MetalFreak
New member
No and it will never be..
is rock music dead
- Thread starter TonyV
- Start date
I certainly hope so!
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Grim Reefer
New member
Yes and No ?
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Epsilon-144
Musician and Producer
the era of rock being mainstream music is over, but there are still very big and new rock groups. It's mostly split into different genres though like psychedelic rock. I know the mystic braves are big and still growing. They're recording a new record right now. Lolipop Records is putting out a lot of new rock.
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Fudgetusk
Member
Yep. In fact all music sounds the same as it did ten years ago. Ed Sheeran? Rag N Bone Man? HAHAHAHAHHAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!
That's why I come here. To find the new sound.
denniswilson
New member
Festivals seem to be struggling to get new big acts.
Dirty Earl
New member
Rock and metal are dead. The problem is that no one is going out to live shows. Everyone thinks to themselves "Oh ill just listen to it on youtube or facebook when they put up a video". Its just not the same as being there. When your there you feel the drums in your chest, the bass vibrates through you, the guitar is as pure as it can be coming straight through the amp speakers and the vocals are imperfect and loaded with emotion and power. There is an entire generation coming up who listens to their music through shitty shitty speakers from phones that are not designed to be listening devices.
All we can do is hope someday the tide will turn. Probably not but no mountain has eroded over night it just takes persistence.
All we can do is hope someday the tide will turn. Probably not but no mountain has eroded over night it just takes persistence.
Dirty Earl
New member
"Rock and metal AREN'T dead" Are what I meant to say at the beginning. I play in a band, and its all first hand experience that the live music scene is dead. Audiences are generally older because they are the leftovers of the generations that went to live shows. I recently had a chance to see a band, that I had played with come through on tour, they were also saying that the live music scene was disappearing. The good news is they are thriving online and through satellite radio.
It's a good bet rock and roll will never have the influence on pop music and the culture that it once did, but it will likely continue to exist on the periphery, kept alive by some number of enthusiasts and players -- much like classical jazz or even something like blue grass.
Anyone know who Cass McCombs is? The guy's pretty successful, on one of the bigger indy labels, consistently reviewed in the noted online music mags, Pitchfork etc. I went to see him in at at a club that holds maybe 300 people -- there were fewer than 50 people there. Same deal with a guy named A.A. Bondy that I like, only he played at a tiny little club, and he told me after the show he was playing solo because he couldn't afford to tour with his band.
But then you go up a few notches to artists who are more well know and the tickets are too expensive. Floor tickets to Neko Case -- $82? Sometimes I'm willing to pay that, but not to where I want to with any regularity. Oh well.
Anyone know who Cass McCombs is? The guy's pretty successful, on one of the bigger indy labels, consistently reviewed in the noted online music mags, Pitchfork etc. I went to see him in at at a club that holds maybe 300 people -- there were fewer than 50 people there. Same deal with a guy named A.A. Bondy that I like, only he played at a tiny little club, and he told me after the show he was playing solo because he couldn't afford to tour with his band.
But then you go up a few notches to artists who are more well know and the tickets are too expensive. Floor tickets to Neko Case -- $82? Sometimes I'm willing to pay that, but not to where I want to with any regularity. Oh well.
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harshmellow
New member
Rock can't die cos rock is solid
Heartmachine
New member
I've talked to friends about this subject numerous times lately... we kinda seem to all be in agreement that maybe while rock "music" is kinda dead in the water, "rock and roll" is alive and well in spirit.
Like you might have rappers or pop stars, even electronic producers/DJ's, literally whatever, and it's like if they kind of embody that rock and roll attitude and spirit, and their music has that rebellious and/or high energy to it, I'd say that's the general make up of a modern day rock star. The music might not resemble rock music in a traditional sense at all, but "out of the box", maybe it is...
Like we're kind of in a post-genre world now... a lot of ideas and sounds have been done to the limit, over and over again, at this point... and now it seems more important than ever to break the limits. Otherwise you're just going to sounds like another one of countless "garage rock" bands you know? Like I've really been drawn to a more experimental new wave of artists in recent years, and it's dope to see so much cool stuff coming out that makes me kind of take a step back and be like "wow, they're coming at this genre in a completely different way than I ever thought possible."
I think that's kind of why rock seems dead in a more traditional sense... not enough people are open to change, or willing to attempt something out of the ordinary. The rock community largely seems very stuck in its ways and that's fine and cool, but there comes a point where, if you want your genre or music to be seen as relevant, you kind of have to accept and move on with the times.
