Which genre hurt rock music in general more?

Necromancer · 07-14-2013, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by #000000

No genre has "killed" rock, in my opinion. I say "killed" because it doesn't seem particularly dead to me either.

Most people I know these days (myself included) like rock but like other genres too. Music genres are incresingly less of an exclusive thing so when it comes to your average music buyer, rock has to compete with other genres. When most mainstream rock musicians are no longer grabbing as much attention, who do you think will sell records?

Musically speaking, most rock bands that get any attention from the public are sticking too much to old formulas. Marketing-wise, hip-hop and pop musicians get more publicity and airplay because they're catering to an audience that wants to listen to new things and look at new imagery. If rock is going to die anytime soon it's more because of its inability to adjust to a new market that has different audiences and demographics and different methods.

That alone doesn't mean rock will die. Maybe some truly innovative bands will start getting more attention from labels and subsequently from the general public. Maybe we'll stop measuring a genre's success by its commercial success in charts. I still buy rock music but when it comes to current artists, most of them are smaller bands that frankly don't get the attention they deserve.

That is really good insight my friend. I agree, there are some good rock bands out there, but most of them just seem like they are still in the experimentation phase and evolving musically.
I will be bold and predict that a new scene and sound is on the verge of breaking out. (Wishing and hoping for the best anyway).

#000000 · 07-14-2013, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necromancer

That is really good insight my friend. I agree, there are some good rock bands out there, but most of them just seem like they are still in the experimentation phase and evolving musically.
I will be bold and predict that a new scene and sound is on the verge of breaking out. (Wishing and hoping for the best anyway).

You're probably right. Scenes come and go in waves.

I also think it's a matter of demographics. Teenage listeners are big market and if you look at it, in the late 90s there was a bit of a lull in rock music that appealled to them (my impression is that most major rock bands in the late 90s were things that appealled to university age or older crowds). Then in the mid-00s, even casual listeners who didn't strongly identify with a specific scene started buying more rock music again due to the "emo" wave. Just looking at specific artists on officialcharts.com some bands from that era hit the top 10 in album sales.

Nowadays... how much mainstream rock is there that can appeal to the average older listener? Little. To teenagers? Even less.

Necromancer · 07-14-2013, 08:18 PM

That is so true. You have twice the amount of listeners on both sides of the spectrum today as well, compared to other eras in question I should point out.

You think with such a wide open market out there for the taking, someone would be trying to fill the void. Ive actually never seen or remember it to be as bad as it actually is right now concerning rock music. The 80s was one of the biggest decades for Rock and its sub-genres in my opinion.

I do hope something new sounding and rock orientated is on the horizon.

Gavin B. · 07-15-2013, 09:37 AM

The major labels are misleading the public when they say music sales are down. Yes... sales of physical albums was only 198 million albums which is a 12% decline from the previous year.

What record labels fail to include in the sales information is digital sales are at 118 million albums a 14% increase from the previous year.

2012 set a new record for music purchases with over 1.65 Billion album units sold! Why are record labels complaining about digital piracy when album sales are off the charts?

I once said that music piracy would actually increase the sales of legally purchased albums and that's turned out to be true. 1995 was the best year for album sales prior to the rise of Napster and pirated music. That year 722 million albums were sold... In 2012 it's at 1.65 billion, that's 70 million more units that the record breaking year of 1995. In fact album sales have risen every year since the advent of Napster and other file trading services.

The biggest complaint of the records companies is the retail price of a digital album is $9.99 which is significantly less that the $17.99 list price for a cd in the pre-digital download era. But those cheaper prices have stimulated album sales and digital piracy should be of very minor concern to record companies.

aman_is_here · 07-16-2013, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gavin B.

The major labels are misleading the public when they say music sales are down. Yes... sales of physical albums was only 198 million albums which is a 12% decline from the previous year.

What record labels fail to include in the sales information is digital sales are at 118 million albums a 14% increase from the previous year.

2012 set a new record for music purchases with over 1.65 Billion album units sold! Why are record labels complaining about digital piracy when album sales are off the charts?

I once said that music piracy would actually increase the sales of legally purchased albums and that's turned out to be true. 1995 was the best year for album sales prior to the rise of Napster and pirated music. That year 722 million albums were sold... In 2012 it's at 1.65 billion, that's 70 million more units that the record breaking year of 1995. In fact album sales have risen every year since the advent of Napster and other file trading services.

