"Back in my day, music used to be good."
Every generation has, at one point in their early 40s, uttered these words. Naturally, this sentiment can be written off as a natural byproduct of old age. But, aside from boomers being boomers, it’s important to note that pop culture (specifically music) is unique, when compared to things that evolve without making the elders angry. For instance, take food. We may have more options than our grandparents did, in terms of vegan, gluten-free and organic choices, but for some reason, you don’t hear older folks talking about how "steak used to be good" or "these damn kids and their tofu." This is because, aside from flavor-of-the-minute trends (no pun intended), the meat-andpotatoes basics have not only stuck around, but they’ve gotten better. If "red meat" was a genre of food, the classics are still getting airplay and the up-and-comers, like fake meat and ass, are active and welcome.
However, you do hear a lot of "fast food used to be better," which I will address shortly.
Compare a certain type of food, car, gadget or other commodity to a musical genre (such as "rock," "hip hop" or "techno"), and you will see a different story—the classics grow old and die off, leaving the new generations with modern replacements that don’t live up to the genre’s name. Put simply, Nickelback will never be Slayer. But, in twenty years, Nickelback will be seen as better than whatever they’re passing off as rock in 2040. For some reason, "new music" just keeps getting shittier and shittier (unlike pizza, Teslas or computers). So, if we consider the fact that old people are beyond impressed with modern Hollywood films, computer animation, digital literature and other forms of media, what is it about music, specifically, that turns us all into conservative traditionalists, yearning for a return to the "golden age" of whatever genre we enjoy?
I have a theory—and, I could be way off here—that, when compared to any other type of media product on the market, music is the easiest to mass manufacture, push on unsuspecting crowds, control the market share and rake in a profit from distributing it. Therefore, it continues to become more and more corporate and watered down as time goes on, with no visible end to the cycle in sight.
What makes music particularly easy to exploit as a commodity, compared to, say, movies or television, is a combination of three factors: ease of consumption (it can play in the background while you do other activities and does not require an active attention span), cost and ease of production (all music is a combination of eight notes, the structure of which repeats throughout genres as home studios get cheaper) and expanding, centralized control of media companies (a total of four parent companies own the vast majority of the market).
This last factor—corporate capitalism—is key. For example, monetizing any form of media on the public requires an attention span, a huge budget and the ability to file a copyright claim against anyone who shares it without paying dues. So, it makes sense that corporate media would be better off pushing a two-minute song and collecting royalties from anyone who uses it as background music in their YouTube video, as opposed to trying to collect royalties on a feature-length film or a three-hundredpage book. Play a copyrighted movie on a screen at your nightclub and no one cares. Play Biggie Smalls without paying BMI or ASCAP first, well, see you in prison.
Unlike music, visual media can be consumed secondhand, at a lower quality, without a significant loss in enjoyment—this is noteworthy, as audio is the hardest type of media to bootleg at consumable levels of quality—Limewire had tons of "theater rips" for movies and "notepad versions" for books, but super-low-bitrate music was rare. Part of this is due to the fact that human ears cannot compensate for things in the same fashion as human eyes (otherwise, people on acid would be hearing voices and not just seeing cool visuals). Put simply, folks can bootleg a movie on a shitty camera or read a poorly photocopied book and still enjoy it, but audio is unique, in that a lower quality makes it almost impossible to consume—a low-resolution film with good audio is watchable, but a high-def film with shitty audio is almost impossible to enjoy. So, the pirated versions of audio recordings are closer (if not equal) to the quality of the source material, which tends to make collecting on illegal sales easier from a legal standpoint. Basically, there is no "screener copy" or "advanced manuscript" version of the latest hit single—as in, low quality or altered copies aren’t worth reselling—and the only way to share a song with others is to illegally copy and steal the original recording (or suffer a "HOT NEW URBAN SINGLES DOT C-C-COM" drop every ten seconds).
