Music (Not a piracy discussion)

[TheHobGoblin]

I believe that music with good taste behind it is the best. Like Spineshank, Ill Nino (when they don't yell too much), Fuel, Bon Jovi, ect. I always find those to be pleasent to listen to. Likin Park is a pretty good one, with the mix of rap and rock. Rap isn't sensless and the rock isn't intensive. But the punk rock, heavy rap, ect. I think is really not what music should be. It's just yelling into the microphone at the top of your lungs, or talking about how many girlfriends you have and how cool you are (not!). People who listen to that crap usually are into gothic, or their pants are like at their knees. Thus the downfall to some of human soceity. I mean, I fail to see the cool thing about misspelling everysingle word in the english vocabulary or listening to something about killing people or some sick lyrics.

[ET Warrior]

Originally posted by TheHobGoblin1

I mean, I fail to see the cool thing about misspelling everysingle word in the english vocabulary or listening to something about killing people or some sick lyrics.

Your ignorance on what PunkRock really is leads me to believe that you actually have never really listened to it. Because Punk rock is NOT about killing people or anything like that at all. Most often punk rock is about change. People dissatisfied with the current state of our country and they're singing about change.

 

Note, I use sing loosely there, I will admit that most punk rock isn't really SINGING, but the music is good, and I like it.

[TheHobGoblin]

Opps, I mean Heavy metal. Thanks for pointing that out.

[taoistimmortal]

this is an excerpt from the novel "steppenwolf" by herman hesse the main character harry haller(who is the steppenwolf) meets an acquaintance of his who is a musician. his name is pablo. "Herr Pablo," I said to him as he played with his slender ebony and silver walking stick, "you are a friend of Hermine's and that is why I take an interest in you. But I can't say you make it easy to get on with you. Several times I have attempted to talk about music with you. It would have interested me to know your thoughts and opinions, whether they contridicted mine or not, but you have disdained to make even the baresest reply."

He gave me the most amiable smile and this time a reply was accorded me.

"Well," he said with equanimity, "you see, in my opinion there is no point at all in talking about music. I never talk about music. What reply, then, was I to make to your very able and just remarks? You were perfectly right in all you said. But, you see, I am a musician, not a professor, and I dont believe that, as regards music, there is the least point in being right. Music does not depend on being right, on having good taste and all that." "Indeed. Then what does it depend on?"

"On making music, Herr Haller, on making music as well and as much as possible and with all the intensity of which one is capable. That is the point, Monsieur. Though I carried the complete works of Bach and Haydn in my head and could say the cleverest things about them, not a soul would be the better for it. But when I take hold of my mouthpiece and play a lively shimmy, whether the shimmy be good or bad, it will give people pleasure. It gets into their legs and into their blood. That's the point and that alone. Look at the faces in a dance hall at the moment when the music strikes up after a longish pause, how eyes sparkle, legs twitch and faces begin to laugh. That is why one makes music."

"Very good, Herr Pablo. But there is not only sensual music. There is spiritual also. Besides the music that is actually being played at the moment, there is the immortal music that lives on even when it is not being played. It can happen to a man to lie alone in bed and to call to mind a melody from the Magic Flute or the Matthew Passion, and then there is music without anyone blowing into a flute or passing a bow across a fiddle."

"Certainly, Herr Haller. Yearning and Valencia are recalled every night by many a lonely dreamer. Even the poorest typist in her office has the latest one step in her head and taps her keys in time to it. You are right. I don't grudge all those lonely persons their mute music, whether it's Yearning or the Magic Flute or Valencia. But where do they get their lonely and mute music from? They get it from us, the musicians. It must have first have been played and heard, it must have got into the blood, before anyone at home in his room can think of it and dream of it."

"Granted, I said coolly, "all the same it won't do to put Mozart and the latest fox trot on the same level. And it is not one and the same thing whether you play people divine and eternal music or cheap stuff of the day that is forgotten tomorrow."

