Music Industry - Why so much cookie cutter music?

I know this was directed to Jeff, but IMO it can easily be attributed to one thing...MONEY. Record labels know what sells and repeatedly work to duplicate their efforts which often results in alot of music that sounds the same(ie. any of Cash Money/No Limit's productions). If people keep buying their crap of course these labels are going to keep releasing crap. These "artists" will fade away in time...guaranteed.

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"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Gandhi

 

A question I'd like to add -- for someone who's more of a music scholar -- Is this anything new?

The Beatles came out, followed by the Monkeys and other similar bands. In the 80's you had all of the "Mall Rats" with Debbie Gibson and others. Even Madonna had Cindy Lauper. It seems like every time someone comes up with a winning formula, copies follow right behind.

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Stay Cool...

 

The copies are never as good as the original. I am really disgusted by a lot of the "music" that is made today. Cash Money and No Limit are perfect examples of what is wrong with music today.

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Well, thanks for asking. It is really a loaded question to be very honest.

First off, Pimp, the basic premise of your statement is understandable but not really all that true. The public will buy whatever the industry decides to sell. Albums that never should have sold in big numbers have in the past based on them being heavily marketed.

Think of it as the "Pet Rock" phenomenon. Why would anyone buy a Pet Rock, yet millions did just that in the 70's because it was cool. If a record company can convince a kid (or a bunch of kids, really) something is cool to listen to, they'll buy it.

dc is also correct in his assertion that the music industry has always been this way. In some ways, it was far worse in the 50's and 60's when they literally altered the direction of the music industry on purpose by producing artists like Fabian and Frankie Avalon as a way to offset rock and roll music which was considered sort of an outlaw business. Fortunately, for us, the cat was already out of the bag with rock and there wasn't really anything they could do.

The bottom line with the music business is that it is, to quote the Talking Heads, the "same as it ever was." Some bands that labels think will sell don't and others they are convinced won't do. But, marketing is nearly always the key to success.

Up until 1995, really, the music industry waxed and waned in terms of its affair with bubblegum music. Generally speaking, there were always cheesy pop bands and signers out there. I mentioned some from the 60's, the 70's had Pat Boone and the Carpenters among others, the 80's had Menudo, New Kids on the Block, Debbie Gibson, etc and the 90's had its share as well.

The difference today is that the industry has become much more streamlined. In 1995, the last of the big independants, Atlantic and Island Records, sold out to big corporate giants. Today, there are only 6 record labels in America that control 99% of the distribution and release of material. For example, Polygram Records still exists but it is owned by Universal which also owns MCA, etc.

The problem is that all of these labels also own television companies, movie studios, radio networks and other large entertainment businesses like promotion and internet stuff. Because they are all in-house entities, the record industry, which has always been about money, is even moreso. Labels that used to be fairly independant when signing artists still can sign who they want but they better make money and, if they are even a slight risk, they won't get money to promote them which is usually a death sentence.

Artists, as usual, have no recourse. Unlike the movie industry in which actors and actresses are no longer under long-term movie contracts like they used to be in the 50's, artists are stuck with one company for a long period of time.

Take Prince as an example. He was locked into a contract with his former label when he left, but because the contract was so restrictive, he was forced to change his name because anything released or performed under the name Prince was owned, at least in part, by the previous label. Once he negotiated an out from his contract, he got his name back.

Unfortunately, they still own all his music until the copyrights run out. Copyrights expire 30 years after they are initiated and are usually relcaimed by the artist who wrote and/or performed them (there are two different copyrights - one for composition and one for performance) after expiration if he/she is still alive meaning he won't begin getting his catalog back until 2013.

One could argue that he shouldn't have signed a bad deal. Regrettably, if you want into the industry in the first place, you don't have much of a choice. Here's a <a href="http://www.arancidamoeba.com/mrr/problemwithmusic.html">great explaination</a> of that in real-world terms.

So, with the narrowing of the industry, there are fewer options for artists when it comes to reaching a large audience. If you want to play ball, you have to play with the industry. The internet is helping to change that to a certain degree but there is still the real problem of fragmentation of your audience. The advantage of one company handling everything is that you can focus on what you do best (presumably making music) and they can market you in a way that is impossible through the internet.

Some artist have been able to partially circumvent some of the business through their own labels (Annie Di Franco) or by marketing their music to other businesses for commercials and film (Moby), but you are still really stuck in the business if you want a larger market.

The result of this is a lessening of diversity. A good example of this is the practice of signing copy artists to your label. This is the practice of a label signing an artist very similar to another artist on another label who is already successful. We've seen this with Pearl Jam. They were on one label and were successful so other labels go their own PJ - Stone Temple Pilots, Silver Chair, etc. They weren't exactly the same, but they were close.

