"Ripped" is a good book. Perhaps more controversial but also interesting is Norman Lebrecht's "The
Life and Death of Classical Music."
It can be argued that MTV spelled the end of popular music long before the CD business model
collapsed. When music became more about visuals than notes and phrases, spectacle over art, the
quality of tunes started to decline. It's easier to recycle some old kind of music, badly, and use
it as background for a flashy visual than it is to write a great song and play it beautifully. I've
always detested music videos and avoid big-arena live shows because the lights and video are of zero
interest to me and distract from the music (which can't be heard when assaulting you at jet-airplane
SPL's). If I want a movie, I'll go to the movies. If I watch TV, I want dialog and a story, not
background music with flashy jumpy video effects. Music is a separate art and should be experienced
by listening, intently.
One man's opinions, etc ...
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rob DeLand" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2011 8:47 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Interesting review of seemingly interesting book
> Another book to consider on this thread is Greg Kot's "Ripped: How the Wired
> Generation Revolutionized Music" (http://www.gregkot.com/ripped.html) which
> discusses the changes in the music industry over the pastcouple of decades.
> Kot is a music critic for the Chicago Tribune. I've only finished the 1st
> chapter, but he points out how the consolidation of the music labels and the
> radio stations (Clear Channel) after deregulation have caused a corporate
> apathy towards developing artists and more focus on selling product. That
> may not be new, but the attitude is different now. It affects what gets
> released and it pushes for more of the same since that's what sells.
> There's no patience any more for helping an artist find his voice - Greg
> argues for instance that Bruce Springsteen would have been dropped under
> today's mentality because his first 2 LPs were not hits. It's not pretty!
>
> On the other hand, Greg's weekly radio show Sound Opinions (
> http://www.soundopinions.org/audio.html) highlights what is RIGHT about
> music, and he hosts a free online archive of complete past shows going back
> to 2005. I really enjoy his thoughts and have learned a lot about who's
> doing what these days.
>
> -Rob
>
> On Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 11:35 PM, Roger Kulp <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> In the last couple of days,I have seen a couple of people that only verify
>> what this article is talking about.On Sunday,while at the flea
>> market,where,for $15 each,I scored two nice early solid state Marantz
>> tuners,that are going on eBay,I saw this kid who couldn't have been any more
>> than ten,listening to Chubby Checker,on a Lloyd's transistor radio ,in a
>> leather case,that must have been from the late 50s,or early 60s itself.
>>
>> Just like Gramma and Grampa did.
>>
>> Today,sitting across from me on the bus,were these two guys,who were
>> obviously about seventeen.One had on one of those replica 1972 Rolling
>> Stones tour t-shirts, the other a psychedelic day-glo one,with a marijuana
>> leaf.They spent the whole time talking about "smokin' lids","trippin' on
>> shrooms",and getting caught by "the man".All that was missing was the love
>> beads,and the David Cassidy hair.
>>
>> Maybe there is some sort of rip in the timeline that we don't know about.
>>
>> Roger
>>
>
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