ERIC GUENTHER OF FROM EXILE AND LEVI/WERSTLER PROCLAIMS: “MUSIC IS DEAD.”
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 at 11:30am by Eric Guenther
In the music game, the barrier of entry has been lowered. Is this good or bad for the artistry of music?
Look at what happened to MySpace. Today, it still serves some function, but I think we can all agree that it is at least somewhat broken. Just from judging some of the comments readers have posted here, the attitude is that the “Myspace-band generation” is beginning to pass. Maybe this is just wishful thinking, but we all have seen how much easier it is to have your little brother’s one guitar and fruity loops drumkit demo uploaded and readily available on their “BIAXIAL ANALISSCUS MAXiMUS — LOOKING FOR SINGER/DRUMMER/BASS PLAYER!!!! TECH/DEATH METAL/AFRO BEAT” Myspace account. Although the tools available today allow everyone to throw some music out there and have it heard (basically, throw poop at a wall and see what sticks), do they really help the industry? To be more accurate, does it really develop and evolve the artistry of the music itself? Or does it simply desensitize our ears as listeners and oversaturate the musical landscape with artists with less dedication, talent, and creativity than those who were able to survive the trials required to accomplish the odyssey recording of a brilliant record, say, thirty years ago? When buying a randomly chosen record off the shelf thirty years ago, wasn’t there a better chance that this record would actually be something worth listening to ten-plus years later?
In reference to my metaphor, I think what has been happening on MySpace is more like watching thrown shit slide down the wall, taking a picture, and calling that a band/music/ “art.”
