Who is pulling the strings in pop music?

[MorayM]

MorayM Says it's the keyboardists themselves who are responsible for the current state of degradation in pop music. So keyboardists saw the opportunity and said.. to heck with musicality, get me the money! Does this sound closer to the truth of my head scratching question?

 

 

 

To an extent, yes! Unfortunately the really big pop bucks is dictated to the producers by the Simon Cowells of this world. That's not to say that these producers aren't writing hugely complex music to show off their amazing chops, it's just that they don't get much money from them. Case in point is one of the guys on the writing team for things like this slab of platinum-selling pop:

 

[video:youtube]

 

Who in his spare time makes frankly mind-blowing prog rock like this:

 

[video:youtube]

[synthizen2]

My $0.02 on this...

 

For such a guitar dominated genre, rock/pop or rock'n'roll ironically began in '53-'54 as a largely piano dominated form of music... Fats Domino, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis. But then Elvis and Chuck Berry showed up in '55, and it hasn't been the same since. The Beatles and the Stones about a decade later cemented that into place, and here we still are. Although, both of those bands had plenty of keyboard parts in the music... and even the early Beatles at Shea Stadium had a Hohner Pianet on the stage for John or Paul to occasionally walk up to and plunk a note or three on... But to a large extent, since that time, being seen on stage with a dedicated keyboard player was not considered hip.

 

Three critical and important keyboardists dared to change all that... Starting with Rod Argent of the Zombies, then Ray Manzarek of the Doors, and finally Keith Emerson of Nice/ELP... those 3 guys went ahead and took the risks and the challenge, and actually cut a niche for us guys in the rock/pop world.

 

Throughout the next 40/50 years, there have been movements/subcultures that tried their damned best to eradicate the keyboard from the stage of rock/pop... starting first with the heavy metal movement of early 70s, then with the punk movement of late 70s, then the hair-metal movement of mid-late 80s, then the grunge scene of early-mid 90s. Those subcultures were all about laying down the idea that this type of music is all about the guitar player and his ego. All else need not apply.

 

Yet, here we all still stand. No matter how hard they try, society always gravitates back to those classic piano, organ, and synth tones that add the spice and flavor to the general bland sonic formula. There will always be some room/space for keyboardists in rock/pop.

 

[I-missRichardTee]

Vanilla Fudge's Mark Stein, The Rascals Felix, RIck Wakeman, Jon Lord, Stevie Wonder, Stevie Winwood, Billy Preston. Howard Jones

Billy Joel, Barry Manilow,

I have never made a distinction, at least consciously ( till today ) between keyboard pop and guitar based pop.

Thanks

[Sven Golly]

...RIck Wakeman, Jon Lord... keyboard pop

 

Seriously?

[timwat]

So, WHO is dictating the music of today, the folks or someone else?

 

This guy:

 

http://billboard.biz/bbbiz/photos/stylus//1539519-TomPoleman.jpg

[I-missRichardTee]

...RIck Wakeman, Jon Lord... keyboard pop

 

Seriously?

 

When I was coming up, I do not recall ten million genre's ( and I do not recall the other French term venue either )

I recall, broadly speaking, "classical" , Country music, Jazz, Blues, Latin, etc.. you get the idea... it was much less complicated.

Actually this issue of endlessly proliferating genres, may be part of my original inquiry... namely "Who comes up with all these so called genre's" - record companies?

I have no idea how many genre's there are at present. Anyone hazard a guess?

So to me Rick and Lord are just great players who I heard on the radio.. and making it to the radio, is in a sense Pop! I suppose this is laughable to some; but am I the only one who views this unfolding "evolution" within the music biz , as a bit odd?

Sven, I like you because you are not a bull****er, you tell it like it is.

I would assume you might sense this jive bs in the music biz... heck, I am sure you do.

[timwat]

So, WHO is dictating the music of today, the folks or someone else?

 

This guy:

 

http://billboard.biz/bbbiz/photos/stylus//1539519-TomPoleman.jpg

 

By the way, I'm dead serious. While he's not solely responsible for everything we listen to, Tom Poleman does happen to be the National Director of Programming for Clear Channel. That's a pretty powerful influence on what gets programmed as popular music on terrestrial radio.

[I-missRichardTee]

timwat

What is Mr Polemans background, past experience? Is he a musician?

Are you Ok with him having this much control over what we are inundated with?

I am not.

I guess this thread is a chance for me to think out loud about something I have not thought deeply about.

The whole process of talent and popularity.

