting heard.

Do we have any kind of Internet Top 40 for legal MP3 downloads?  That 
would be cool, and very helpful to the cause.  We need to level the 
playing field a bit and reduce some of the power of the big companies.

Mike
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