October 2009

Is modern music going down the drain?

I recently came across an interesting article on the musical legacy of our current decade (2000-2009). The article, written by Kris Millet for Culture Magazine, takes a dim view of this century's musical output. His central thesis is that the technological fragmentation of the last 10 years has destroyed our ability to follow a band for any significant length of time, and that a fragmented music press prefers short-term bandwagons that disrupt the long-term appreciation of a band.

While I sympathize with his viewpoint, I think there are other forces at work, too. The biggest one would be economic. Millet's discussion of long-term support for U2 is a perfect example. What record label now can afford to support a band for four albums before it hits the big time? Not many, I would think. I know it's old hat to blame record labels for everything that's wrong in modern music, but their increasingly obsolete business model does have some upsides: money for promotion, grooming and time to learn.

I also wonder if songwriters are running out of ideas. Could it be that there is a finite number of good melodies? It would be impossible to measure, I guess, but maybe time will tell. Who knows - maybe in 10 years every rock and pop act will only be recording cover tunes. Then modern music will be just like classical music!

Put up a sign!

I don't normally promote anything written in the The Province, but a recent column by Ethan Baron certainly caught my eye. The scenario he presents, that of the police entering your house to confiscate anti-Olympics signs taped to your window, seems like a fairly plausible proposition. Is it populist fear mongering? Perhaps, but given recent laws proposed by municipalities and the provincial government, I don't feel totally confident that we can trust the municipalities to go after commercial signage only. Moreover, the RCMP seems oblivious to the growing concern over their tactics and Olympic mandate, a mandate that seems to pay more attention to the needs of the IOC than the requirements of Section 2 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.