I accept that there is easily digestible music for the average listener.. I have no beef with Country music, or as Mr Nathan reminded me, country western music.

Folk music. Simpler music, for common tastes... that's a recipe for popular music.

The ability to be popular while also being, for lack of a better term, very musical; is a high accomplishment, reserved for someone like Stevie Wonder. Even Stevie is not as popular as name someone who is.

But popular, seldom endures, like eating junk food, versus a healthy diet.

 

I guess I am thinking about the responsibility of powerful people in charge of music on the airwaves, to not just think about profits.

I guess that is being too idealistic. It's his money, his company, he has the right to do what he wants with it.

Can people like us, exert pressure on powerful people to be more musical, not just profit minded?

 

Is it our responsibility to exert this kind of pressure, assuming it is even possible to have any affect whatsoever on the minds of the wealthy in this world?

[synthizen2]

Can people like us, exert pressure on powerful people to be more musical, not just profit minded?

 

Is it our responsibility to exert this kind of pressure, assuming it is even possible to have any affect whatsoever on the minds of the wealthy in this world?

 

[big philosophy]

 

Ultimately, the answer to these questions is a big, fat, unapologetic NO. I give that answer with some empathy toward the intelligent beings of this world.

 

Music is a form of art that brings comfort to the sentient human. Because of that, it is also a form of art that can be turned into a commodity and sold. The ultimate game of life is the achievement of sentient comfort for the human soul. Not the accumulation of money. The kicker (the Dean Martin "pizza pie in the face" so-to-speak) is that money is the easiest and most "lubricated" way to achieve sentient comfort, because it's a form of exchange that can buy sentient comfort without hassle. Every human can and will sell out, eventually. Every human has his price. Every ethical stance or moral position that a human being can muster up, can ultimately be bought out for the right amount of money.

 

In this game, the average un-moneyed, un-inherited, unprotected being has to make a compromise. You find the right balance between things that make you comfortable - like good music with good substance - and the rest of your life in which real value (a house to live in, being with people you get along with, enough money to live on, etc.) can also be attained without paying a huge sacrificial price for it.

 

So the human comedy goes.

 

Play the music you play, listen to the music you like, be with friends you get along with. Go bowling. Life is too short for anything else.

 

[/big philosophy]

 

http://television.mxdwn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/BigLebowski_145Pyxurz.jpg

 

[Joe Muscara]

Can people like us, exert pressure on powerful people to be more musical, not just profit minded?

 

Is it our responsibility to exert this kind of pressure, assuming it is even possible to have any affect whatsoever on the minds of the wealthy in this world?

 

[big philosophy]

Great post.

 

My general thought is along the lines of that each person is on their own path. While you may be able to influence or enlighten them, they will only change when they are ready. If someone likes what you consider to be crap music, why would that bother you so long as they think they are happy? Besides, someone may feel the same way about your music as well.

[David Emm]

Marketing and the death of radio as more than a minor medium for accessing music. Clear Channel dictates the sound of radio in most major markets and its programmed by a mundane lot who can't see it as a potential *entertainment* medium that drew the ad numbers because the *programs* stood out *creatively*. "They" took the personality out of it from every angle. Music has been so badly and narrowly labeled that as a populist thing, its a zombie car wreck. The technology has allowed people to have revenge on the bad old record companies by stealing at a high level, which in turn, corrodes the motivation to innovate on the part of the artist. Hence, Kanye and other overly-hyped knuckleheads. The Net gives you major access to all styles, but of course, people will inevitably stick to just their faves or whatever they thought to be the cool while they were in high school. Frank Zappa once said that we'd come to a halt due to either paperwork or Nostalgia, where we kept grabbing for the Next Big Thing, thereby trapping ourselves in limbo. Welcome to Limbo... except where you choose to step out of it on a personal basis when you tackle a new synth or style. As a national/global thing, though, see 'Limbo.'

 

Therefore, its a trick question. The strings themselves have been tangled in ways that are a detriment to every section thereof. A spider would laugh and say "You call THAT a web?? It looks like a junction box in India!" Its a collective shame. Zombie Car Wreck. Hey, there's a good name for a 50s band. Sure it is.

[I-missRichardTee]

Can people like us, exert pressure on powerful people to be more musical, not just profit minded?

 

Is it our responsibility to exert this kind of pressure, assuming it is even possible to have any affect whatsoever on the minds of the wealthy in this world?

 

[big philosophy]

Great post.