What does this have to do with new music sounding like trash? Well, just think like a corporation—if the goal is to squeeze every nickel you can from a marketable piece of media, it would make sense to target and control the easiest-to-distribute, hardestto-bootleg-without-a-lawsuit, no-seriouslya-robot-can-tell-the-feds-if-you-steal-aMetallica-song type of media. Think about it—a three-minute clip of a feature film is called a "teaser" and can be shared among film reviewers and fans alike (all day, without consequence), but a three-minute clip of All Eyez On Me is called a "single" and sharing it can result in a huge fine or a lawsuit (even though ‘Pac is technically dead). So, in this aspect, mainstream (as in, barcoded and properly mastered) music is the equivalent of fast food—ready for mass distribution, intellectual property claims and consumption by the masses. But, most importantly, the ability to generate money from licensing fees, copyright strikes and intellectual property claims in the music industry is insane—every time you hear "All I Want For Christmas" in the mall, Mariah Carey sees another comma on her bank statement.
If corporate music is like fast food, consider how hard it is for a mom-and-pop burger shop to compete with McDonald’s—probably the same degree of difficulty that an independent, talented and worthwhile band feels, when attempting to gain popularity in an age of Mumford’s Wife’s Sons or A$AP Swaggy. So, it’s not that "burgers suck these days"—it’s that the fast food chains are on every corner and they are continuously getting worse and worse, because their expanding market share means quality burger joints are becoming more and more rare (possible foodborne illness pun intended).
At first, it makes no sense, that in an age where anyone can record, produce and distribute music for next to free, there are still the same six songs playing on every speaker. That is, until you realize the obvious: music doesn’t suck worse these days—mainstream music (i.e. "fast food" music) does. Since the same four companies are pushing the same dozen hit singles through every single speaker possible, this is analogous to fast food becoming more and more avail able (which, it is—I had Taco Bell delivered the other night because I wanted to feel like more of a piece of shit than I already am) and also shittier and shittier in quality (seriously, it’s not even cheese at this point). Add to this the age of convenience and the most well-off generation in history (don’t worry... give it twenty years and we’ll pass the title on) and you get the perfect storm of laziness and greed. Why go to the family Italian kitchen that costs thirty bucks a plate, when there’s a new Kentucky Taco Hut opening at the mall? Why bother seeking out one of the multizillion independent and talented rappers, when Spotify can spoon feed you the same four Cardi B songs about boss qweens who smoke mad blunts and the fuckboys who love them? I mean, if we’re going for more female representation in hip hop, why are we sending our worst? Young M.A. should be more popular, but the girl at Dutch Bros has no idea who she is. Sorry, that was a tangent—but, you should really look her up (Young M.A., not Skylar).
Going back in history, every fast food chain was, at one time, a local one-off that was focused on making quality food. Remember how Taco Bell tasted better as a kid? Well, that’s because Taco Bell had fewer locations and had to compete with actual taco shops. The Taco Bell website even says that "Glen Bell open(ed) his first Taco Bell restaurant in Downey, CA, serving what his customers called ‘tay-kohs.’" But, as time went on and more locations opened up, Taco Bell lowered their price of a double beef burrito combo meal with fries and a Playstation to $0.99, which put the Garcia Family Taqueria out of business. The old Taqueria becomes a new Taco Bell and the cycle continues. This isn’t just Taco Bell—McDonald’s has a history that is so mom-and-pop (well, more like pop-and-pop’s-shady-friend) that movies have been made about it. Without wanting to do any more research regarding the history of fast food, I am only to assume that Wendy is a real person (and not just some troll on Twitter who red pills normies with dank memes) and that Dairy Queen used to serve, well, dairy.
This is exactly how pop music works, as well: grass roots beginnings lead to mainstream domination. Back in the day, the reach was so small that even big companies had to put in effort. At one point in time, "pop" bands had to at least be talented enough to attract new fans almost instantly—partially because there wasn’t a screen or speaker in every house, store, restaurant, car, shower or baby stroller—oh, and the fact that we have tiny computers in our pockets with personalized ring tones doesn’t help. For instance, The Beatles and Elvis were pushed on one of the three television channels that existed at the time. Further, even nowlegendary acts had a tough time breaking into the mainstream. Jimi Hendrix was discovered at Woodstock (as opposed to being an established act that would draw folks to the festival). "Rapper’s Delight" was an accident (some dude was playing around with the mic and a set of turntables after hours in a venue, and he got discovered by the club owner). And, because of the limited reach and market share (in terms of broadcast to the masses), it was still possible for non-mainstream acts to establish themselves among the herd—even though the Rolling Stones had corporate backing, similar bands like The Hollies were still able to make a living, because being "famous" as a professional musician was the exception, not the rule.
