15 Sep '08 01:15>1 edit
Alan Cross is a radio host of several music shows here in the Toronto area. He's been on the radio for several decades and probably knows more about music than just about anyone in this area. I've copied some of his comments from his radio show, "The ongoing History of New Music".
It's a discussion about how the internet is affecting music today. Some interesting comments. I know Darv won't agree since he made fun of me for suggesting the internet has played a role in limiting the production of a new genre of music, but I'll post this anyway. If you want to listen to the show, i'll post the link below. The radio shows are interesting and def worth a listen on a rainy post hurricane Sunday afternoon. Enjoy.
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The grunge era was great while it lasted. For most of us, it ran from 1990 to sometime in 1996. I say grunge was completely dead by November '96 because by that time, The Spice Girls and The Backstreet Boys had their debut albums out and were storming the charts. But to everything, there is a season. Turn, turn, turn and all that. And its legacy continues, thanks to what has become classic music, some of the greatest songs in the history of rock. Will we ever see the likes of this again? Let me leave you with a discussion point: will we ever see a rock'n'roll movement as big and and widespread as grunge ever again? I don't think so - and here's why. Grunge and the alternative explosion of the early 90s happened just before the rise of the internet. Technology has since allowed each of us to pick and choose our music on an individual level. We can choose from a nearly infinite supply of music 24/7. We don't bond over cds or any other physical music product. Hell, surveys say that half the teenagers in North America didn't spend a single penny on cds last year. All their music came via file-sharing. With his super-customization comes a lack of consensus. If each of us is free to go our own way, the master herd - the music community as a whole - becomes fractured into hundreds (if not thousands or even tens of thousands) of smaller tribes. Widespread, mass consensus eludes music now. Things are becoming much more niche-y. Instead, we're into the era of the celebrity. This is why Britney Spears is more popular as a whacko than she is as a singer. I'm not saying that all this is good for bad. It just is. We're moving beyond the era of the mega-star and into the era of a la carte. And it's all thanks to technology. That's my opinion, anyway.
-Alan Cross
http://ongoinghistory.com/oghonm/ongoing_history_of_new_music.cfm?recID=1&ell=8943&pge=1#
It's a discussion about how the internet is affecting music today. Some interesting comments. I know Darv won't agree since he made fun of me for suggesting the internet has played a role in limiting the production of a new genre of music, but I'll post this anyway. If you want to listen to the show, i'll post the link below. The radio shows are interesting and def worth a listen on a rainy post hurricane Sunday afternoon. Enjoy.
------------------------------------------------
The grunge era was great while it lasted. For most of us, it ran from 1990 to sometime in 1996. I say grunge was completely dead by November '96 because by that time, The Spice Girls and The Backstreet Boys had their debut albums out and were storming the charts. But to everything, there is a season. Turn, turn, turn and all that. And its legacy continues, thanks to what has become classic music, some of the greatest songs in the history of rock. Will we ever see the likes of this again? Let me leave you with a discussion point: will we ever see a rock'n'roll movement as big and and widespread as grunge ever again? I don't think so - and here's why. Grunge and the alternative explosion of the early 90s happened just before the rise of the internet. Technology has since allowed each of us to pick and choose our music on an individual level. We can choose from a nearly infinite supply of music 24/7. We don't bond over cds or any other physical music product. Hell, surveys say that half the teenagers in North America didn't spend a single penny on cds last year. All their music came via file-sharing. With his super-customization comes a lack of consensus. If each of us is free to go our own way, the master herd - the music community as a whole - becomes fractured into hundreds (if not thousands or even tens of thousands) of smaller tribes. Widespread, mass consensus eludes music now. Things are becoming much more niche-y. Instead, we're into the era of the celebrity. This is why Britney Spears is more popular as a whacko than she is as a singer. I'm not saying that all this is good for bad. It just is. We're moving beyond the era of the mega-star and into the era of a la carte. And it's all thanks to technology. That's my opinion, anyway.
-Alan Cross
http://ongoinghistory.com/oghonm/ongoing_history_of_new_music.cfm?recID=1&ell=8943&pge=1#