 

My general thought is along the lines of that each person is on their own path. While you may be able to influence or enlighten them, they will only change when they are ready. If someone likes what you consider to be crap music, why would that bother you so long as they think they are happy? Besides, someone may feel the same way about your music as well.

 

Thank you Joe. I, in no way, believe that anyone can lift the level of someone's "path". For one thing, I can barely lift my own!

I was not suggesting that.

I was thinking about large movements ( apparently whose time has NOT come ) in USA such as civil rights, the million man march, the dialogue on climate change etc. I am generally not much involved in these movements; not proud of that, just telling it as it is.

I guess musicians are a small segment of the culture, and when that segment is fed up ( angry enough ) sufficiently; or as Victor Hugo put it , ' nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come '; when that day arrives, change will occur.

I am using this post to help spark that idea. The idea that just like global warming [now climate change], just like environmental awareness;

the AWARENESS of MUSIC and it's either debasing or enhancing effects, cannot be ignored any longer.

If people want to dance their simple dances, that's a happy thing for me, not debasing.. but Music has incredible power to affect our consciousness... and just like we are not permitted to cuss much in certain movies or TV stations, we ought not put up with giants like Clear channel to ignore their responsibility to not allow the bar to drop TOO low.

There is a difference between simple music and debased music.

If not US, who then? Apologize for grammar.

 

[synthizen2]

OP... I am not Joe... but if you'll allow me to interject one more time with regard to this subject...

 

Clear Channel, nor any other corporate behemoth involved in the entertainment industry, has no "responsibility" for anything other than their financial bottom line. To people like you, me, Joe, and others on this forum, this may seem pernicious and debased activity. But it only seems that way to us.

 

Fact is, Clear Channel appeals to a mass demographic that has no real opinions or taste about music in the big picture... just people who want to put something on the radio as background ambience, to work by, to wash dishes by, to do yard work by. In our current economic environment, most of these people are too busy "trying to dig insects out of their hides" to care about any of this musical taste stuff. They're too busy trying to make a meager buck to survive, and have no time to slow down and "smell the roses." Clear Channel completely realizes this, and bases their economic model on it. It works.

 

We grew up in a different time, in the 60s and 70s, when our families had enough economic equity to be able to care about things that appeal to our psychological senses. ENTERTAINMENT is not a necessity to human life, it is only a desire. Granted, you probably need to have some of it in your life to have some semblance of sanity... But it is not a physical necessity like food and shelter. Today's young population is mostly too "cornered" in their economic concerns to be able to breathe freely enough to understand any of this. And these people outnumber us by very large margins. The planet is now 7 billion and growing. In a couple decades, you and I will be outta here.

 

I hate to be the pessimist, but sometimes you have to see things for the way they are to thrive in the current environment. Thriving means material goods and material necessities. Entertainment is something the human psychology wants, but human psychology is not something you can touch, smell, see, feel, or hear. It is not matter. It is electrical impulses in the brain... nuerons moving about. No one really knows why human consciousness exists or how it got here. We might as well be robots going about our business, just like ant colonies. Like Einstein once said, "Human consciousness is an illusion... BUT ONE HELL of an illusion."

 

One simple way to look at the current malaise (for someone my age, anyway) is that, while the more sophisticated and graceful humans like us will fade away in favor of the more crude and "bug-like" humans in the future (listening to 24/7 debased rap, pointless and repetitive EDM, nihilistic death metal...), you and I won't be around to have to survive it. I feel real bad for the majority of humanity that will have to survive the future. Seems kinda selfish of me, and a very "Mad Max"-like prediction, doesn't it? But these thoughts do help to save my sanity.

[synthizen2]

And, lastly...

 

So, WHO is dictating the music of today, the folks or someone else?

 

This guy:

 

http://billboard.biz/bbbiz/photos/stylus//1539519-TomPoleman.jpg

 

Yup. Two ways to look at this picture...

 

1. "Seems like a happy, nice guy to me. Look at that smile. I'd probably like to have a beer with him."

 

OR....

 

2. "Look at that evil, pernicious grin on his face. Evil capitalist whore debasing our musical environment for profit..."

 

Only YOU can decide which is the truth, for you.

 

[timwat]

I've never met Tom Poleman. But I've worked in executive leadership in private sector for over 25 years. Seldom have I run across bona fide "evil capitalist whores". Mostly, people are complex creatures trying the best they can to balance all the competing forces in their complicated, time-starved lives.

 

I bet Tom Poleman is like that.