An even more ridiculous example is the current pop groups: Backstreet Boys, NSync, 98 Degrees and Brittany Spears, Christina Aguilera, Mandy Moore and Jessica Simpson. All of these are the result of one artist coming out and others being signed immediately to copy them.

Music is still very creative and there are tons of great bands and musicians out there. Many are just not heard because they aren't promoted enough to sell and the artist can't afford to continue playing for a living or they starve.

As the industry continues these practices (and they don't look to end anytime soon), the unfortunate result is an eventual watering down of the music industry because kids growing up today won't have the diversity of artists to be influenced by. When I was learning how to be a musician, I heard lots of great different stuff from all different areas of music but kids today don't really have that opportunity.

With all the high tech gadgets and entertainment, everyone is fighting for a piece of kids' entertainment dollar and the record industry is no different.

The other problem is that really talented artists who do manage to make it into the industry and have some moderate success won't last long and, even worse, some won't make it into the industry at all.

Most great bands take until their third album or so to make a great record. Most great musicians hit their prime in their 30's. Today, if you don't look good and sound hip and are well under 25, you are lucky if an industry rep even looks at you or listens to your material.

Not long ago, before their demise, Musician Magazine did a story on why labels don't sign anyone over 30 anymore. One former A&R rep from a record company said he would go out and see a great band on the weekend and when he came in for the rep meeting on Monday, he would tell everyone about it. The first thing the group would ask was, "What does the lead singer look like?" and "How young are they?"

No one cared if they could play or if they wrote good songs. None of that mattered. They are so preoccupied with getting a hit on the first album, they have no time for growth from an artist even though that growth and development might result in "The Wall" or "Sgt. Pepper's" or "What's Goin' On." Imagine how different the music world would be if the Beatles had been dropped after "Hard Days Night" and no Sgt. Pepper's, no Abbey Road and no Magical Mystery Tour had been made.

The point is that the music industry is entirely to blame for the problems in music but great music is still being made. It is just harder to find.

Eventually, someone will discover something that the music industry hadn't thought of and it will change how we hear music and get it and things will change. But, for now, we are stuck with it.

By the way, MTV was also one of the most horrible additions to the business because it took the emphasis from what we hear and put it on what we see (imagine the Eagles afros on MTV - NOT), but that is another story.

Sorry for the long-winded post. Hope this helps.

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I am very very sleepy.

 

To be honest, I think rap moves faster because most of those in rap and hip hop are unabashedly in it for the money. They have no problem doing whatever is necessary to bring in income. In fact, that is really part of the sub-culture of that particular part of the industry.

However, that really is not indicative of the R&B industry so much, though even Motown was a machine.

The pop world works that way as well. It's just that young angst-ridden rock artists have to be coaxed into selling themselves a little more than young rappers. Also, rap tends to lend itself to that. If the rhymes and beats are cool, the music will be cool. In rock and pop, if you aren't playing the style that is en vogue, you don't even get a listen. Because rap is essentially spoken word just done in time, it lends itself to a wider range of stylistic treatments on the musical side. It is harder to do that with rock songs that have been written in specific style and sung that way. The melody and phrasing go together wheras in rap, there isn't really a melody to gum up the works.

Despite some people's aversion to rap and hip hop, it can be argued that the most significant leaps forward in the world of music recently have come from hip hop, industrial and dance music. With the advent of digital technology making smaller studios capable of doing records, - especially those with minimal instrumentation like hip hop and dance - you are seeing more creativity flow from basements and spare bedrooms all over the world. I'm living proof of that with my studio.

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I am very very sleepy.

 

Ok everyone, first of all, im a 4.0 student and a nice person and all that. Now I am a huge metal fan, the louder, the more screaming the better. I like to think most of my music has a positive message. IT is not all suicidal and violent. Bands like NIN and Deftones have some great messages in there tunes. There is a song (digital bath) that to this day when i listen to it reminds me of my girlfriend. I get angry because this great music is misjudged and labeled as satanic. I am agnostic, but its not because of the music. The reason music gets popular is not because of its worth. Its because its a catchy tune that can sell along with the singers. John Lennon was asked once What is his favorite kind of music. The answer was simple. GOOD MUSIC. There is bits of good in everything, although most people dont hear anything but the same thing.

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"Kenny, The Basketball scientist, Whoo Hoo."
Charley B, on TNT

 

All good points. I will point out, however, that that line from John Lennon was not really his line. Actually, that was said by Miles Davis back in the late 50's or early 60's and he probably got it from a blues musician.

Lennon's bandmate, Paul McCartney, once said, "A good artist borrows. A great artist steals." Ironically, he stole that line from Picasso. I guess he was right!


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Me fail English? That's unpossible.