Rock is Dead

[Spooniest]

...Or, put another way, nobody in their right mind these days would sign a Rock act.

Rock and Roll isn't a safe thing. It's dangerous, nasty, aggressive, loud, narcissistic, and often concerns itself with the darker corners of the human psyche. To really cultivate this kind of persona, a person has to be more than a little crazy.

At some point or another, the gatekeepers of the music industry realized that doing business with crazy people was like as not to lose them copious amounts of money, so, for better or worse, musicians are required to have a much more cleaned up act these days, or risk toiling in obscurity forever. Put bluntly, it doesn't matter how good your songs are if you are too intoxicated to perform them properly.

Do you feel this is a good change? Do you think today's Rock acts compare favorably with those of days gone by?

What say you, o wise EoFF?

[Freya]

No. It's not dead.

Reason: Holy crap that Nothing More, Hell Yeah, Volbeat and Five Finger Death Punch Concert I went to a monthish ago was smurfing awesome. So many people. It was amazing and packed.

Rock is very much alive and very lucrative still. And at least at that show, it wasn't just drunk rockers. Heck they brought Kids up on the stage for Volbeat! KIDS.

I enjoy modern rock way more than classic. I enjoy both but I "rock out" harder with newer stuff. Rock acts aren't not being signed. They are being signed right and left they just aren't in the mainstream pop anymore because they are rocking harder and can't be pushed into that anymore.

[Pheesh]

Who cares about who will sign you? Most of my favourite bands wrote, recorded and produced most of my favourite albums in simple home studios or something much like it, and they're at just as good a quality as what you will find in 90% of albums these days. The only thing that's dead is the reliance on recording companies offering you $100,000 grants to get your album recorded because there is only a select group of people who know how to mix an album. The fact of the matter is that you can emulate most recorded rock sounds with a $500 sound card, a computer, a $250 copy of superior drummer and a guitar/bass fx processor. With that comes a smarter, more conservative type of musician, one that doesn't have seemingly endless streams of money (that doesn't actually belong to them) to spend on indulgences.

It's not enough to be able to simply play an instrument these days unless you're content to be in a cover band. At the very least you should look into basic mixing and mastering techniques, understand how other upcoming bands in the rock/metal/indie etc. world have their business models set up, and more than likely have a plan for reinvesting any money or success you do achieve in music. At that mid-tier levele a lot of musicians these days will make themselves available for group or one on one lessons, and most bands have meet and greets or other VIP packages for all their shows. They also rely on merch and touring more than ever for their band related income, because you have to be realistic about album piracy or other services like spotify which simply shaft musicians unless you're uber-popular.

So yeah, if you can do all that while living the sex, drugs and rock and roll life-style then by all means go for it, but there's a reason why even the heaviest bands I listen to these days act mostly like computer geeks or tech nerds when they're not on stage.

As for whether it's a good thing, yes and no. It's a shame that gone are the days where a rock band could be discovered, signed and live off their music without being forced to almost live pay-cheque to pay-cheque (for want of a better phrase), but I only feel that way because the music I listen to is no longer what gets signed to large record deals. If you're a DJ in todays world then there has never been a better time for you to be discovered and make your fortune playing music, just like in the 90's if you were in a grunge band, the 80's if you were a weirdo with padded shoulders and a synth, the 70's if you played disco, and the 60's if you played rock. What is popular at the time dictates how other genres are forced to evolve and adapt to survive, but there's always going to be at least someone who likes your music. If you're lucky that someone is actually 100,000 someones and you're able to tour just enough to keep yourself afloat or comfortable, if you're unlucky or you just plain suck then that someone is your Mum.

[Shorty]

I don't think it's accurate to say that labels won't sign rock singers anymore because of those qualities. People who sing pop and mainstream music deal with the same levels of narcissism and outlandish behavior associated with those considered rock stars, and I truly believe that this is simply the kind of lifestyle that comes as a consequence of being famous and having access to really anything you could wish for within your grasp.

On the flipside, being a rockstar maniac in the image of bands like Guns n Roses, KISS and Poison and all of that I think is certainly done. I wouldn't say that this is because of the labels, either; I just don't think that many bands who are not Gwar care to engage in those sorts of antics anymore. Sure, there are bands who do, but it's not as popular. Rock has evolved.

And also, if rock is dead, it's because of the lack of fans, not the record labels.

[Shiny]

It's not dead but it's definitely no longer the mainstream like it was at the height of Nirvana.

Thinking more about was pure rock n roll really ever the mainstream? Maybe in the 80s?