 

I'm willing to bet he actually loves music, really enjoys what the core of what he does, and believes in his own particular perspective on music. He probably knows more about music than musicians on a forum might give him credit for.

 

He also has the pressure of having to perform and post numbers in a cutthroat for-profit corporate environment. And if he drops the ball a few times, there are 100's of men and women itching to take his place.

 

You and me? I figure the best measure of my life is how many people in my immediate sphere of influence that I've been able to make their lives better. That eats up most of my time.

 

It doesn't leave me a lot of time to influence Tom Poleman.

[Bottom End]

There is something called "The Evil Man Theory of Failure", where all the blame for something not working out they way a group would like it to is attributed to an evil man who has all the power and acts solely to thwart the desires of that group.

 

Real life is more complex. If you want to influence the tastemakers, forget it, you can only try to influence the buying publice by offering something worth buying in lieu of what the tastemakers are selling. Good luck again.

 

You can only make good music, buy good music, listen to good music, and expose your friends to good music, and avoid bad music and do not purchase bad music, or support purveyors of bad music. Today is Record store Day, and though I wasn't able to get into town today, I will stop by my local record store and buy some really good music, thank them for carrying good music, and give them my future business so they can continue to do so.

[I-missRichardTee]

I never for a moment thought Poleman was an evil man. I like to think I see more than one side to an issue. I studied cognitive therapy which teaches the fallacy of extremes in thinking and feeling

Somewhere in this thread I said I can barely take care of my own issues.. I am not a spoiled brat complaining about my metaphorical parents.

I am FOR success in big industry. I do not like to see any business fail and I wish Clear Channel all the best.... however

I Have to go to work. and this is To be continued ;-)

[Brettymike]

There is something called "The Evil Man Theory of Failure", where all the blame for something not working out they way a group would like it to is attributed to an evil man who has all the power and acts solely to thwart the desires of that group.

 

Real life is more complex. If you want to influence the tastemakers, forget it, you can only try to influence the buying publice by offering something worth buying in lieu of what the tastemakers are selling. Good luck again.

 

You can only make good music, buy good music, listen to good music, and expose your friends to good music, and avoid bad music and do not purchase bad music, or support purveyors of bad music. Today is Record store Day, and though I wasn't able to get into town today, I will stop by my local record store and buy some really good music, thank them for carrying good music, and give them my future business so they can continue to do so.

 

"The Hand that Rocks the Cradle Rules the World" , study the "13 Families" and much will fall into place.

 

Brett

[Theo Verelst]

A lot of contemporary music has ties with, come from, or tries to dissociate from The Movement, isn't it. I mean the opportunist bunch who unhindered by scruples aspire to power and self realization of their "own" clan, an experiment that might have been good for some of them and their boys and girls, but not for others, and maybe in the long run also not for their own...

 

Of course there are other sides to the coin, too. What can musicians do ? Have some taste, make good music, don't let a bunch of deluded dumb*sses rule the charts anymore, and probably more things than that.

 

T.

 

[J. Dan]

Who is pulling the strings in pop music?

 

The Balinese Nose Flute Union

 

 

 

...you can only pick 4!

[Joe Muscara]

Great posts, timwat and Bottom End. I agree completely.

 

Another way to say it and see it is that it's not the workers, it's the system. If any of you have studied the teachings of W. Edwards Deming, you'll know what I mean.

[I-missRichardTee]

Great posts, timwat and Bottom End. I agree completely.

 

Another way to say it and see it is that it's not the workers, it's the system. If any of you have studied the teachings of W. Edwards Deming, you'll know what I mean.

 

Joe, does Mr Deming have a seminal work, that perhaps can be Kindled?

Any way I want to learn more about the System itself. I have been inwardly grumbling ( ineffective anyone? ) about something I did not understand since I started in this biz.

Why were there not more outlets for better music? I know the answer.. many artists are too far away from the median level of comprehension of Mr Joe average

Still something always felt manipulated... the Billboard charts, me and John Tropea my old compadre used to follow our band leaders potential hit suggestions,- learn them, play them, and often they became hits

Fire and Rain, Sweet Caroline, re two that come to mind.

Anyway, I just always sensed something not cool going on, and I was not in the slightest able to divine what it was. As my parents would say " I smell a rat"

Not that the Tom Polemans of the world are rats, either, just that something did not, and does not feel right.

This thread is for the purpose of finding out more of that kind of info... an ambitious undertaking to be sure!

Got to run to work now.. piano single then later a dance of widowed folks.

