Is Rock Dead?

Rock songs in the charts fall to lowest level in 50 years, with only three tracks appearing in the top 100 best-sellers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/10/rock-n-roll-read-last-rites

I'm interested to hear what people think of this article. Personally I think that labeling it 'dead' is preposterous.

But I feel there is a sea change of sorts.

A growing validation for other styles of music and influences perhaps?

The internet?

If what you mean by "Rock" incorporates all sub genres like alternative and acoustic. Then Rock is more alive than IDM is.

Also I dont think charts are really the way to determine what anyone is listening to. The only people who buy digital download are the moronic masses. I would never buy anything off iTunes as I hate them. Id usually go for Juno or Boomcat, as thats where my interests lie. But more often than not I try and buy physical, and I try and buy 2nd hand physical because Im not made of bloody money.

Having said that I rarely listen to rock music, especially new rock music. I listen to the old stuff that I used to listen to when I was in early teens. Also Ive never considered Bon Jovi to be straight up rock. Definitely more of a pop rock affair.

is rock dead?

no. but it should be!! god i hate rock!

They keep reselling the same music from the last 40 years everyone has it now

Since when was the placement of music on some "chart" an indication of whether or not it is alive or dead?

...or even worth listening to for that matter.

  On 1/11/2011 at 4:58 PM, couch said:

Since when was the placement of music on some "chart" an indication of whether or not it is alive or dead?

 

...or even worth listening to for that matter.

Tell that to the people who post here, with all their chart posting

LOL Bon Jovi

  On 1/11/2011 at 4:54 PM, sirch said:

is rock dead?

 

no. but it should be!! god i hate rock!

i should rephrase that.

i hate MODERN rock! it's all a rehash of other rock'n'roll styles from the last 40-50 years.

it was much more interesting the first time, in the 50's and 60's and 70's, when it was fresh and original.

nowadays you've got a bunch of kids trying to be rockers, writing boring songs that belong way back in the last century.

down with rock! it's poo. buy a synth and a drum machine! :)

lol Sirch, irony in there somewhere.

According to various accounts through the ages, rock and roll will never die.

  On 1/11/2011 at 5:11 PM, chassis said:

lol Sirch, irony in there somewhere.

turn the guitars down and sack the lead singer... then buy some synths.

any band what uses synths is ok by me. ;)

rock smells like an old person's house. musty. faggy. like hairy top lipped grandma's.

Wikipedia put Daft Punk and Justice as rock bands.

I've been feeling this for several years now

But what is rock anowadays anyway? Lots of stuff has rock elements, but it's mixed up with other styles to such an extent that it becomes a hybrid. Leaving most of the would be rock bands as labelled indie, numetal, emopunk etc.

I can't really think of any newer rock 'rock' bands other than Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and maybe Muse. Oh and of course The Darkness ...

When I listen to 'rock' it's stuff like The Replacements, Smashing Pumpkins, Hüsker Dü, Butthole Surfers.

But hey, even some of those are punk/indie tinted

if by rock you mean painting, then yeah, it's dead

I think there is just a void in good quality rock that needs to be filled.

So many of these mainstream "rock" bands, like Arcade Fire, Coldplay... etc, take themselves so fucking seriously for no real apparent reason.

There are lots of more amazing "rock" bands in the margins of the mainstream that show that there is still a hope.

Obviously rock music isn't dead, but since "rock" is a pretty vague term, i will just say that more generally, music incorporating live instruments will probably never die (even though that incorporates jazz and other less popular genres).

If anything, the author of the article should recognize how the way in which popular music is defined has changed over time. One easily recognizable change is the HUGE decline in MTV. And as far as sales go, they don't really reflect popularity to a T—since the advent of the web, a lot of people simply don't pay for music anymore. Another trend that the web helped was the fragmentation/specialization/localization of music genres, and I guess distribution outlets too. So it's not as simple as calculating number of overpriced concert tickets sold, or music charts.

That being said, it definitely does seem like a little more than ten years ago, just prior to the spice girls and backstreet boys, the big thing was alternative rock (buzz bin immediately coming to mind), so vocal pop and rap definitely do seem like they're back on top, but I'd guess it's a phase that can come in and out of popularity, like most other genres.

  On 1/11/2011 at 5:09 PM, sirch said:

  On 1/11/2011 at 4:54 PM, sirch said:

is rock dead?

 

no. but it should be!! god i hate rock!

 

i should rephrase that.

 

i hate MODERN rock! it's all a rehash of other rock'n'roll styles from the last 40-50 years.

it was much more interesting the first time, in the 50's and 60's and 70's, when it was fresh and original.

nowadays you've got a bunch of kids trying to be rockers, writing boring songs that belong way back in the last century.

down with rock! it's poo. buy a synth and a drum machine! :)

holy shit are you a parody of somebody else on WATMM?