The biggest complaint of the records companies is the retail price of a digital album is $9.99 which is significantly less that the $17.99 list price for a cd in the pre-digital download era. But those cheaper prices have stimulated album sales and digital piracy should be of very minor concern to record companies.

Care to explain how? With an equation if possible.

The reason that sales have sky rocketed isnt because of piracy. Its infact because the world has now become a single stage. Thank you internet. The media and its reach has tripled compared to the early 90's. You take example from cases like Justin Beiber and Ariana Grande and even Pentatonics. There are more artists, there is a larger audience, there are more ways to reach that audience. Then there's the Ipod and now the Iphone and the Itunes. Then there's Youtube. Then there are Mobile phones that have 'stores' in them (play store etc). There are a million more ways to 'buy' something and a million more things to buy. Even if you ignore all that (which one cant), there is an obvious rise in population since 1995 wont you say. Lol

Ignoring all that and simply saying 'Piracy has somehow miraculously benefited sales' is plain-simple wrong

No offence.

dukethenuke · 07-17-2013, 04:51 PM

Alternative is b far the worst offspring of the rock culture. it is the awkward step child that cannot make up what it really is.

aman_is_here · 07-18-2013, 05:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dukethenuke

Alternative is b far the worst offspring of the rock culture. it is the awkward step child that cannot make up what it really is.

Alternative is my favorite kind of rock.

Necromancer · 07-18-2013, 08:14 AM

Alternative is one of my favorite genres as well. Nu-metal seems to be one of the more unorthodox fusion of sub-genres.

aman_is_here · 07-18-2013, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necromancer

Alternative is one of my favorite genres as well. Nu-metal seems to be one of the more unorthodox fusion of sub-genres.

Very true. I second that.

consumemedia · 07-20-2013, 04:20 PM

EDM is the death of true rock music. I am a fan of some electronic artists such as Four Tet and Washed Out but artists like Avici, Skrillex, Benny Benassi... Not a fan

07-15-2013, 09:37 AM	#34 (permalink)
Gavin B. Model Worker Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,248	The major labels are misleading the public when they say music sales are down. Yes... sales of physical albums was only 198 million albums which is a 12% decline from the previous year. What record labels fail to include in the sales information is digital sales are at 118 million albums a 14% increase from the previous year. 2012 set a new record for music purchases with over 1.65 Billion album units sold! Why are record labels complaining about digital piracy when album sales are off the charts? I once said that music piracy would actually increase the sales of legally purchased albums and that's turned out to be true. 1995 was the best year for album sales prior to the rise of Napster and pirated music. That year 722 million albums were sold... In 2012 it's at 1.65 billion, that's 70 million more units that the record breaking year of 1995. In fact album sales have risen every year since the advent of Napster and other file trading services. The biggest complaint of the records companies is the retail price of a digital album is $9.99 which is significantly less that the $17.99 list price for a cd in the pre-digital download era. But those cheaper prices have stimulated album sales and digital piracy should be of very minor concern to record companies. __________________ There are two types of music: the first type is the blues and the second type is all the other stuff. Townes Van Zandt

07-20-2013, 04:20 PM	#40 (permalink)
consumemedia Groupie Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Athens, GA Posts: 36	EDM is the death of true rock music. I am a fan of some electronic artists such as Four Tet and Washed Out but artists like Avici, Skrillex, Benny Benassi... Not a fan __________________ Adam Perlow Consume Media Athens, GA

07-14-2013, 08:18 PM	#33 (permalink)
Necromancer Divination Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2,655	That is so true. You have twice the amount of listeners on both sides of the spectrum today as well, compared to other eras in question I should point out. You think with such a wide open market out there for the taking, someone would be trying to fill the void. Ive actually never seen or remember it to be as bad as it actually is right now concerning rock music. The 80s was one of the biggest decades for Rock and its sub-genres in my opinion. I do hope something new sounding and rock orientated is on the horizon.

07-17-2013, 04:51 PM	#36 (permalink)
dukethenuke Groupie Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Los Angeles, California Posts: 13	Alternative is b far the worst offspring of the rock culture. it is the awkward step child that cannot make up what it really is.

07-18-2013, 08:14 AM	#38 (permalink)
Necromancer Divination Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2,655	Alternative is one of my favorite genres as well. Nu-metal seems to be one of the more unorthodox fusion of sub-genres.