Will the recession bring forth a revolution in music?
I thought it might be interesting to start a discussion about whether or not the recession will bring a change in the music we pay to listen to.
Looking at the past, every recession has coincided with new (often rougher) styles of music. Look at Punk, it was spawned almost directly (thematically speaking) from recession and general anger at the government. Then look at Grunge, which came right after the money-spinning yuppie era that was the 80's.
Most of the Western world is now deep in recession. Will this make us see the end of boy/girl bands that have lingered for over a decade now? Will this be the conclusion of Pop-Idol-and-X-Factor-type shows? Will we see something completely new?
What have I, personally, seen so far? I've seen empty clubs, bars closing before midnight and we've all seen the fluctuating album and single sales. However, what about the more niche venues? There are plenty of artists around the country who command a small but loyal fan base. Have things changed for them? No. When I go to some of my local live music venues, I've seen absolutely no change in the amount of people watching.
Perhaps this is proof on the small scale that a change is coming? Is this a good thing or not? Only time will tell.
Discuss :-D
Tweet This
Share on Facebook- Relevant artist taggings:
- None
Thread not appearing correctly? Click here to rebuild | Report this
Last.fm
SoundCloud
MySpace
Friendster
RSS
no
i just had to tell a band i couldn't release their LP due to loss of money
We had been planning it for the last couple of weeks but then I recently had a severe dent in my finances and now can't justify a 2LP and paying for a UK tour. It sucks and I feel really bad for the band but there's nowt I can do. However I think I'm not really a good representation of the music industry, I'm just a small DIY label. So really I didn't bring anything to this discussion.
Man, that musta been hard...
Was that Sunset? Shame :-(
i know real bummer
hopefully i'll find something smaller which i can release cheaply but which will be just as ace. i might have set my sights to high for my second release, however i wasn't to know i was going to lose a fair wad of money.
well I'm really sorry to hear that
as you know I really like that album
Again, no.
...and punk (the music) was more a reaction against the dull prog dinosaurs that reigned supreme over British rock music at the time.
There'll be the same sea of shite with the occasional islands of sonic delight.
I have to say, I disagree
Not with the punk statement, I know it did have something to do with a rebellion against the prog rockers as well. But I wouldn't put recession out of the equation as a contributing factor? Why was it THEN that people got sick of prog? Perhaps it's related, but perhaps not. But that's a totally different discussion!
Do you not think people will no longer buy records from artists just because it's "cool". Up til a few months ago, most people have an abundance of money. People could afford to buy the latest CD from that certain "cool" artist. I'm not saying that all chart music is useless.. in fact I'd say more of it is quality than tripe. However, I just can't see people buying the latest winner of X-factor's CD just because they won X-Factor. Most people will only buy a CD if it's actually good. If people are paying more for the essentials (especially energy bills) they're going to cut back on what they can.
The most obvious things to cut back on are..
Alcohol
Cigarettes
Hobbies
Entertainment (including music)
None of these things are necessities. So surely if we go as deep into recession as is forecast people will cut back on impulse buys.
alcohol and cigs wont be cut back on
neither will entertainment,porbably
very inelastic goods
and to answer yr thread,same old,same old,no change that wouldnt have happened otherwise,probably
i'm suuuuure i heard somewhere
that alcohol and cigarettes are the two industries not really affected by a recession. Could be totally making that up though...
And gambline
*gambling (obviously)
Bars closing before midnight?
All gigs should finish at 11-15pm so people can get the bus
Nah.
Technology and boredom with the old will bring changes, not temporarily having a bit less money.
"Looking at the past, every recession has coincided with new (often rougher) styles of music."
Ok, but most new styles of music have not come about because of recession.
I hope so...
Bad times often spawn great art. Tragedy, frustration, loss, war, poverty, isolation - you name it - are all great contributors to haunting melancholic, intense music and that's the best there is.
(Dark times create dark sounds) + (Batman is cooler than Superman) = Brilliant music.
i disagree
in fact, it will probably have the opposite effect as people stick with what they know in a time of uncertainty.
why buy into something new and different when you can get another indie/punk/lad-rock/whatever cd that you know will give you something at least an impression of the former good times
Not a bad point at all
I hadn't thought of it that way. That's also a strong possibility.
I just say this in the first place because both recession and radical new styles of music (at least for the mainstream) tend to run in (around) 10 year cycles. Music could possibly change due to the decade change as a opposed to recession. But if you look most recessions this century have happened right at the beginning or the very end of a decade.
Recession: 1980-82 (Around the Punk Era)
Recession: 1990-91 (Around the Grunge Era)
Recession: 2001-02 (Nu metal... and a decline of boy/girl bands)
Recession: 2008-??
Maybe these are total coincidences, who knows. I'm not trying to say I'm right but a lot of people I talk to on the gigging circuit are talking about it.
I think this is simply the human tendency to see patterns where there are none...
Besides, those dates are tenuous at best.