The unspoken truth about good music....

[Cadillac_Mike]

Nowadays everyone puts their hands up in the air and asks "how come modern music isn't as good as in the old days? What changed?"

There's a very simple factor in this equation. W = Women. From The Beatles to the hair bands like Skid Row and even grunge bands like Pearl Jam the equation was; Band (B) = Women (W). I'm a good singer that can play bass, guitar, and even switch to keys mid song like Geddy Lee. But what's the incentive to start a band nowadays? Work several months to build up a set list to play one gig and make $300 for a bunch of women looking on their phones?

 

[Engine Swap]

Modern music is great - contemporize man!

 

[Double Stop]

Hey, wait a minute! I love "Modern Music"!

 

[TomBrokaw]

If the audience is looking at their phones, at a gig they came to, then it would seem the phones are more interesting than whoever is on stage. Not saying I could hold their attention, just that you gotta give them what they want, not what you want them to want.

 

[Nightclub Dwight]

Nowadays everyone puts their hands up in the air and asks "how come modern music isn't as good as in the old days? What changed?"

There's a very simple factor in this equation. W = Women. From The Beatles to the hair bands like Skid Row and even grunge bands like Pearl Jam the equation was; Band (B) = Women (W). I'm a good singer that can play bass, guitar, and even switch to keys mid song like Geddy Lee. But what's the incentive to start a band nowadays? Work several months to build up a set list to play one gig and make $300 for a bunch of women looking on their phones?

You only need one to look up. The rest will follow.

 

[Matt G]

. . . But what's the incentive to start a band nowadays? Work several months to build up a set list to play one gig and make $300 for a bunch of women looking on their phones?

For me, music is a direct line to the Other World. That's reason enough.

 

[1955]

I never did music for any of the clichéd reasons. I found the “lifestyle” abhorrent, so I guess in that regard, I wasn’t as dumb as I think I was, looking back now. I don’t regret trying to be the best entertainer I could be. I was. I gave it everything I had, and people noticed. I just wasn’t interested in all the other stuff. Some musicians resented me for that.

And, funny thing, I met my Wife because of the guitar. Wasn’t even looking, and it was one of the very few positive things that music ever did for me, another being that I made a living at it, and got to meet and be a part of many people’s lives.

 

[bgmacaw]

Sorry, but you're not creating an Instagramable experience.

 

[buster poser]

Brilliant, this is definitely it. Everyone knows Geddy’s band was huge with the ladies

 

[sax4blues]

Nowadays everyone puts their hands up in the air and asks "how come modern music isn't as good as in the old days? What changed?"

My youngest child is 29. They all grew up listening to my music. Given the choice between current bands and acts from my youth, they will go to current music. So apparently not everyone prefers older music.

 

[bottlenecker]

Geddy Lee... women aren't interested and neither am I. Give me that new music.

 

[koen]

Ahh - nothing beats a P-rant

 

[Telecaster582]

If the audience is looking at their phones, at a gig they came to, then it would seem the phones are more interesting than whoever is on stage. Not saying I could hold their attention, just that you gotta give them what they want, not what you want them to want.

This^ and either way your making money

 

[Stringbanger]

 

[LOSTVENTURE]

That "unspoken truth" is the fact that you need to be able to entertain and challenge yourself above all others. Based on that, if you are enjoying what you do, I play guitar, you will stick with it and get better at it and thus create better music. Keeping others interested in what you are playing, or not, is all up to them. Play what interests you. That's my thinking on the subject.

 

[BigDaddyLH]

This audience seems to be paying attention.

 

[Killing Floor]

My grandma derided The Beach Boys with exactly the same words lots of guys here use against Jay-Z.
All I know is the more I really listen, the more I realize music has leapfrogged what I used to listen to. There’s so much creativity. But it’s not what Grandma liked. She also thought the Gershwins were scandalous.

 

[StoneH]

My youngest child is 29. They all grew up listening to my music. Given the choice between current bands and acts from my youth, they will go to current music. So apparently not everyone prefers older music.

My oldest grandchild is 19 and started living with us while going to college. Whenever I am listening to a playlist he is asking, "Who's that?", "What genre of music is that called?" He's become a fan of CS&Y and "Smooth Jazz".

 

[twangking]

Play some Captain Beefheart. Challenge the mind.

 

[beyer160]

Nowadays everyone puts their hands up in the air and asks "how come modern music isn't as good as in the old days? What changed?"

There's a very simple factor in this equation. W = Women. From The Beatles to the hair bands like Skid Row and even grunge bands like Pearl Jam the equation was; Band (B) = Women (W). I'm a good singer that can play bass, guitar, and even switch to keys mid song like Geddy Lee. But what's the incentive to start a band nowadays? Work several months to build up a set list to play one gig and make $300 for a bunch of women looking on their phones?

If that's all playing music means to you, definitely don't start a band.