This is long so please be patient and read it.


Music is dead, drowned in its cesspit of false hits, hype and false prophets. Radio manipulates the public, record companies manipulate radio and dictate to the creators of music who are now too scared to make music they love and chase the invisible goddess that is the hit song.

Not that the 'hit song' isn't important but she is an elusive one. You cannot contrive her, you cannot manufacture her and you cannot have her without making music you love.

We have seen in the last 10 years an explosion of the bandwagon artists, genres for genres sake and artists that have no level of originality. Music made by numbers by producers using presets and formulas.

Worst of all we have lost the public. Our music isn't worth paying for and that's why fewer people want to pay for it. If you really want to fight internet piracy sue the whole world because EVERYONE has music they have not bought, music they have borrowed or stolen. But it is music they play once and forget forever.

There is a glut of artists, writers, producers, labels, managers, businesses in music but all are increasingly becoming irrelevant. It is a sobering thought but one we have to address from bottom up.

One reason for this, is we idolise people who don't deserve the constant accolades they get. The Beatles are the best band ever. Why ? why does one aspire to be the next Beatles, peddling the same chord progressions, rules and scales. Dont get me wrong they were great at what they did but we need to move on because what they did existed in its own time and space, it was ground breaking, it excited them what they did was new. They played to little rules, no formulae and made stuff they loved and people loved them. BUT that was 40 odd years ago !!

Music must die, it must collapse ! Not because i hate music or the industry nor because of jealousy or what have you, but we must remove the scales from our eyes we must stop being blind people trying to reinvent the wheel. There are 12 notes in our scale but there are endless scales and possibilities.

'A seed must die before it blossoms into a tree and bears fruit'.

If you go to Myspace you can see the problem. Everyone wants to be famous but no one wants to be different. No one wants to sacrifice their lust for fame, for musical bliss , it is like we are automatons who chasing the wind. Let your music touch people, set your music free ! Dammit, why cant we see this. If i have to commend JK, he makes music he likes and doesnt pander to conformity. Ok you may not like it or him but hell you get the man's soul in what he does.

"We are sick of all you artists chasing the holy grail the record deal the ultimate deal with the devil. Not because labels are evil but because you are willing to sacrifice your soul to achieve it. You look to the labels but it should be the other way round. The labels can only bottle and sell your magic, they cannot make it. They think they know what it takes but they don't they are lucky in that the dregs of what they produce still touches some people. But thats the power of music. Humanity needs it. Even crap versions thereof. Alas we are flying on Jet fumes now and soon our plane will run out and fall to the ground.

The ultimate irony is that in his wisdom, God, the Universe or whatever you believe or wish to call him/her has given you the artist the one tool that can liberate you, the internet can make their music sell without the trappings, manipulations and strings being pulled but who will step up and make use of it.
But the internet cannot be fooled it cannot be artifical. You cannot make something unpopular popular because the people are in control.

Your method of bringing music to the attention of the public is flawed. No i don't want to be added to your Myspace, no i don't care about your music and will not check it out. I'm not interested in your slick PR flyer, No i dont want to go to your website and be blinded with Flash, no im not interested in you because you are not interested in me. That's the cry of the public.

We read and watch all the fuss about Big Brother, yet we do not understand what it is doing for us. We used to follow musicians, artists and listen to records now we just want to watch people fight on TV".

If you are an artist, in a band, a manager, an a&r person, a writer ask yourself this question. Why are you in this ? To make money ? Nothing is wrong with making money but note this the people are not buying.

It's a time for a rethink, stop, rewind and start again. Stuff the rules. Stuff the chord progressions, stuff trying to be clever, stuff trying to be the next John Lennon, he wasn't trying to be John Lennon, he stood up for what he believed in. Rightly or Wrongly you got to commend him. Stuff the contrived bands, stuff trying to manipulate the public. Go for what you love and believe in. That is what you are there for and even if it doesnt fit convention, even if radio says no we wont play it. Tell them to get fucked because if you have what we are looking for we WILL FIND IT.

