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Does music suck?
Musings on the state of the industry
BY BOB GULLA

A recent short piece in Rolling Stone got me thinking. It was a news item about a study conducted by economists at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. It found that, contrary to widely held industry belief, file-sharing is not the cause of declining CD sales. Researchers spent 18 months analyzing downloads and sales figures for 680 albums, and what they found contradicts the record industry’s claim that online piracy has led to a 15 percent decline in sales since 2000.

"No matter how we use our statistical models, we cannot find a connection between decreased sales and downloads," says Felix Oberholzer-Gee, co-author of the report and a professor at Harvard Business School. "If you want to understand why sales have changed as dramatically as they have, do not look to file-sharing."

Then, what do we look at? Why is the record industry in such precipitous decline? Why are terrific retail stores vaporizing? Why are bands tossing in the towel? Why are distributors going belly up?

Could it be, perhaps, that rock music simply sucks? Admit it. We’ve all thought about it at one time or another. Big-time rock music, mainly on major labels responsible for a significant portion of the sales in this country, doesn’t resonate, not in the least. (OK, so I’m generalizing—and in peril of sounding like old codger — but work with me here.) We’ve tried blaming the economy, we’ve tried blaming the file-sharers (many of whom are begrudgingly reaching into their pockets to pay government-sponsored fines right about now), and we’ve tried blaming the system, the industry — for their tactics, their prices, their archaic distribution system, and whatever else they do wrong.

But I haven’t heard anyone mention, at least not in a public, well-disseminated forum, that the reason for the slide is that the music these labels are putting out is the worst pop music ever released on a widespread basis.

Maybe that’s harsh. But let’s think about it. Bands are being groomed image-wise, assisted with songwriting and musicianship, and handed over to a commandeering producer in the hopes that they create a return on the label’s investment. These bands are expected to sell immediately and if they don’t — boom! — gone. There is no such thing as artist development, and it is taking a toll on popular music, eroding quality and chasing away worthy potential candidates. Career artists? Hah! Are you kidding? That is the 21st century’s first oxymoron.

Good music is definitely out there, but more and more it seems preordained to cult status. The musicians destined to succeed on their own terms want nothing to do with the mainstream, so their fate has already been sealed before they even record their first song. For that matter, writes eloquent critic Nick Hornby in a recent op-ed piece, "The squeaks and bleeps scattered all over the lovely songs on the last Wilco album sound less like experimentation, and more like a despairing audio suicide note."

Because sales have lagged, the consumer is left with a limited number of choices that the record companies perceive to be sure things, or that focus groups have told them are likely to succeed. But this milquetoast predictability is turning rock ’n’ roll into something tragically calculated, not to mention downright pathetic.

Radio is just as bad, coddling immediately accessible, but ultimately expendable tunes while throwing back unique, more challenging songs that could possibly have greater staying power. This philosophy breeds soundalikes, and bad ones at that. We’re trapped right now in this vicious circle, a gerbil wheel that spins so fast, recycles so many bands so quickly that there’s no means of escape.

Most of us are looking desperately for artists we can believe in, for the kind of music we can love and live with, not just for the moment but for a few years, or at least significantly longer than we’re getting these days. And we’re definitely not for some bullshit song on the radio that some programmers decided we should like, a song that’ll disappear from our radar almost as quickly as many of these bands get relieved of their contracts.

But just in case the record industry slaps a lawsuit on you for file-sharing, it might be fun to point the finger back at them. Tell them it’s their own damn fault for giving us such a cheap imitation of music in the first place and thinking we’ll be satisfied.

GO, CAT, GO! Our local love affair with rockabilly goes way back. Just ask Jack Smith. He’s the one who lit the match, while the rest of us have spent the last four decades fanning the flames to keep ’em stoked. And boy has it kept us stoked. The Rhode Island rockabilly scene has rocked the house more than just about any kind of pop music idiom over the years. Barring a few quiet periods along the way, the rockabillies have given folks in these parts a consistently good and greasy boot in the ass. Which is a roundabout way of saying there’s a worthwhile rockabilly outing at the Green Room on Saturday night. The Old Howards, the Young Ones, and newcomers the Demon Truckers will fire up the engines for a sharp show. Defunct for a year, guitarist Johnny Carlevale’s old band the Young Ones will reunite for the occasion with their original lineup. Their striking fusion of rockabilly, jump blues, country, and boogie-woogie sucks in and spews out more than 50 years of rock ’n’ roll tradition. Also on the bill is the new psychobilly dirt band the Demon Truckers, led by Mike Short (from Randy Pinto & the Galactic Boots). Carlevale and Dana Stewart front headliners the Old Howards. There’s a lot of promise here, as the band attempts to take a very traditional blend of fired-up rock into their own unique direction. So far, they’ve been up to the task.

The show is Friday, May 28 at the Green Room, 145 Clifford Street, Providence. The show starts at 10 p.m., with a $6 cover.

POP GOESTHE FESTIVAL. Organization for the New England Pop Music Festival is under way. The showcase of the region’s best pop music and musicians will be the first of what hopes to be an annual event, running for three juicy nights in September. Each evening six bands will perform full sets.

Coordinators from the Boston-based festival have shown good faith in reaching out to Rhode Island bands through this newspaper. Take advantage and show the big dogs in Beantown that we have some pretty good bands south on 95 as well. They are accepting applications through June 18. Go to www.nepop.com for more information.

Wandering Eye. Mr. Gutter’s Army of One (Alec K. Redfearn in a shabby disguise as a one-man band) returns from self-imposed retirement tonight (Thursday, the 27th) upstairs at AS220. Joining him will be Baltimore’s own the Big Huge and Joel Thibodeau.

Have you been to Tazza to check out their lively music programs? On Friday, Diane Blue & the Explorers will take the stage around 10 p.m. Good food, good vibes, and a good night at the relatively new Westminster Street hot spot.

Also, we wanted to extend a special shout-out and a final round of applause to the go-girls in Betty Finn, who will play their farewell gig on Saturday night at the Green Room. Also on the bill are Radio Wallpaper, Randy Pinto’s bunch, and Freight Train. Ladies, we hardly knew ye.

If you have some music news, please lemme know! Big.daddy1@cox.net.


Issue Date: May 28 - June 3, 2004
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