When Pablo observed from my tone of voice that I was getting excited, he at once put on his most amiable expression and touching my arm caressingly he gave an unbelievable softness to his voice.

"Ah, my dear sir, you may be perfectly right with your levels. I have nothing to say to your putting Mozart and Haydn and Valencia on what levels you please. It is all one to me. It is not for me to decide about levels. I shall never be asked about them. Mozart perhaps, will still be played in a hundred years and Valencia in two will be played no more-- we can leave that, I think, in Gods hands. God is good and has the span of all our days in his hands and that of every waltz and fox trot too. He is sure to do what is right. We musicians, however, we must play our parts according to our duties and our gifts. We have to play what is actually in demand, and we have to play it as well and as beautifully and expressively as ever we can."

With a sigh I gave it up. There was no getting past the fellow.

 

 

I wrote this here because it seemed extremely relevant to the contrast that i saw forming in this discussion between those who enjoy older styles of music and the ones that are growing up today. Also, as you may have noticed, this was written in the early 30's.

[Zavior]

Music is what you like, those who follow the mainstream artists such as 50cent, or Justin Timberlake for example, Have no life what-so-ever. I dare not say that the future of punk is going down, we still have some left, but they are being replaced by punk boy bands! Btw I listen to ac/dc, transplants, anything greenday b4 dookie, and linkin park.

[rccar328]

those who follow the mainstream artists such as 50cent, or Justin Timberlake for example, Have no life what-so-ever.

 

I don't know that this is accurate, necessarily. However, when it comes to people who follow mainstream artists, a lot of sheep imagery comes to mind - the flock follows whatever artists the media is holding up at the time. I know quite a few people who used to listen to N*SYNC (gag me!), and at the time thought they were the greatest band in the world. Now, it's whoever else is popular - they never even put on an old album because it's simply not popular anymore.

 

In a way, this is why music on the internet is gaining such popularity - instead of going out and buying a cd, people can download whatever music is popular at the time. It's less of an investment than going out and buying the entire album, and it's not as permanent.

[TheHobGoblin]

Hey what's wrong with "Opps, I did it again!?" lol

[El Sitherino]

Originally posted by TheHobGoblin1

Hey what's wrong with "Opps, I did it again!?" lol

Everything.

 

I still prefer music with a inspiring tone to it.

[toms]

Originally posted by rccar328

I don't know that this is accurate, necessarily. However, when it comes to people who follow mainstream artists, a lot of sheep imagery comes to mind - the flock follows whatever artists the media is holding up at the time. I know quite a few people who used to listen to N*SYNC (gag me!), and at the time thought they were the greatest band in the world. Now, it's whoever else is popular - they never even put on an old album because it's simply not popular anymore.

 

In a way, this is why music on the internet is gaining such popularity - instead of going out and buying a cd, people can download whatever music is popular at the time. It's less of an investment than going out and buying the entire album, and it's not as permanent.

 

This is also tied in to both the age of the target audience and the power of marketing and exposure.

 

Kids around the age of ten will tend to want to like what others like (or the exact opposite) as part of fitting in. The current music indistry realises this and so they put a huge amount of hype into a select few bands (have them on kids shows, magazines, playing in schools) so the kids tend to like them as they are the only music they are exposed to. Then as the kids get older their tastes broaden and the marketing machine moves onto the next batch of kids.

 

My hope for online music distribution is that it will at least partly remove the harketing hype from the equation... thereby allowing users to be exposed to and try out a much wider range of music than they would normally get to hear.

 

If the software learns from my tastes and can suggest songs in the same genre, playlists by others who like the same sort of thing (like Amazon) and playlists by theme or mood then my music listening experience might end up a lot more like a web browsing experience, where you can sometimes go from site to site and end up somewhere you never thought you would go. And if i only have to pay a few cents to then try out these songs who knows what i might discover.

