The best new music and the newest music/entertainment stars are in your hand

[Donal]

The best source for me for new music used to be the car radio, driving my kids all over the northeast. There are a handful of independent stations from NYC to Maine that play new music (and not just the stuff that is already identified as popular). Sure, there is plenty of sh*t and stale crap out there, too. However, it helps to have someone else cue up a song for me every now and again.

That is how I found a bunch of music that I grew to like. Some became popular and some not so much.

Apart from Radio, youtube is one of my main sources, surfing from one video to the next, looking at what they "recommend" as similar etc.
Youtube is (at the moment) a platform that is important for newcomming musicians.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

I don't hear anything on the radio I like anymore. And coast to coast they seem to play the same 10-12 songs.

Movies and games are where I really hear new music now. (or YouTube,..digging around at night looking for bands I haven't heard of.)

But with the exception of Mastodon,...my favorite albums of the last couple years have all been movie/game Scores.

Maybe I'm just getting old,...idk,...I can't seem to hear a new band that doesn't remind me of an old band or hear a new song that doesn't sound like an old song.

Mastodon doesn't remind me of anyone which is probably why I like them. They sound like Mastodon.

...but most new music I hear sounds like someone else,....someone who did it first,...and usually did it better.

 

[rxbandit]

Apart from Radio, youtube is one of my main sources, surfing from one video to the next, looking at what they "recommend" as similar etc.
Youtube is (at the moment) a platform that is important for newcomming musicians.

Amen. I hate these kind of "sky is falling posts" because good music didn't go anywhere, it's just found in different places. The music industry is constantly in a state of evolution and adaption. Everyone likes to look back at classic music with rose colored glasses, tinted so dark that they can't see (or hear) what's out these days.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

not saying, "the sky is falling," I'm just saying things have permanently changed and it's folly to continue using old models and old behaviors for an industry that basically no longer exists.

If you want to get your music and art out to people, figure out how to get it on their phones.

That's all I'm saying.

 

[rxbandit]

not saying, "the sky is falling," I'm just saying things have permanently changed and it's folly to continue using old models and old behaviors for an industry that basically no longer exists.

If you want to get your music and art out to people, figure out how to get it on their phones.

That's all I'm saying.

You've posted quite a few threads about how music sucks nowadays, no one goes to shows, rock is dead, yada yada yada.

I completely agree that things have changed and we need to change our ways of getting music to people.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

well,...yeah,....that's cause new music kinda sucks and no one goes to shows because guitar-rock is sorta dead.

Actually rock isn't dead at all,...it's called Hip-Hop now, and it isn't very popular on this board.

Music trends have a finite life. Classical, Jazz, Blues, Dixieland,...they all had their day and never completely disappear,...but.....

where's the new medium?

I know of the artist Gustavo Santaolalla and enjoy listening to his music. But I discovered his amazing music because it was in a video game,..not on Youtube where it's lost among billions,...not on the radio where it wouldn't be played,...in a game.

That's the marketplace now.

I gotta figure out how to get music in games. ...or build my own games.

 

[twst1up]

I thought bioshock was old music, ie django et al?

 

[3rdstone]

Unfortunately I think your mostly right about all of this.

There was a post on one of my recording forums a couple years back ...guy who made a really good CD and could gain no traction whatsoever, quit trying and started writing and recording jingles and ringtones... who knows...

 

[rxbandit]

Unfortunately I think your mostly right about all of this.

There was a post on one of my recording forums a couple years back ...guy who made a really good CD and could gain no traction whatsoever, quit trying and started writing and recording jingles and ringtones... who knows...

Making great music is only one step of the process, you can't wait for people to come to you you have to bring your music to the people.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

the people are busy playing Angry Birds



so get your music in their Apps


My posts are being looked at from the wrong direction. I'm not angrily saying, 'things have changed and it sucks', I'm saying I've been looking at it all wrong. Instead of being annoyed everyone is on their phones, we have to find ways as artists and musicians to get our stuff on their phones too. Whether it's an App, music in a game,...whatever. That's the new market.

People go to bars,..and play with their phones
go to restaurants...and play with their phones
sit on the subway,...and play with their phones
sit on the toilet,...and play with their phones

that's what I'm getting at. Don't worry about getting your music on a stage,...no one cares,...get it on their phone!

 

[mdubya]

@THD
looks that way.

luckily I already have some computer certs,...and I plan on getting some more,...maybe a bachelors in CS or something.

Computers were always a fun hobby from childhood,..music was the career.

List your certs and skills on a resume and post it. Take anything you can to get a little bit of work experience on your resume. Update it and move up the ladder.

There are huge opportunities in the DC area and you don't really need certs or a degree if you have the skill.

Even 6 months at one place is enough to leap frog to the next. But be prepared to play that game.

 

[3rdstone]

Making great music is only one step of the process, you can't wait for people to come to you you have to bring your music to the people.

Oh, he did, a number of different ways. Like I said, he could gain no traction.
(at least not the kind he was hoping for)

He was looking to (primarily) make money, so he ended up going the jingle/ringtone route. Last I heard it was paying off...

 

[mdubya]

Best thing I have heard recently (after Uncle Acid a year or two ago) is Royal Blood.

Now I come to find out they are drums and bass and no guitar.

And they are from England.

They seem to teach pop song writing in school in England. And music still seems to be a pretty big deal there.

One thing I have seen pay off is perseverance. If you have a good song or good music, you can still become an overnight sensation. It might take 25 years though.

Some of my old friends are headlining festivals in Europe after years of working in warehouses and sweeping floors and mowing lawns and being homeless and penniless. It can be a tough road.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

funny how many US musicians seem to have to go to another country to get noticed.

can you imagine if Hendrix never made it overseas?

