Okay...one more political thing. Thank you United States citizens, for coming to your senses and picking the right candidate.
So, the state of music today. While many may not think so, often the state of politics and the economy often help to spawn new breaks in the music scene. For example, after years of Reagan and Bush I, we saw the emergence of emo, new punk rock, and grunge, all forms that spoke of being disgruntled and marginalized as a whole or as an individual. You'll notice that grunge died, emo became more mainstream, and punk went pop after Clinton helped create a more prosperous state of the nation. Coincidence? I don't think so.
Where does that leave us today? Well, I think on many fronts we are seeing a resurgence of underground acts and independent releases. Radiohead showed us last year that a band with initiative can release an album without a record company breathing down their collective neck. Several bands are actually creating and running their own labels, and not just the vanity labels of a few years ago, real working record labels with distribution and mild market presence.
On the negative said, corporate radio has destroyed the idea of a break through act. While it's not really my thing, many top 40 and mainstream listeners have voiced disappointment at the "same 6 songs" format they are forced to endure when listening to local radio. The advent of things like XM, Sirius, and iPod adapters for your car are slowly making radio stations obsolete, or at least I hope so. Why listen to one song you like, 4 you don't, one you are okay with, then 20 minutes of commercials every hour (along with the vapid talk of the so-called DJ's) when you can create your own playlist and run with it? And if my word isn't enough, take a look at this article from Indiana.
There is also the issue of file sharing and buying songs online. I'm a proponent of file sharing. It's just like making a mix tape back in the day. And frankly, the only people who suffer are the record company executives, not the artist, who is probably getting ripped by the record company anyway. More artists can thrive using the new technology available.
Music is an industry that evolves like any other. You can go with the flow of it as it stands, or you can make a stand to make it your own.
Today's video is from Coheed and Cambria. Awesome prog-ish rock with a themed comic book to match each album. Now that's clever.
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