Rock festivals like rock am ring are still going strong. I think it's still very much alive and well but definitely overpowered by auto tune hip hop or techno pop music. The radio and music television isn't very good at representing rock anymore.

[chionos]

It's not dead but it's definitely no longer the mainstream like it was at the height of Nirvana.

Thinking more about was pure rock n roll really ever the mainstream? Maybe in the 80s?

Rock festivals like rock am ring are still going strong. I think it's still very much alive and well but definitely overpowered by auto tune hip hop or techno pop music. The radio and music television isn't very good at representing rock anymore.

80's and early 90's maybe? If that. Basically at the height of MTV playing music videos, by a stretch. As you said, rock still exists, it just doesn't get radio play like it used to, and it doesn't have much of a television presence, but who cares, there's a million ways to find good music these days. The only local radio station that played rock where I live went under recently after decades on the air.

Now, comparing modern acts to the heights of rock, perhaps I shouldn't comment, b/c I'm kind of biased. I can say that though I'm not a big fan of modern rock in general (this is in part b/c my tastes have changed a bit), there are plenty of bands proving every day that rock is not dead. It may not be the rock that I prefer or w/e but it definitely exists and there are rockstars making trouttons of money. I think the attitude of rockstars has changed. You have huge bands like Foo Fighters who are as huge as they've ever been, but you don't think of them as rockstars because they're not on drugs, no rumors of in-fighting, they don't insight nonsense. I think some bands have proven that you can make good music without all the other bulltrout.

And that's not even to mention all the incredible indie rock bands, which have changed quite a bit about how "the scene" works.

[The Man]

People have been proclaiming the death of rock 'n' roll for more than fifty years, but it continues to be made to this day. It may wax and wane in popularity, but I severely doubt it will ever go away. If anything is going to die, it's the traditional music industry. We're already seeing the beginning of that collapse with the rise of services like Spotify and Pandora and the like.

[Rocket Edge]

Rock seems to be doing great here where I am at the moment. What about Hip-hop out in America? Seems like it's been going through a severe lull over the last number of years.

[Freya]

I think a lot has to do more with how we receive music now. Like you don't have to listen to your main radio station for your town to get your music. So the radio stations don't have to cater as much to everyone and you have more choice in the stations you do want to listen to. XM radio really changed the game. Then you have your internet radio like pandora or even streamings services like spotify or even youtube from your phone, in your car. Like what The_Man touched on.

It's not that mainstream isn't playing it, it's that things aren't all clumped together anymore.

[Del Murder]

Dear gods I thought The Rock had died. I gasped.

[Shauna]

Dear gods I thought The Rock had died. I gasped.

I am glad I'm not the only one. xD

[Newmani]

I can't really say the genre is dead, and it's not because of half of them being drugged out of their minds. If it was for that reason there wouldn't be a rapper alive, because those guys get drugged out too, and do all kinds of crap that could land them bad publicity (and also can't actually sing, but that's because rap is so devoid of melody it doesn't even count as music to me.) People love their guitar riffs, and with music synthesizers and soundfonts I say rock 'n roll is more common than ever, though sometimes sans lyrics.

What I really want is for rap to die. It's almost 2015; it's time for techno to take over! If we can't have replicants or floating cars can't we at least have that?

[Spooniest]

It's almost 2015; it's time for techno to take over! If we can't have replicants or floating cars can't we at least have that?

For you, Newmani.

[Night Fury]

...Or, put another way, nobody in their right mind these days would sign a Rock act.

Rock and Roll isn't a safe thing. It's dangerous, nasty, aggressive, loud, narcissistic, and often concerns itself with the darker corners of the human psyche. To really cultivate this kind of persona, a person has to be more than a little crazy.

I think that persona is not exclusive to rock music. There are many people in pop, rap, hip hop, dance.. etc etc like this. And there are people in all genres of music struggling to become a 'signed act'. The music industry has changed over the last 10 years. Rock isn't dead at all.

[Old Manus]

Rock and Roll isn't a safe thing. It's dangerous, nasty, aggressive, loud, narcissistic, and often concerns itself with the darker corners of the human psyche. To really cultivate this kind of persona, a person has to be more than a little crazy.

At some point or another, the gatekeepers of the music industry realized that doing business with crazy people was like as not to lose them copious amounts of money, so, for better or worse, musicians are required to have a much more cleaned up act these days, or risk toiling in obscurity forever. Put bluntly, it doesn't matter how good your songs are if you are too intoxicated to perform them properly.

So who didn't sign your band bro