Keep it coming

[Joe Muscara]

Great posts, timwat and Bottom End. I agree completely.

 

Another way to say it and see it is that it's not the workers, it's the system. If any of you have studied the teachings of W. Edwards Deming, you'll know what I mean.

 

Joe, does Mr Deming have a seminal work, that perhaps can be Kindled?

Dr. Deming. He wrote two books. A lot of other people have carried on what he taught. He was one of the people that went over to Japan after WWII to help them rebuild, and is why they developed quality systems. Meanwhile, the U.S. rode on our laurels and were surpassed for many years. Dr. Deming tried to teach the U.S. auto makers many times, but they still seem to resist.

 

His methods can and have been successfully applied in many areas, including education.

[timwat]

Great summary on W. Edwards Deming, Joe. Dr. Deming is still revered in Japan for his legacy. I've taught briefly on Deming - his concepts and impact should not be underestimated today, even though the ongoing pursuit of the novel sometimes makes his work on quality seem passé.

 

Diving into his seminal Out of the Crisis (I think he wrote four books, but is best know for OOTC) can be heavy rowing if you don't keep in mind his historical context. Nevertheless, I think his 14 points and work on epistemology in that tome is worth anyone's investment of time and study.

[Bottom End]

Another observation that might shed light on why crap music sells so well; much of the listening and buying masses hear a musical version of wall paper, decorative, but unchallenging.

 

Yesterday, I had no choice but to listen to about 5 hours of Top 20 contemporary. (No rap only, and and no Southern accents or electric guitars). It was the closest thing to musical torture I could imagine. every song was the same, breathy female vox, or fauz-soul male vox, and a lot of male vox that seemed to have a low-T problem, all autotuned and indistinguishable one from another. The production was either Nashville bland or LA undistinguished, the same electronic drum beat and synth pads, maybe a little piano figure, but nothing that might be mistaken for melody, there solely to fill the space the vox didn't, like the lettuce garnish on a dinner plate. Hearing "Uptown Funk" amidst all that would have been like a cool breeze in the desert, alas, I had no respite

 

I think of the pop music crimes of the last thirty years, music that immediately caused me to switch the station, throw the cassette out the window, avoid dance clubs, and insult its listeners to their faces, almost all of that sounds better and more composed and heartfelt than what I heard for those 5 hours.

 

People buy crap music because they like crap music in the same way they buy Starbucks or McDonalds; they gotta buy something, and this is readily available and makes them feel good and not too challenged or distracted, it's the soundtrack to their lives playing softly in the background.

Though most of us music afficionados are insufferable in our pretensions, at least we're paying attention.

[Joe Muscara]

Great summary on W. Edwards Deming, Joe. Dr. Deming is still revered in Japan for his legacy. I've taught briefly on Deming - his concepts and impact should not be underestimated today, even though the ongoing pursuit of the novel sometimes makes his work on quality seem passé.

 

Diving into his seminal Out of the Crisis (I think he wrote four books, but is best know for OOTC) can be heavy rowing if you don't keep in mind his historical context. Nevertheless, I think his 14 points and work on epistemology in that tome is worth anyone's investment of time and study.

Thanks, Tim. I'm a little reluctant to recommend his books directly as his style seemed a bit obtuse to me when I read it. I got Out of the Crisis and a galley of the next book he was working on when I attended his seminar (remotely) while I was at GM in the early 90s. It took a while for me to be able to parse what he was getting at at times. He was also pretty cantankerous. I remember when people were asking him questions, he had an assistant who would repeat every question to him. At one point, he snapped at her, "I'm not deaf, you know!" He tended to answer the questions indirectly. You could tell most people weren't quite understanding what he was getting at, and he would reply with more or less the same thing he said during the lecture instead of explaining it.

 

Nowadays, I would suggest to anyone wanting to learn more about his work to find some current material on it or to find a group that discusses his methods. Then you'll know when you're ready to dive into his original material.

[I-missRichardTee]

Another observation that might shed light on why crap music sells so well; much of the listening and buying masses hear a musical version of wall paper, decorative, but unchallenging.

