How Corruption and Greed Led to the Downfall of Rock Music?

[Old Joad]

 

[craigb]

[57Gregy]

21 hours ago, craigb said:

I must have ESP; I knew that ^ was coming. ?

[Rain]

I always look back with a lot of fondness on the year 1994.

This is just my feeling, but it seems to me that that was the last time that rock was relevant. Of course there were many personal factors as well, but it seems that there was a sense that something was happening on a collective level, lots of great music like Soundgarden's Superunknown, Nirvana Unplugged and NIN's Downward Spiral, movies like The Crow, Pulp Fiction, And Natural Born Killers (although I'm no fan of these last two and I can't stand Tarantino), all of these with great soundtracks, Woodstock '94 - things that were era-defining. Whether you were a fan of those bands and movies or not, rock was at the forefront, and it meant something to people, not just individually.

Heck, we even had Pink Floyd on tour and Page & Plant getting back together. Things were good.

And although it was actually a tragic event, Kurt Cobain's death did bring people together.

But things kind of died out over the next couple of years.

Interestingly enough, towards the second half of the 90's, it seems that many older bands got back together - KISS got back together with the make up and all, Ozzy and Sabbath, Vince Neil with Mötley Crüe, Dickinson and Smith rejoined Maiden. But at that point, they were the establishment. The subversive spirit of rock had been replaced by nostalgia.

And tribute bands became even more popular.

I wouldn't say rock is dead, but it's in a weird place.

Anyway, it's great to have another perspective on these things. I guess there's a lot of things that contributed to it.  Being Canadian, I'd never made the connection with the telecommunication act in 96, though.

[Byron Dickens]

On 1/9/2024 at 2:37 PM, craigb said:

Too bad he never actually wrote that.

[TheSteven]

LOL the music industry was corrupt looong before 1994.
The payola scandals with labels paying for their records to get hyped & played, record companies & managers ripping off artists, etc. 
The scope changed i.e. fewer people controlling larger resources (getting their fingers into more pies) but the rots always been there.

Interesting video though.   

Edited January 11 by TheSteven

[Grem]

On 1/11/2024 at 4:03 AM, Rain said:

wouldn't say rock is dead, but it's in a weird place.

Yep.

[John Templeton]

That was a very interesting video. I watched it as soon as it was posted. If it's all true it explains a lot of things. The musical middle class has been eliminated. You've got people scrabbling around trying to get gigs, but in my town most of the venues have closed down. The concept of bands seems pretty much dead and replaced by various solo artists. 

Those that do rise to the top are doing big arena tours and many of those have just become their own tribute bands. Madonna is coming to Toronto this year . The cheapest seat at the venue is $200 and they range up to $7,500 for the best seats. Taylor Swift is another one. She actually affects the economy of towns she plays in. For example, she's coming to Vancouver this year. There's a hotel close to the venue that usually charges around $150 a night for the basic budget room. To get a room when she's in town they're charging $3,500 a night.

I can remember being able to see the biggest acts, buy a T-shirt and have dinner for $100 and have change in my pocket. 

[Rain]

9 hours ago, John Templeton said:

That was a very interesting video. I watched it as soon as it was posted. If it's all true it explains a lot of things. The musical middle class has been eliminated. You've got people scrabbling around trying to get gigs, but in my town most of the venues have closed down. The concept of bands seems pretty much dead and replaced by various solo artists. 

Those that do rise to the top are doing big arena tours and many of those have just become their own tribute bands. Madonna is coming to Toronto this year . The cheapest seat at the venue is $200 and they range up to $7,500 for the best seats. Taylor Swift is another one. She actually affects the economy of towns she plays in. For example, she's coming to Vancouver this year. There's a hotel close to the venue that usually charges around $150 a night for the basic budget room. To get a room when she's in town they're charging $3,500 a night.

I can remember being able to see the biggest acts, buy a T-shirt and have dinner for $100 and have change in my pocket. 

I remember seeing Metallica, Metal Church and Sword (Canadian band) for $11 in 1986. Got the t-shirt for $25, and a burger, cola and fries for dinner at A&W for probably $6 or $7. That was on the Master of Puppets tour, so they weren't that big yet, but still... Bigger bands that I liked with more extravagant productions like Iron Maiden charged $15 - $18. 

Even if you were a kid working a minimum wage part-time job on weekends, attending shows was possible. 

Personally I can't imagine spending more than $50 to see a band. I think that was roughly the price to see Accept at Vamp'd here in Vegas, the last show I considered attending, early last year. It's a small venue, with a capacity of 280, and I've played there a few of times myself. I would have enjoyed that kind of intimate show a whole lot more than a big arena rock show. 

John 5 is playing there in a few weeks. $25 on pre-sale, $30 at the door.

Paying hundreds of dollars to watch displays behind the stage because you're too far to see anything makes no sense to me. If I'm to stare at a screen, I'd rather buy the blu-ray. But that's just me.

 

[57Gregy]

Saw Grand Funk with Mott the Hoople for 14 DM in 1971, about $3.50 at that time. Two months after Ten Years After for about the same. Frankfurt Messe.
And gas was 36 cents a gallon on base.