 

[Dolebludger]

Mal,

I know what you are saying. And the opportunities for really good musicians in the US are very, very limited. I don't know about the background music on internet games, because I don't do those. But I do know (IMHO) the musical groups they have on Saturday Night Live almost always suck -- really bad. Most "new music" I can access sucks too. I have a joke I tell my friends. In it I auditioned for SNL and they wouldn't take me because they said I am too good!!
Those whom I tell this and have heard me play see the humor in this quickly! It is a damn shame that really good musicians (of which I am not one) can't get the breaks the deserve.

 

[James R]

I can't say I agree with every point or counter point being made in this thread, but Mal couldn't be more bang on with the comment
"You want people to hear your music or see your art? Find a way to get it on their phone".

Things have changed in a huge way.
I'll freely admit that the only way I ever visit MLP, FB, or YT is on my phone. I've got it in my hand right now.
But I'll also add that listening to music through streaming apps like rdio, slacker, etc. has actually turned me on to a great deal of music that I may not have heard otherwise.

I personally embrace the future and everything it has to offer, living in the past will get you nowhere but lonely and broke. But maybe that's the whole point of this thread?

 

[James Carney]

Are you looking to make money, or are you on a journey of self discovery through creative expression to help reach your final form?

Your OP has a lot of cognitive dissonance about commerce vs art.
Yeah, people buy stuff, but that doesn't validate it. But it sure turns a profit.

I would rather craft my masterpieces knowing they're part of my intended vision, and no one hear them, than sacrifice artistic integrity for populous appeal. I know it will all be worth it in the end. I just hope I get to live to see my efforts recognized.

Do you want to make your own music, or score someone else's trip? If you just want to be heard (literally and figuratively) period, sure, go do sound design for technology related fields. But that's not as satisfying as sculpting your own statue. I did a corporate commercial and made more money on that, than my albums ever have combined - but I did that in a weekend, with almost no effort, compared to my 12mo album process.

Let your heart astray, and your soul will get caught.

If you're an artist, you should always be playing the long game, strategizing each move ahead of your current one even being finished. An artist must understand they are in a constant state of becoming, and have never arrived anywhere, at any time

There's always creators and consumers. I currently work at ad agency, and it is massively soul destroying working around people who are NOT creative, who think that they are, because they are literally feeding consumers.

Don't make an album, make a game? An album is the product of a few people, creating a musical composition. A game is dozens to hundreds to thousands of people, creating scripted events for people to interact with. And I don't want to make a game, I want write and record songs.

And while I love video games, I would hardly equate their artistic merit on such pure terms. It's story telling by large comitee. I know the guys who worked at Harmonix and created Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Dance Dance Revolution. They all burned out from it, and only did it to fund their amazing 80s-retro-metal band, Bang Camaro. And their two albums were amazing.

You sound old and bitter, man. Don't paint! Don't write! Don't act! Don't dance! It won't make money! The arts have always been this way. Sustaining income from artistic output happens to probably less than 1% of artists, and it's always been this way.

Also get a CS degree? Is this the same Mal who when I recommended technology and software engineering as a creative lucrative field to fund artistic endeavors, said he would never do that because he's all about manual labor?

 

[Marshall & Moonshine]

Enjoy this new world.
I'm going down with the ship.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

Also get a CS degree? Is this the same Mal who when I recommended technology and software engineering as a creative lucrative field to fund artistic endeavors, said he would never do that because he's all about manual labor?

yah,..sometimes the mind is willing but the body is breaking down from the manual labor already done.

I'm not saying sell out and make commercial products. All I'm saying is the audience has moved away from clubs and bars for the most part, so if you want people to see and hear your stuff you have to figure out a way to get it in their face where they are. And where they are is on their phone.

...I'm just spitballing, thinking out loud...

How to create income doing something creative and not soul destroying.

..somehow it's tied to Android,..I'm just not sure how yet. But you've already got a Billion people holding a screen in their hand and staring at it,..I/We just need to figure out the best way to get our content on their screens.

All these bitterness comments are very erroneous. I'm not bitter,..I see a new market,..there's a difference.

I write a lot of instrumentals that people have already told me in the past sound like "video game music",..so why shouldn't I try how to figure out how to actually get my songs in a game? It'd be silly not to.

what are the licensing arrangements of such a thing?

can it work in your favor as publicity in the same way I've become a fan of the guy who wrote the 'The Last of Us' soundtrack?

....that's all I'm saying. Maybe it's coming out all wrong because I'm not bitter or angry,..I'm excited about realizing I was approaching things from the wrong perspective.

Don't hate the fact people love their phones,...find a way to use that to your advantage. Because they're not going away and people are not going to put them down.

 

[Dolebludger]

There is an unsigned band that I really like. Their name is Abney Park. They play self-described steampunk music, which (for them) is a mix of rock, Gypsy, folk, and ragtime jazz (what a strange mix)! But I like it and you can google it up if you are curious. Anyway, they produce their own records and sell them online. They are not signed by any recording company. Yet they have done concerts in London, Moscow, London,LA, San Francisco, etc. etc. -- and even did one here in Durango! While I like their inventive music, you may not, and that is OK. Point is, many folks do and yet they are unsigned. The fact that recording companies won't sign any band unless it is "safe" -- meaning it appeals to 14 year old girls and has enough sexual appeal to have 18 year old boys like them. The music be damned. If the music industry were like that in the 50s and 60s, we would never have heard of Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Jimmy Reed, B.B. King, Chuck Berry, and my list could go on and on. I don't even listen to my car radios anymore, unless they are tuned to a classic rock, blues, jazz, or even country station. the new music is just bad, and it is the recording companies that are choking off the good new music.