 

Yesterday, I had no choice but to listen to about 5 hours of Top 20 contemporary. (No rap only, and and no Southern accents or electric guitars). It was the closest thing to musical torture I could imagine. every song was the same, breathy female vox, or fauz-soul male vox, and a lot of male vox that seemed to have a low-T problem, all autotuned and indistinguishable one from another. The production was either Nashville bland or LA undistinguished, the same electronic drum beat and synth pads, maybe a little piano figure, but nothing that might be mistaken for melody, there solely to fill the space the vox didn't, like the lettuce garnish on a dinner plate. Hearing "Uptown Funk" amidst all that would have been like a cool breeze in the desert, alas, I had no respite

 

I think of the pop music crimes of the last thirty years, music that immediately caused me to switch the station, throw the cassette out the window, avoid dance clubs, and insult its listeners to their faces, almost all of that sounds better and more composed and heartfelt than what I heard for those 5 hours.

 

People buy crap music because they like crap music in the same way they buy Starbucks or McDonalds; they gotta buy something, and this is readily available and makes them feel good and not too challenged or distracted, it's the soundtrack to their lives playing softly in the background.

Though most of us music afficionados are insufferable in our pretensions, at least we're paying attention.

 

Have you ever been in a Barnes and Noble? Often when there, the music quickly irritates me. Often these annoying females voices. I do not have your ( and others gift for describing music - I just play it only ) gifts for describing the innocuous garbage there.

I have no negative feelings about the average listener, because I see them as akin to children, in the sense of easily led.

Young children, are actually great to play for.

This almost bucolic, quality of listeners is part of this puzzle. If they can be led, why not lead them a little differently ?

[ProfD]

This almost bucolic, quality of listeners is part of this puzzle. If they can be led, why not lead them a little differently ?

For 60 years and counting, the recording industry has made a lot of money selling the musical equivalent of McDonald's. There is no incentive to change the Big Mac special sauce.

 

Eventually, adults outgrow their musical junk food. Many folks that were head-banging in the 1980s or listening to Hip-Hop and Grunge in the 1990s are now listening to musical wallpaper in the form of soft Adult Contemporary and Smooth Jazz.

[I-missRichardTee]

This almost bucolic, quality of listeners is part of this puzzle. If they can be led, why not lead them a little differently ?

For 60 years and counting, the recording industry has made a lot of money selling the musical equivalent of McDonald's. There is no incentive to change the Big Mac special sauce.

 

I am attempting to draw questionable analogies between giant complacent industries... the tobacco industry was attacked, environmental movement, civil rights, women's rights, ecology.. etc. and the "music" machine.

Some of my analogies have no direct connection to industry.. but e.g. with womens movement,we had indirect pressure on industry in general.

Another obvious problem with my drawing analogies, is most movements involve real palpable obvious harm to people.

Music has somehow fallen through the net of intelligent observation on its effects on the listener. It is viewed as a merely innocuous stage. Further complicating this, it IS a stage.

 

Another issue is the chicken and egg model.

So far all I am hearing is, What the people want, drives the music machine .

But what about humoring me, and consider the opposite flow?

In the novel 1984, TV monitors were to be in every room to spy on families.

I thought about this: what if there is no need to directly monitor us? What if it's a blend of partial monitoring of our fuel, food, and other buying and listening habits, PLUS the music offered is a rigged deck?

We think we have music choice, and to a degree we do, but the AVAILABLE choices themselves are "rigged" towards a certain result.

I am not a conspiracy theorist type, and I have no clue what the corporate motives are, beyond profits... but I do see the results... e.g. the banal music of a common book store.

Could this current "everyday music" ( biggest generalization of the day !) have a secondary purpose, beyond profits, to subtly inspire us towards complacency?

 

[I-missRichardTee]

This almost bucolic, quality of listeners is part of this puzzle. If they can be led, why not lead them a little differently ?

For 60 years and counting, the recording industry has made a lot of money selling the musical equivalent of McDonald's. There is no incentive to change the Big Mac special sauce.

 

Eventually, adults outgrow their musical junk food. Many folks that were head-banging in the 1980s or listening to Hip-Hop and Grunge in the 1990s are now listening to musical wallpaper in the form of soft Adult Contemporary and Smooth Jazz.

 

OT I played 3 gigs in the past 2 days.

two gigs for 55+ crowd

and one for exclusive country club, where the average age was below 55.

Extrapolating what you said about the various stages of listeners,

What music would the below 50 ( but not 30 either because exclusive membership, take years to gain entry into... $$ success takes time ) crowd appreciate?

I played a mixture of older music from pre 1955 and I also added a tiny bit of Grover, Beatles, soul music.

I am trying to develop music program that is not offensive ( I sound like Clear channel now ) yet interesting enough.

SO far, I am doing ok.. if the responses are any judge.

But I am dissatisfied and want to take more chances.