Just my take...
Like you might have rappers or pop stars, even electronic producers/DJ's, literally whatever, and it's like if they kind of embody that rock and roll attitude and spirit, and their music has that rebellious and/or high energy to it, I'd say that's the general make up of a modern day rock star. The music might not resemble rock music in a traditional sense at all, but "out of the box", maybe it is...
Like we're kind of in a post-genre world now... a lot of ideas and sounds have been done to the limit, over and over again, at this point... and now it seems more important than ever to break the limits. Otherwise you're just going to sounds like another one of countless "garage rock" bands you know? Like I've really been drawn to a more experimental new wave of artists in recent years, and it's dope to see so much cool stuff coming out that makes me kind of take a step back and be like "wow, they're coming at this genre in a completely different way than I ever thought possible."
I think that's kind of why rock seems dead in a more traditional sense... not enough people are open to change, or willing to attempt something out of the ordinary. The rock community largely seems very stuck in its ways and that's fine and cool, but there comes a point where, if you want your genre or music to be seen as relevant, you kind of have to accept and move on with the times.
Just my take...
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This is a time of experimentation, and it doesn't always lead to good results. That's how it turned out with rock music.
Skandy
New member
There are a million and one problems that rock/metal has when trying to compete in the modern era. Higher barrier of entry (the instrumental talent must be there), less venues, less promoters, harder to produce, more mouths to feed. The time it takes to "get good" at playing an instrument, for other genres is being used to level up in marketing (arguably far more useful in the modern era when trying to popularise your project online).
Labels also don't value "gateway" bands as they once did. They forgot that gateway bands that have more commercial elements (basically all the top teir rock/metal bands, many of which are legacy acts now) cast wider nets when pulling in fanbases which effectively feed the rest. So we went from the nineties, early naughties distinctive stand out acts that brought in audiences that would filter through to the extremes to certain modern day labels that have a trillion identical metalcore bands on their roster that you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between if you were an outsider fan. And those peeps are who you need to appeal to if you want the genre as a whole to become more popular. Unfortunately investing in a band that has unique attributes is a risky prospect. Sending out flocks of v similar acts to well tested markets is safer but makes for a much less interesting landscape and is ultimately self-defeating with an ever ageing and dwindling audience.
So it's less mainstream as a consequence which in turn could lead to potentially less kids picking up instruments tomorrow.
Rock/Metal is also predominantly an album genre where as rap, pop, electronic is single based.
Also piracy back in the day was a right kick in the knackers. Men basically removed their money and therefore their vote and what genres have typically large male demographic - mmm?
Streaming also sucks for everyone other than massive artists and even then it's their labels that mostly benefit.
Bandcamp is currently the best and most moral music platform.
People will always play and as ever the quality will run the full spectrum, it's just hearing about them will continue to be an uphill struggle until the infrastructure is invested in, risks are taken, opportunities created and labels start treating this as a "friendly" war for domination.
Labels also don't value "gateway" bands as they once did. They forgot that gateway bands that have more commercial elements (basically all the top teir rock/metal bands, many of which are legacy acts now) cast wider nets when pulling in fanbases which effectively feed the rest. So we went from the nineties, early naughties distinctive stand out acts that brought in audiences that would filter through to the extremes to certain modern day labels that have a trillion identical metalcore bands on their roster that you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between if you were an outsider fan. And those peeps are who you need to appeal to if you want the genre as a whole to become more popular. Unfortunately investing in a band that has unique attributes is a risky prospect. Sending out flocks of v similar acts to well tested markets is safer but makes for a much less interesting landscape and is ultimately self-defeating with an ever ageing and dwindling audience.
So it's less mainstream as a consequence which in turn could lead to potentially less kids picking up instruments tomorrow.
Rock/Metal is also predominantly an album genre where as rap, pop, electronic is single based.
Also piracy back in the day was a right kick in the knackers. Men basically removed their money and therefore their vote and what genres have typically large male demographic - mmm?
Streaming also sucks for everyone other than massive artists and even then it's their labels that mostly benefit.
Bandcamp is currently the best and most moral music platform.
People will always play and as ever the quality will run the full spectrum, it's just hearing about them will continue to be an uphill struggle until the infrastructure is invested in, risks are taken, opportunities created and labels start treating this as a "friendly" war for domination.