Music is An Artform is Dead. How and why are the questions.
Yes, I know that the headline is hyperbole and somewhat clickbait-y but where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings” is the biggest hit right now and it’s basically a rip-off of an old song from the Sound of Music musical ‘modernised’ with the non-melodic pop ‘tune’ and obligatory sleazy porno music video. It is what it is.
15 years of losses for the music industry has left pop music with the risk adverse record labels having to utilise the half-baked solution of streaming platforms to get back in black as far as profits are concerned.
Who loses? Genuine artists, of course.
Either you play the game i.e. sing songs that sound like rap, with explicit sexual lyrics targeted at 12 year old girls or be ‘doomed’ to create music really for yourself. Either you are in music to pander to the masses or you will starve!
Should you create music that channel the classic pop of the 60s to 90s, then you will get nowhere commercially. That is a fact. The folks who are into that kind of music would rather listen to the original bands of that particular era rather than a new artist who produces music in the same style.
Case in point : Swedish band Dynamo Bliss. This progressive pop trio – who have been around since 2005 – write and record amazing songs in the vein of The Alan Parsons Project, ELO and 10cc.
But visit their Facebook page and you will find 500+ likes! Which is not surprising considering the music they make – it ain’t hip or cool BUT it is fuckin’ awesome. Sadly, that doesn’t matter anymore.
Certainly, kudos to Dynamo Bliss for not compromising their principles. However, the reality is that it is unlikely that music making would be financially viable for them.
Music as an artform is dead. Enjoy the music while you can because it must be exceedingly difficult for new bands to put this artistic music together in this day and age. Support!
… still there’s more …