Originally Posted by mr dave

welcome to being old. have big band orchestras come back to being on top? how about jazz ensembles? funk? AOR?

it's not like those styles don't exist anymore or can't be found, but just like rock they're old. rock music is pushing 60 now and hasn't really grown since the 70s. yes there are minor stylistic changes and seminal hybrid examples but overall it's still power chords and pelvic thrusts.

it's no longer the vogue style of the mainstream anymore because it was there 10 years ago. today's kids don't want to listen to more of the same crap 30 somethings grew up with. it's how it's been for decades now, the mainstream caters to the demographic with the most amount of disposable income - teenagers. that's it, that's all. if there are some residual adolescents closing in on 30 who still want to adhere to that facet of pop culture it's their prerogative and a bonus for the mainstream but don't fool yourself into thinking it's anything besides marketing or that you're somehow leading the pack and not just that creepy old dude who thinks they're cool because they'll get beer for the high school kids.

when's the last time you talked to someone who was starting into their 20s in the early 90s when nirvana came along and seemingly changed mainstream music overnight? - it was going so good then it went to hell, all these depressed idiots who couldn't sing, couldn't play their instruments, had no idea how to play 'real' music, 90s rock was just horrible and depressing....

at this point the net is the medium of choice for new music so it's really hard to say what direction things are going to move in with the next generation of kids trying to establish their aural identity.

if you want to play rock music then by all means do it up, unless you live in some super remote area i'm sure there's a local bar that will let you use their stage. on the other hand if you want to be a mainstream rock star you might as well just sell your gear and dump all of that money into lottery tickets.