It certainly seems like it; the very few music related posts or threads we get here (and don't usually put up) are about "who's sleeping with whose wife" and even those have dropped away - the last "celebrities" that inspired sexual interest were the Madonna/Prince/Michael Jackson stars of the 80s. Even the Gallagher/Albarn mob have had very few people interested in their private lives let alone their music.

But this board was started for two main reasons - enthusiasm for great music (why didn't we get dozens of posts about Rather Be - as good a hit as anything in the past 50 years?). And gossip about the Industry.

Which Chairmen/MDs are any good? Who is the best plugger? Which A&R person deserves plaudits or brickbats? Which retailer is best? That last is a clue - we spotted the decline of shops decades ago - one reason why we created the Record of the Year Shows - boosting Christmas and December sales by 200%.

The industry has changed.

Nobody cares anymore. Dull, faceless, characterless, joyless, dreary career people; no spark, energy, imagination.

That's why nobody has come up with The New Model - how to break great music - apart from our two Tipsheet praised executives in the 90s - Simon Cowell and Richard Russell.

I find it depressing. I liked those mad, zany, music characters... David Geffen, Obie, Clive Davis, Tony Hall, Phil Spector, Joe Meek, Seymour Stein...

Perhaps it explains why the music itself is so ordinary at the moment.

JK2006 wrote:
It certainly seems like it; the very few music related posts or threads we get here (and don't usually put up) are about "who's sleeping with whose wife" and even those have dropped away - the last "celebrities" that inspired sexual interest were the Madonna/Prince/Michael Jackson stars of the 80s. Even the Gallagher/Albarn mob have had very few people interested in their private lives let alone their music.

But this board was started for two main reasons - enthusiasm for great music (why didn't we get dozens of posts about Rather Be - as good a hit as anything in the past 50 years?). And gossip about the Industry.

Which Chairmen/MDs are any good? Who is the best plugger? Which A&R person deserves plaudits or brickbats? Which retailer is best? That last is a clue - we spotted the decline of shops decades ago - one reason why we created the Record of the Year Shows - boosting Christmas and December sales by 200%.

The industry has changed.

Nobody cares anymore. Dull, faceless, characterless, joyless, dreary career people; no spark, energy, imagination.

That's why nobody has come up with The New Model - how to break great music - apart from our two Tipsheet praised executives in the 90s - Simon Cowell and Richard Russell.

I find it depressing. I liked those mad, zany, music characters... David Geffen, Obie, Clive Davis, Tony Hall, Phil Spector, Joe Meek, Seymour Stein...

Perhaps it explains why the music itself is so ordinary at the moment.

Like

All true. Also music business characters just aren't there anymore, the industry's populated by a load of dullards.

JK2006 wrote:
the very few music related posts or threads we get here and don't usually put up...........

Censorship is the shield used by editors to be selective in what is being published. There never seems to be a problem with posts commenting on Bob Geldof's or Bono's private lives on this forum.

One man's censorship is another man's morality.

Record company greed killed off the music industry.Hard to get excited by the crap the industry fed us over the later years.

As soon as the customer had a choice they beecame picky.The fun days of buying a single,and staying in and playing it over and over have long gone.Music for most now is youtube or background in shops etc....nothing like the excitement of yesteryear!...and those in the business were so sure of their superiority of those record buying plebs they even failed to notice.

Record sales happened because the bits of plastic were collectible, you enjoyed going through the liner notes, album sleeve etc and could play the record on demand. The Internet killed that off and record companies went scared and resorted to formulas. Streaming has revived a love for music but in order to get the romance back a new format is needed one that can't be pirated or the emphasis should be on interaction.

JK2006 wrote:
One man's censorship is another man's morality.


What on earth could people want to post about music that needs censoring?

It's certainly sad that some of these movers and shakers still read this board, but only react if they think their incredibly important self-image is not being supported by other people. But no apparent interest in music. Quite revealing.

Pattaya wrote:
Record company greed killed off the music industry.Hard to get excited by the crap the industry fed us over the later years.

As soon as the customer had a choice they beecame picky.The fun days of buying a single,and staying in and playing it over and over have long gone.Music for most now is youtube or background in shops etc....nothing like the excitement of yesteryear!...and those in the business were so sure of their superiority of those record buying plebs they even failed to notice.

Bands had control then the fat cats got hold them and controlled the groups like puppets.

Are you seeing the Lindisfarne Story at the Theatre Royal Pattaya ?

What you say is true JK, there is very little excitement like the old days.

Part of what I see is that acts with very little musical ability are hyped via the internet and social media. Some to incredible revenue numbers. Acts that wouldn't have made it through the door of a label 15 years ago.

You only need to look at the Grammy or Brits broadcasts to see some of these acts. Some of these kids literally can't sing a note, can't play an instrument, and are terrible amateurish performers onstage, singing homogenized nursery rhymes. More so now than ever before.

