Global pandemic aside, the last 20 years have been horrendous for music and the music industry. The music culture that I have grown with from the 60s to the 90s has been utterly devastated for reasons I have enumerated in two articles viz. music is dead and the music industry is dead. However, despite all this, I can still defiantly proclaim : LONG LIVE ROCK!
Ironically, the two articles were relatively popular, garnering more views than the Power of Pop is used to receiving, of late. There were a few comments on social media – not a huge amount, mind – that ranged from agreement to outright hostility! I guess the whole idea of our beloved music being “dead” is a disturbing and triggering one.
Some even held the misconception that I was personally giving up on music altogether! Which either means I am a terrible writer or folks don’t like reading and would prefer a video or podcast nowadays. Either way it does not bode well for my music writing future!!!
But of course, I have been obsessed with music since I was a fifteen year old and with my 60th birthday looming, I seriously doubt that that will ever change. What I was trying to articulate – and failing to a certain extent – was my troubled grappling with the evolution of my music journalistic writing here on Power of Pop. Relating this dilemma to the demise of music and the music industry was part of the process of resolving these feelings.
So… after considering this issue, I have come to conclusion that I can totally ignore the state of affairs of the contemporary music and the music industry. My musical focus will continue to be on the music I know and love – rock in all its myriad incarnations. Which means more listicles and rock history content from the 60s to the 90s.
Occasionally, I may still do reviews of new music – which conform to the kind of rock music that I love – but these will be rare and maybe in the form of capsule reviews – I have not determined the form or frequency but these will take a back seat from now on.
If you are still reading, I am grateful for your indulgence. In the grand scheme of things, what I think about music does not amount to a hill of beans, especially in this age of influencers and streaming algorithms. But I do love writing and so this has to be the new normal.
And for those who are able to come onboard the magic bus, you can scream together with me – LONG LIVE ROCK!
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