Viv Campbell slams Gibson

[yard dawg]

my 2 cents. It all hasnt been done. The trend I see is really bad A&R people. The A&R position has been boxed in. They wont allow anyone over the age of 28 for the most part. Most music consumers are older anyway. The young uns tend to spend their extra cash on video games. They'll just illegally download the music they want right??

Another trend I see is the rich kid musician. These are kids who have really well off parents and form bands with all the best gear but absolutely no real life experience to draw inspiration from. How many great artists had perfect suburbian lives?

Another trend is the phony manufactured performer. Country music is full of these tools. It shows and people are turned off by it. Cookie cutter artists are everywhere. This is what killed the 80s rock scene. Too many cookie cutter hair bands. It gets old fast.

Another trend that I see killing metal is the cookie monster vocals. This stuff is sooooooo old. Ok we get it you are mad at the world and satan is your hero. Wooo hooo. Now write a decent song.

Another trend is the indie scene now has ways to get their work out to the masses. Myspace has given many bands access to the mainstream. Most of these myspace indie bands have their music available on the myspace. Why would people pay the high prices for a cd with one decent song when they can get it for a buck on itunes and other good tunes free from myspace indie artists.

Just my 2 cents but its actually not worth much with inflation these days.

[Endrik]

Timbaland has been around for a while... nothing new... it's just that he is better at his craft than Jeff Beck is at guitar playing... It amazes me how pretty much everything he does has such a huge success... and he has done a lot of stuff... I dunno, somehow he knows exactly what the masses want to hear... and he delivers like a son of a bitch... jeez... even a fucking Eurovision contestant hired Timbaland and his team... it was an ugly sight but it won
Can't really say anything bad about him... it's just that I don't speak the same language as he does... most of the time his doesn't really do much for me... a lot of it sounds lifeless so to speak... it's something I don't like in music... but then again there's some stuff I like a lot

[Endrik]

next trend will be some old music style revisted... and after that another one... ad nauseum

[Rupe]

I just think the record companies don't have enough balls to sign someone different.

I think that's a big part of it as well. The digital age has absolutely crushed the recording industry as we have known it. The typical MO of most upper management in corporate America is to get quick returns on "safe" endeavors...in essence they want a series small "wins" in order to pump up their resumes and spin that experience into a new opportunity where the cycle begins again. The net result are "penny smart, pound foolish" decisions that perpetuate mediocrity across the boards in almost all industries. Long term goals for the better health of a company or industry are a thing of the past as the decision makers don't anticipate being around to reap those rewards...they want to milk it quickly for all its worth and then let someone else deal with the problems later.

What this has done to the music industry led to a "flavor of the day" type environment. Record companies seem more interested in simply getting a hit single or a hit album from an artist and then finding the next one to the same with...in essence disposable artists. There is no one left looking for somebody who is truly breaking new ground (if you really think its all been done before you need to wake up...that's an attitude steeped in ignorance). It's too "risky" to take a chance on developing an artist these days...it might smudge some exec's resume and we can't have that.

What is cool is the ease of creating and producing music independently these days. There is a lot of cool music being made, we just have to search for it with a bit more diligence...music corporations aren't about to give it to us.

[Bengal]

Some great thoughts here. I agree with most of it.

But who the hell is Timbaland? Is it a group or a guy? I have never heard of them/him.

Remember, artists now days don't make shit off album sales. Most of their revenue comes from ticket sales and the rest from merch sales.

I wonder if some of these newer artists would put out different albums if they were getting a percentage of those albums that sold? Makes me wonder.

And now record companies are trying to push in on the touring money bands make. Pretty soon, the artst won't make shit off of either.

[Endrik]

Timbaland is a producer and a songwriter.... worked with everybody... Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Pussycat Dolls, Beyonce, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit etc. etc. there's a lot more and they are all huge. He also has his own solo stuff going on.

Done some cool stuff too with Bjork, Chris Cornell and some others.

Can't forgive him what he did to Nelly Furtado... that chick had some pretty cool and unique thing going on until Timbaland came and started making shit like "Maneater"

[Bengal]

So the next "revolution" is going to come by way of a producer? Interesting thought.

Did he get his name from his favorite brand of boot?

[VitaminG]

next trend will be some old music style revisted... and after that another one... ad nauseum

that's pretty much how it's been working that last few years. We've had the 60s retro thing, the 70s retro thing, the Glam retro thing, the dirty electric blues thing, the New Romantics retro thing. Bands like Jet, Wolfmother, The Vines, The Darkness, Airbourne, The Killers, Scissor Sisters, Oasis, Marilyn Manson, Placebo, Pulp, have all been very successful recycling musical styles. Whether you like them or not is another thing, but it seems plenty of people do. They feed off people's nostalgia & desire to hear they music they loved when they were young again. It's no doubt one reason why those "Best of the 70s", "of the 80s"-type compilation albums keep getting repackaged & re-released.

Hell, just look at all the old bands (Ratt, Poison, Motley Crue, Slaughter, Winger, Twisted Sister, etc) who are getting their shit back together to try and capitilise on the renewed interest in 80s hard rock!

[guitarsjb]

Hell, just look at all the old bands (Ratt, Poison, Motley Crue, Slaughter, Winger, Twisted Sister, etc) who are getting their shit back together to try and capitilise on the renewed interest in 80s hard rock!

Yep, Rocklahoma is next weekend here. Nothing but 80's bands.

[roodyrocker]

Yep, Rocklahoma is next weekend here. Nothing but 80's bands.

What, no Grungeahoma? Didn't think so

[Bengal]

What, no Grungeahoma? Didn't think so

ZING! Good one.

I tried to convince my wife to go to Rocklahoma, Triumph is playing this year. But camping is not her thing. It's not my thing either. So maybe it's for the best.

[Larz]

True...but did you see that picture of him, with Viv above? Geezus..
he looks like he's 70! Phil needs some sun, and a blood transfusion!

That's funny, I had the exact same thought at Phil's picture. It's like, give the guy some spray on tan or something.

Maybe Phil wants to take the Lep goth now.

[Larz]

Regarding the future of music, I think with Warrant's "Heaven" being used in that new AT&T commercial, we may be in for a resurgence of the power ballad.

[Gartron]

What, no Grungeahoma? Didn't think so

give it time!!!..one of the most interesting theories I read about trends in pop culture is that every decade goes back 20 years for inspiration.

for eg in the 70's the 50's were cool, 80's it was the 60's, 90's was the 70's and at the moment 00 = the 80's.

I'll bet you'll see some type of Grungeahoma within the next 10 years, just unfortunatley it will be full of also rans like Candlebox.

[Bryan]

Regarding the future of music, I think with Warrant's "Heaven" being used in that new AT&T commercial, we may be in for a resurgence of the power ballad.

Resurgence? You mean power ballads went away?