But then you have Adele, or Emeli Sande next to these hyped no-talents, which gives some hope.

Its funny that when managers contact me to make records for someone they want to go the route of the hyped no-talents, or lately, bring in a rapper for a cameo (which is laughable to what I do and so cliche at this point) instead of being original.

Cheers to Richard Russell for having the balls. Adele's next will sell 30M. That's 30M paid.

I agree with much of what you say GG except - don't make quality judgements. Your "bad" might be another listeners "good". If it sells - or has millions of listens - it appeals to many (though videos may be for a different reason). And therefore deserves to be made, sold, promoted. I dislike most Jazz. But I don't think they ought not make it.

Likewise, just because an act may be amateur, bad at playing, nursery rhymes (have you heard some of my melodies? I always felt Everyone's Gone To The Moon had a similar melody to Three Old Ladies Got Stuck In The Lavatory) - doesn't mean they should not be allowed and indeed encouraged to make music.

I think labels in the past saying NO were often wrong. They ALL turned down Leap Up And Down before me. NOBODY wanted I Get Knocked Down or Who Let The Dogs Out. America rejected my Ooga Chagga before Blue Swede covered it and (as I say in a chapter in my new book) Al Khoury at Capitol told me, when he took it and promoted it to No1 in the US, "I always thought your version was a hit, JK".

Genesis would never have existed left to labels (even Decca didn't really want them and only released them as a favour to me).

Honey - censorship in music is still massive. Nobody on radio plays Gary Glitter (or me). Even online keeps rejecting Wilde About Boys and Harold Shipman.

GG wrote:
there is very little excitement like the old days.

Thats because there was very little alternative in the old days !!!!

There were ONLY 2 TV channels - not hundreds as now. A music show was an "event" ! Everyone watched (often as a family unit).

Now there are literally hundreds of alternatives - bowling alleys / shopping malls / mobile phones / tablets / computers / games / X Box - PS4 etc / music is free - everywhere ... you can even spend time fucking your girlfriend (and the government will help out supplying free pills / condoms etc - and if it all goes wrong will supply a free abortion !)

Who wants to waste their pocket money buying shiny things in comparison ?

No, ITK, there's no excitement because the shows are no good. People stopped watching TOTP because the music featured was major label priority crap, not genuine mass appeal hits.

JK2006 wrote:
I agree with much of what you say GG except - don't make quality judgements. Your "bad" might be another listeners "good". If it sells - or has millions of listens - it appeals to many (though videos may be for a different reason). And therefore deserves to be made, sold, promoted. I dislike most Jazz. But I don't think they ought not make it.



That's an important point. I miss the way the presentation of music in the past encouraged us to be tolerant and even curious. The beauty of TOTP, for example, was that it was like an old time variety theatre bill. In variety theatre you had to sit through the weird and the woeful to get to the wonderful, and it therefore fostered a mind set that welcomed the eclecticism, and in doing so made the audience more discerning. TOTP made you sit through the likes of Lieutenant Pigeon and the Smurfs to get to see and hear Bowie and 10cc. It encouraged people to embrace the naff and celebrate the sheer messiness of musical tastes. A lovely, humane, spirit. Now everything systematically ensures that we dodge all that we dislike, or suspect that we dislike, so curiosity atrophies and tolerance evaporates. Worst of all, it denies us the prospect of being SURPRISED.

Funnily enough I hear most new music when I go to Morocco; several radio stations are like Radio One used to be; Top 40, playing the popular hits. So I get to hear tracks that have been smashes in the USA, UK, France months later. Trouble is - they never give titles or names so I have to Google the lines and up comes the You Tube video. Quite a lot I hate at first, then get to like (George Ezra; Passenger) whilst others I hate even more (Wiggle; All About That Bass).

www.hitradio.ma/top30/

JK2006 wrote:
No, ITK, there's no excitement because the shows are no good. People stopped watching TOTP because the music featured was major label priority crap, not genuine mass appeal hits.

I don't agree, JK ... "mass appeal hits" only became mass appeal hits because people had nothing else to do other than watch the (one or two) TV shows that featured music or listen to the very few programmes on radio that featured it.

A major music show would, these days, struggle to find an audience, I fear.

Producers and writers are no less talented these days ... but there are so many outlets they tend not to attract that much attention as they did once.

Rather Be is a terrific mass appeal hit. Just as good as anything in the last 50 years.

Wise counsel JK.

And In The Know, yes the number of choices is mad. I got my first mobile phone when I was 26, and it was a big deal. I suspect as big a deal as my grandparents getting their first TV.

Now, does any ten year old not have a mobile?

I don't think we can underestimate the overwhelming power of social media to these kids.

It's why there is a VP-level head of viral marketing at most labels (And movie studios), whether they want to admit it or not.