It's been sad over the years watching this forum die. There seems to be little interest in mass appeal, cross over music any more (the few such as Ed Sheehan & Adele being exceptions). But the main lack of involvement seems to be behind the scenes. I started The Tipsheet in the 90s not only to counteract the media moving into specialisation rather than mass appeal, as illustrated by Matthew Bannister's disastrous direction change for Radio One, but for A&R, promotion, publishing, artwork, accountants, producers, arrangers and executives. Because not only was the UK Music Industry the engine of the global scene, it was great fun. Getting a job in music was fabulous. From dance clubs to licensing, it throbbed with enthusiastic people who loved music but also adored the challenge of breaking real hits. I remember Sonny Takhar finding Bleeding Love for Leona Lewis and giving Simon Cowell one of his first Real Hits. I remember Richard Russell giggling to me that we supported The Prodigy when nobody else did and went off them when they exploded. Those were the dying days of the old industry, reflected personally with I Get Knocked Down and Who Let The Dogs Out?

These days a job in music must be incredibly boring. Or am I just a boring old fart?

Pleased to see that this thread has had 25,000 views. There is clearly still interest in music.

Eddie Trunk, says the same thing. Rock is pretty much dead and the heavy metal scenes looks very manufactured.

When's the last time you paid for recorded music? I bet it wasn't a CD or an MP3 download.

It was probably when the music was attached to a movie, or part of a computer game. Angry Birds or something. The internet killed off the main source of industry income: physical record sales. Phasing out singles was a strategic mistake from the traditional record industry. People don't want to pay £15 for a hit, a B side, and a bunch of duds. They want to hear THAT song. First Napster stepped in to meet the demand, now YouTube, Spotify and Deezer. Instead of selling a million CDs, you have to get 10 million views to achieve a fraction of the revenue.

Commercial radio pop at the moment is highly stylised and formulaic, with a narrow range of genres. Ed Sheeran and Adele, mentioned above, produce material that's very similar. And many others in the charts are very interchangeable. Go back to the 90s however, and there was chart success for the Prodigy, Billy Joel, Alanis Morissette, Lauryn Hill, the Smashing Pumpkins, Bryan Adams, George Michael, Mariah Carey, Sting, UB40, Bon Jovi, Prince, Rod Stewart, Aerosmith, Seal, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, R.E.M, Sheryl Crow, U2, Jay-Z, 2Pac, Shania Twain, R Kelly, Whitney Houston, Madonna and... Michael Jackson. That's a huge amount of variety compared to contemporary top 40 lists.

I'm not an industry mover and shaker. I'm just a muso. You know, one of those guys who can actually shred and read music and stuff but wouldn't look all that special on a magazine cover. But that's how it seems from where I'm sitting, next to my amp that only goes up to 10.

Randall wrote:
When's the last time you paid for recorded music? I bet it wasn't a CD or an MP3 download.

It was probably when the music was attached to a movie, or part of a computer game. Angry Birds or something. The internet killed off the main source of industry income: physical record sales. Phasing out singles was a strategic mistake from the traditional record industry. People don't want to pay £15 for a hit, a B side, and a bunch of duds. They want to hear THAT song. First Napster stepped in to meet the demand, now YouTube, Spotify and Deezer. Instead of selling a million CDs, you have to get 10 million views to achieve a fraction of the revenue.

Commercial radio pop at the moment is highly stylised and formulaic, with a narrow range of genres. Ed Sheeran and Adele, mentioned above, produce material that's very similar. And many others in the charts are very interchangeable. Go back to the 90s however, and there was chart success for the Prodigy, Billy Joel, Alanis Morissette, Lauryn Hill, the Smashing Pumpkins, Bryan Adams, George Michael, Mariah Carey, Sting, UB40, Bon Jovi, Prince, Rod Stewart, Aerosmith, Seal, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, R.E.M, Sheryl Crow, U2, Jay-Z, 2Pac, Shania Twain, R Kelly, Whitney Houston, Madonna and... Michael Jackson. That's a huge amount of variety compared to contemporary top 40 lists.

I'm not an industry mover and shaker. I'm just a muso. You know, one of those guys who can actually shred and read music and stuff but wouldn't look all that special on a magazine cover. But that's how it seems from where I'm sitting, next to my amp that only goes up to 10.

I still buy both CDs and vinyl new and used. I have never saw the appeal to soundtracks even back in the 1980s.

I bought Cinderella the Mercury Years box set, along with Angel the Casablanca Years.

Don't mention Billy Joel to me or Rod Stewart.

Green Man wrote:

I still buy both CDs and vinyl new and used.

Good God. You must go to a lot of car boot sales

Randall wrote:
Green Man wrote:

I still buy both CDs and vinyl new and used.

Good God. You must go to a lot of car boot sales

Nope, just independent record stores. Never ever been to a car boot or a yard sale.

Randall wrote:
Green Man wrote:

I still buy both CDs and vinyl new and used.

Good God. You must go to a lot of car boot sales

Saying that I don't even have a Spotify account.