"I dont care whether you are S Club 7 or Grinspoon, Gnarls Barkley or Screaming Lord Sutch. I dont care if you are a Britney or a Whitney or even a Paris Wimpey ! Make music that touches your soul. Make music that moves you that puts you on a spiritual plane. It doesnt have to be serious, it can be silly, it doesnt have to have words or even musicality. Music is a power we are losing because we are not making music for ourselves but for 'he that must be obeyed' the 'Dragon', the 'Evil Fiddler of the Lost'".

Music has died before and seemed none the worse for it. The Beatles were the death of music once, as was Elvis before.

The fault (if that is what it is) doesn't lie entirely with the music makers - the public are the one's who want the same thing but different. The buyers decide what gets bought and they are a pretty conservative lot.

The radio will introduce them to "what they want" because going out to find it takes too much time. People would rather somebody else spent the hours trawling through the mediocre to find the speck of gold even if it's fool's gold.

Popular radio reacts it doesn't manipulate, it cannot manipulate, playing Stockhausen on Radio 1 wouldn't make him suddenly popular.

A few percent of musicians actually get anywhere with their music and few percent remain beyond the immediate and a few percent of them remain as the "greats" Anyone name Beethoven's contemporaries? (Please don't )

Judging what's available now by a very selected and edited version of the past gives a false impression - there has always been filler and crap and there always will be. There never was a golden age untarnished and there never will be.

For the majority music is something in the background and it is not a new custom recently invented. It isn't that important.

Generally when musicians "make the music they love" it's self-indulgent twaddle which only the die-hard fans but. Indeed why should I pay so somebody can masturbate? What's in for me?

As a musician music is important to me, it is a mistake to despair if others don't share my sense of importance.

The art world complains that people buy obvious art and mock the creations of modern cutting edge artists as if it's somehow unfair that we don't spend our time understanding and appreciating their genius.

Music is the same, it comes in many forms - the popular is what appeals to the most, so by it's nature is undemanding and simplistic.

Only a minority have a keen interest, it is their hobby. Only a minority will spend their free time reflecting and appreciating that which requires reflection to appreciate. Most people have other things to do.

Why should anyone spend their time on what you or I want to do? They should no more do that than I will spend time appreciating soap opera or Big Brother. I am not willing to put in effort to fit in with their world and I don't expect them to do for me what I won't do for them - why should they?

What you say is dead never lived, it is a mythical beast. A creation of the very hype you disparage different only because what we like and approve of isn't hype in our own minds.

Principles are all fine and dandy but you can't eat them, they don't pay the rent.

Speak for yourself.

who the hell wrote this contrived and rhetorical bag of fucking shite?

There you go KZ - many different opinions. Mine to follow in due course!

I think KZ has a good overall point actually.

For too long we've been force feeding the public with what we WANT them to buy.
With the advent of the Internet, the choice has reverted to them... if they can get back the habit of seeking it out for themselves.

Thanks for the responses it's been fascinating.

In a week where Billie Piper gets in the charts simply because a radio DJ told them to buy it, proves my point about radio manipulating people. But it can only go so far. Sales are falling, music is being marginalised and its power diminished. I think it is because the 'music by numbers' approach turns people off.

Zooloo if you are in the business of making music, tell me are you making music you love or music you don't give a rot about but are making because you think it will sell ? It is also rather patronising to musicians to say well if they make music they love it is self indulgent rubbish.

"Why should anyone spend their time on what you or I want to do? They should no more do that than I will spend time appreciating soap opera or Big Brother. I am not willing to put in effort to fit in with their world and I don't expect them to do for me what I won't do for them - why should they?"


So tell me what music are you making for the public to consume ? Music you think they want to hear or music you love and are passionate about and want them to hear ?

At the end of the day (yes i hate that phrase too) people are voting with their wallets and one of the biggest criticisms of the music business is its insincerity which has resulted in more people thinking it is ok to download music illegally. They do not relate to the artists who in their body language and tongue indicate they wouldn't buy the music they are making either.