Flash forward to 1990, and if it’s not on VH1 or MTV, it’s basically nonexistent. As time went on and a continuously centralized handful of record companies colonized the audio landscape, it became easier to control the airwaves. Instead of record companies seeking out musical acts with the marketable talent required to make money, musical acts started seeking out record companies with the money required to make them talented. Sure, the slave-to-the-record-contract phenomenon has been around for a while—The Beatles were technically a boy band (they just existed in an era where instruments were required to land a gig). But, now that the kids are okay with some computerized beats and pitch-corrected vocal technology, there’s no reason for record companies to prioritize talent over marketability. Take the drums away from Ringo, replace them with a machine and you’ve got a lesser Backstreet Boy—ready to be pushed on teen girls and creepy old men.
Put simply, McDonald’s is no longer serving real hamburgers and pop music is no longer serving up real music. There’s a formula that equals profit, and any deviation from it will be rejected by the corporate gatekeepers. Basically, you know how your favorite taco place is probably a super-hidden spot that your ex-girlfriend showed you, that one time you took back roads instead of the freeway? The one that no one knows about? Well, that’s because there’s a fucking Taco Bell on every corner and people are just too lazy to seek out other options. And, as the world’s population continues to expand and corporate control continues to centralize, this will just get worse and worse—give it ten years and the word "taco" will be intellectual property of Time Warner AOL Soros Weinstein Industries Inc. But, at least there will be a Taco Bell on every corner.
I’m a huge fan of capitalism, but I’m also a huge opponent of corporate control—to address this, I feel like a dollar is the last actual vote that a consumer has, and like votes, folks throw their dollars away on the big names, because they’re too scared to give
Andrew Yang’s Noodle Kitchen a shot. To be fair, the trust consumers give to corporations was, at one point in time, justified—in the early days of fast food, when actual ingredients were used, it was nice to know that there were multiple asses (and a possible stock ticker) on the line, in the case of contaminated food or unwashed employee hands. Some regulation and oversight is good (oops, just lost my Libertarian card). But, corporations aren’t in the fast food industry to make tacos taste better, nor are they in the music business to make hit singles sound better. It’s all about finding the formula, automating the production and pushing it on the masses.
This is why we went from "country music sucks" to "Hey DJ, play ‘Old Town Road’" in less than a decade. This is why you can pick up a guitar and accidentally play a Coldplay song. This is why "rhythm and poetry" has become "swag and slurs." The easier it is to market, the easier it is to push on people and the easier it is to convince the masses that they like it.
So, it is up to you, the consumer, to seek out and support what you actually like (as opposed to just settling with Burger King and Ed Sheeran). The consumer—not the record companies—can dictate what the market values. If you need any proof, take a look at the early ‘90s alternative music scene. Some stoners in Seattle decided that glam rock sucked, so they created grunge music and a handful of indie record labels. In no less than a few years, Kurt Cobain’s suicide—due to the depression associated with fame—was being reported by Kurt Loder. If a genre called "alternative" could be repackaged and made corporate (not to mention gangsta rap, punk rock or whatever that new genre of hip hop full of tattooed teenagers with felonies is called), then the corporate machine is unstoppable—but, it will always give in to the independent, grassroots trends that start on their own, as a response to whatever crap we’re being force-fed on the radio.
Is music getting worse? Yeah, but just the fast food kind—let us not forget that there is now organic, free-range, gluten-free, gender-neutral, racially inclusive fast food that can be ordered via iPhone. Corporations will listen to a strong enough market, whether that be Millenial vegans or music fans—we just have to present the demand.
You, as the consumer, can dictate what gets co-opted by the mainstream. Remember, you are half of the feedback loop. If you want to hear good shit on the radio (for a few years, at least, before it becomes watered down a la dubstep), send a message by seeking out and supporting independent (or, at least not well-known) artists. Promote them on your social media pages. Play them for your Tinder dates. Put the baby to sleep to the mixtape you bought from the guy outside the mall. Eventually, corporate record companies will catch on and your favorite new act will get popular for a week, before they sell out and tour with Ed Sheeran.
Unless, of course, you’re a Juggalo. In which case, congratulations on being part of the only subculture to ever prove itself impossible for the mainstream to digest. Whoop whoop, ninja. Whoop whoop.
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