There is plenty of good quality rock right now and ever since before I was born.

  On 1/11/2011 at 7:37 PM, sidewinder said:

There is plenty of good quality rock right now and ever since before I was born.

this

  On 1/11/2011 at 7:38 PM, KY said:

  On 1/11/2011 at 7:37 PM, sidewinder said:

There is plenty of good quality rock right now and ever since before I was born.

this

Just more shit to dig through to find it since there are more people making shit. But that's the case with any broad genre right now.

It's lingering, but good music is eternal.

  On 1/11/2011 at 4:54 PM, sirch said:

is rock dead?

 

no. but it should be!! god i hate rock!

the spirit of when rock was really alive, still remains. but holy fuck, rock music is totalled forever

  On 1/11/2011 at 8:08 PM, couch said:

  On 1/11/2011 at 7:38 PM, KY said:

  On 1/11/2011 at 7:37 PM, sidewinder said:

There is plenty of good quality rock right now and ever since before I was born.

this

Just more shit to dig through to find it since there are more people making shit. But that's the case with any broad genre right now.

Definitely this. Rock will never die, but you've got to dig deep to get the good stuff nowadays. rock n roll has lost a lot of soul in the past few decades.

I think there's a couple of things going on.

Firstly the guitar is (finally) coming to the end of its time as the lead instrument of popular music. It took over from saxophone at the very start of the '60s and 50 years is a damn long time. People assume guitar is always just between comebacks but the comebacks just get shorter and lamer. I still enjoy playing guitar, but I don't expect staggering innovations or massive revolutionary cultural movements to come out of people holding guitars. Bye bye guitar.

Secondly economics - 4 piece rock n roll bands took over from big bands because they were much cheaper to form and operate. Cheaper is important because it's always the young and the poor that drive innovation in popular music.

Now of course, a laptop and a bunch of pirated software is way cheaper than forming a 4 piece rock n roll band, so guess where all the innovation is coming from?

People still talk about "bands". Pitchfork still gives Radiohead their number 1 for the year even if 78 of the other artists in the top 100 are not traditional bands. People still go to see Tool and Coldplay and Bon Jovi. But this will all fade away with time.

It's not a good thing, it's not a bad thing, it's just change. Deal and move on.

  On 1/11/2011 at 9:55 PM, analogue wings said:

I think there's a couple of things going on.

 

Firstly the guitar is (finally) coming to the end of its time as the lead instrument of popular music. It took over from saxophone at the very start of the '60s and 50 years is a damn long time. People assume guitar is always just between comebacks but the comebacks just get shorter and lamer. I still enjoy playing guitar, but I don't expect staggering innovations or massive revolutionary cultural movements to come out of people holding guitars. Bye bye guitar.

 

Secondly economics - 4 piece rock n roll bands took over from big bands because they were much cheaper to form and operate. Cheaper is important because it's always the young and the poor that drive innovation in popular music.

 

Now of course, a laptop and a bunch of pirated software is way cheaper than forming a 4 piece rock n roll band, so guess where all the innovation is coming from?

 

People still talk about "bands". Pitchfork still gives Radiohead their number 1 for the year even if 78 of the other artists in the top 100 are not traditional bands. People still go to see Tool and Coldplay and Bon Jovi. But this will all fade away with time.

 

It's not a good thing, it's not a bad thing, it's just change. Deal and move on.

well really, guitar has always been the lead instrument of rock music, not saxophone—i guess you could even argue for the piano to a lesser degree, with jerry lee lewis and little richard, but looking through earlier rock, it's all guitar. as far as comebacks go, are you talking about arena rock in the eighties and grunge, followed by alt rock in the nineties? electronics have only been a serious competitor in music since the seventies and eighties really, with the advent of digital synthesis and recording.

i definitely agree with you that the laptop and software are the most accessible for musicians, though. but i think economics and technology don't totally define music trends/change—otherwise, the new york philharmonic literally wouldn't exist.

edit: wait a fucking second this is all starting to smell like that old thread about the "death" of painting.

  On 1/11/2011 at 10:25 PM, KY said:

well really, guitar has always been the lead instrument of rock music

I didn't say rock music, I said popular music. Rock music is popular music with guitar as the features instrument. If popular music moves away from guitar as featured instrument (which it is), then you don't have rock music anymore

  On 1/11/2011 at 10:25 PM, KY said:

i definitely agree with you that the laptop and software are the most accessible for musicians, though. but i think economics and technology don't totally define music trends/change—otherwise, the new york philharmonic literally wouldn't exist.

Well you have trends and then you have traditions. You will always have traditions regardless of trends, so you will always have the New York Philharmonic. It's not really a counterexample to what I observed about economics. I'm sure New York still has big bands too, but how many? How many orchestras? Both have ceased to be accessible to the young n hungry due to economics.