As for people want other people to choose their music for them. This is so laughable a statement and completely not true. Yes radio is convenient, yes magazines can point them to whats happening. But the public will seek alternatives and do so if they are discontent with what they are hearing. With the internet you can now find every record released under the sun. People are more influenced by their friends than the 'gatekeepers'. People want genuine recommendations and not recommendations paid for by payola, advertising or any other artificial means. You will be found out quickly.

Making music people want to hear doesn't exclude music I am passionate about. There is slight compromise in some areas but nowhere near the point I do stuff I think is rot.

When I wrote the bit about self-indulgent twaddle (not rubbish) I was thinking of Neil Young's Geffen period at the time. There are many examples when an artiste has considered themselves more important than the audience and paid the price.

It still remains that people are not obligated to give all or any musician their attention unless they feel inclined to do so and why should they?

The idea that people want others to choose their music for them is indeed laughable. That people find it convenient for somebody else to filter out a selection from the mass is reality. I don't think most people are hunting the web for new stuff in a broad sense, at best they may visit several sites that cater for the genre they like - although I don't have any solid evidence or stats to back this up.

I would think people searching for music do so within confines of something, probably a selection narrowed down by others. Those who are on a hit and miss trail of serendipity are really few and far between.

It's a question of time for most people - time and patience.

When the only escape from your parents world was a cheap record-player and a few singles sitting in a chilly (chilly in the UK anyway) bedroom, then music was very important. Now in the digital, centrally heated, cheap consumer goods age it's different. Music has many more competitors.

Personally I do feel music is in the doldrums right now and has been for a while - but it has been before and that situation is necessary to create the opportunity for something new, innovative and exciting.

If music will regain the status it had in previous years I do not know. In the future it could become one of many options and it's "importance" diluted unless something jumps out and demands priority in people's lives.

Well said Zooloo. Thanks for your contribution to this debate.

There is two threads on this subject, so it is a little confusing to follow due to the brilliant debates going on.

What I wanted to add, after Zoo`s comments is this.

Whilst growing up, I had the only record player in my school.
Everybody would gather around when they knew I was going to play music. There was simply no other entertainment, and music was found to be the most fascinating thing apart from playing sport or reading.

This is what has been lost and the industry needs to have a serious think about how it will defeat a couch sitting generation of satelite tv and computer entertainment consumers.

Maybe the I-pod will bring this era of listening back, pure listening without a face-full of product thrust into the face.

In a week where Billie Piper gets in the charts simply because a radio DJ told them to buy it, proves my point about radio manipulating people. But it can only go so far. Sales are falling, music is being marginalised and its power diminished. I think it is because the 'music by numbers' approach turns people off.

I see this in a different perspective. The fact the Chris Moyles apprantely chose a song from random and got it into the top 20 shows the listening public that what they download does matter to the charts.

Instead of major labels telling us what to buy we will have songs in the chart that truly reflect what the public want. This can only be a good thing for the charts and I look forward to seeing how it pans out during the year.

It's just a pity that TOTP's has gone, can you imagine it now with unsigned bands in the charts getting that sort of exposure!!

Hey nice post, you certainly know how to stir things up LOL!

Seriously though, I agree with some of what you

Something I found fascinating only last night, when one of my bands made a brief appearance on a radio station, was meeting the programmer.
Armed with a last minute clutch of cd`s from our acts, I gave them to him, he listened whilst I was there and has playlisted the lot, much to my surprise.
This to me indicates another problem.
Where exactly are the pluggers?
The guy was delighted to meet me and had been handpicking his playlists without much company help.
How many small stations is this happening to?
Granted it is a local station, but being available on the internet makes it global in my book.
Also, and this will make you all smile, whilst I was there, three people `phoned in to complain about a swear word on a track that had sneaked through.
As I allways say, any reaction is better than apathy.
He also proudly gave me his internet listening figures and they were not bad at all.
I`m in a very positive mood about the state of radio against the death of music.
Call me old fashioned but getting playlisted further helps