 

At the moment in the UK the entire UK chart is basically dictated by Radio 1, the only national "pop" radio station, and it's playlists. If it isn't mainstream and doesn't make it onto the radio 1 playlist then no one will hear it and no one will buy it. Ok, so most of them were rubbish, but at least when i was in the US or NZ they had a mass of independent radio stations and just by flicking through the stations you could hear a much wider range of stuff.

[--ZeeMan--]

*lol i'm just gonna be ignorant and say what's on my mind cus it's funny.....IN MY MIND*

 

but if you really think about, pink floyd should be gods in the majority of peoples minds today cus the person who wrote most of their songs usually wrote them while on pyscedellic (sp?) drugs...and given our culture's view on drugs today, they might be considered heroes :-D

 

*ok ok ignorant moment is up*

 

anyways....what matters the most to me is if it sounds good. i can tolerate and even like music in all genres. Favorite bands: metallica, beatles, the boss (springsteen for you music illiterates out there), steve miller, rammstein, dj taucher, and plenty of others

[Druid Bremen]

I'm an adolescent, and I simply cannot understand what's so great about yelling into a microphone, like Linkin Park, etc. I prefer more inspiring music, like classicals. I don't go along with the flow of OMG THAT GUY IS SO HANDSOME LETS BUY ALL HIS ALBUMS UNTIL THEY GET SOLD OUT OMG OMG OMG OMG!!1111! Many girls in my school are like that. They see someone handsome, like that guy called Jay Zhou, and they go all crazy. What is music coming to? It used to be a collection of great works of art. Now it is simply reduced to who looks more handsome, or which band is the most "in".

[taoistimmortal]

What is music coming to? It used to be a collection of great works of art. Now it is simply reduced to who looks more handsome, or which band is the most "in".

 

What is music coming to? Oh no I feel despair rising in my innards.

 

I have to say that the change in music that has occured in the last century has in it's begiinings a great deal to do with democracy and the breaking down of the prior eras social structure: in this case the european aristocracy and nobility shortly after WW1. Later on the major culprit was the encroachment of technology, and the creation of an extremely lucrative music industry.

 

As for what music is coming to today I think it has a lot to do with Dionysian principles of mass hysteria and communal bliss. People of a certain nature want to feel like they are part of something shared. They do not seek music out for there own reasons but seek in order to fulfill an expectation of some kind, and when it is not precisely sought for those reasons it is usaully otherwise sought out either in rebellion or in the search for a personal anarchy of spirit. Decadence is a great provider for the destroyer's of tradition.

 

And so I ask, what happens when decadence becomes the norm, the style, or type of art or music most commonly sought after? I give you a definition of decdence taken from a Webster's new world dictionary published in 1972 "A process, condition, or period of decline, as in morals, art, literature, ect; deterioration; decay:"

 

We need a revitalization in the realm of the spirit in all the arts. Man must rise again and shed the horrors of the past century. And there is wonderful music hidden amongst the shelves of independent music stores, and on many a web site waiting to be found.

 

A good one is http://epitonic.com/

[toms]

you have to realise that when we look back at music we only really see the stuff that was good enough to stand the test of time. This is where the "it was better in my day" theory breaks down.

 

Along with the beatles there were probably any number of one-hit wonders and forgettable comercialised bands that were as fake, untalented and despisable as Busted. However they have disappeared from our memories a lot like many of the rubbish bands of today will do.

 

I would expect that when Mozart was writing his music there was a lot of drivel being written as well.

 

THe problem with today's music industry is a lot like many other of today's industries. It has become soo commercial, the companies have merged to become so big that no independents can break in and the media has become so entraped in a vicious circle of hype that the record industry will no longer take risks (a lot like the software industry, the film industry, the TV industry) or give bands time to become popular. They need bands that are popular BEFORE they release a single (Pop idol, bands playing schools and having tv programmes).

 

As i have said, hopefully the movement of music online will break some of the barriers to entry and allow a much wider exposure to music than existing media... but not if the sites are all run by the music industry.