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#18011 Re: The Sunset Strip » Sorry state of music... Kid Rock #1 » 935 weeks ago
It really is sad. There was an entire culture built into that system that helped the record companies. They made a very short sighted choice to kill that off.
Here's the way I look at it:
If you were Mr. Average Consumer and went looking for "that song by that band" at a record store, you would not only find it but be directed toward other material like it you may not have known of. You also would've had a back other material by that artist you didn't know existed. Who knows, you maybe would've seen posters or merch that you liked from other artists you'd never heard of while you were there and looked into them as well. All this before you even factor in hearing some music playing overhead that isn't being pushed at you from all directions (VH1, radio, etc) that you might actually enjoy and purchase.
Somewhere along the lines, the record labels decided that selling copies of their new releases en masse to Best Buy and the like for far cheaper would result in even more first week sales. Which, as I said before worked just fine for a couple of years. But with that choice came the aforementioned death of the record store and the start of the fall of the record industry as we knew it.
Connected? I think so.
Yeah, there's definitely a connection. The record stores started dying in huge chunks by the late 90's, and other than the manufactured artists like Britney, NSYNC,etc., album sales started to drop as well. Now sales are in a downward spiral never to recover.
One other thing about the record stores was it was a more personal experience. You could talk to the people in there, and they actually knew something about music. I told this story at HTGTH ages ago, but one time I was in that record store and they had a giant poster of Axl singing at the Ritz on their wall. The dude knew I was a huge GNR fan and he gave it to me. That would NEVER happen in this day and age.
You were a person in those stores. In Wal Mart, Best Buy,etc., they consider you a mindless bot with a wallet.
Besides record stores, another industry killer is CD prices. In the 21st century there is no reason for cds to cost almost twenty bucks. Its a scam and everyone knows it.
Its like the industry is giving two choices:
1. Go into your local Wal Mart and buy one cd from an artist for $14.99
2. Go into your local Wal Mart and buy 200 Cd-rs for the same price, allowing you to burn cds containing thousands of songs for free.
I'll pick option 2.
#18012 Re: Dust N' Bones & Cyborg Slunks » Izzy listed as one of The Twenty-Five Most Underrated Guitarists » 935 weeks ago
Cobain isn't overrated.
I meant underrated.:butt:
That top 100 list is terrible. At least they had the decency to put Thayil on the list.
#18013 Re: Dust N' Bones & Cyborg Slunks » Izzy listed as one of The Twenty-Five Most Underrated Guitarists » 935 weeks ago
Cobain isn't overrated. Is RS insane? They put him at the top of every list. I would actually put Izzy in the top 5. The biggest band of the past 20 years was unable to do an album of original material without him.
#18014 Re: Guns N' Roses » Comparing Axl Rose to the greats » 935 weeks ago
I remember the Fresh prince videos on MTV in the late 80's. When I would come home from school, MTV would be sure to throw it into the after school rotation every day. Not a big rap fan, but those songs were decent. Crazy how rap went from Parents Just Dont Understand to Fuck The Police.
the musical landscape changed so much in such a short period of time. GNR hit the scene at just the right moment. Had AFd come out two years earlier or two years later, it would have failed to make the same impact.
#18015 Re: The Garden » What are you reading/last book you read? » 935 weeks ago
I have Ric Flair's book on its way. I cant hardly wait to read that.
#18016 Re: The Garden » What are your plans for Halloween? » 935 weeks ago
I don't care much for Halloween. Like Abbey, it was a holiday I enjoyed as a kid. I don't drink, and with my partying days pretty much a distant memory, the holiday means little. I never get trick or treaters because I am out in the country.
I will probably go watch Saw IV and maybe eat out somewhere.
#18017 Re: Guns N' Roses » Comparing Axl Rose to the greats » 935 weeks ago
Neemo, NIN was a breath of fresh air when they hit the scene. People had just had MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, and a ton of hair bands shoved down their throats for a long time. A change was welcomed by a lot of people.
I was never a big NIN fan, but I could relate to why people started to like them. It was different than what people were used to hearing.
#18018 Re: The Garden » The NFL 2007-08 Season thread » 935 weeks ago
Is it just me...or are the Packers WAY over-rated?
If you think the Packers are overrated, whats your view on Dallas? Dallas is the NFC team getting all the hype.
The Packers may be a bit hyped, but the NFC is terrible this year.
#18019 Re: The Sunset Strip » Sorry state of music... Kid Rock #1 » 935 weeks ago
I also believe firmly that the violent death of the "record store" has played a huge part in it. I cannot stand that places like Wal-Mart & Best Buy just swooped in and killed an entire culture.
Excellent point. There was this incredible record store in Missouri back in the early-mid 90's. Its where I bought the majority of my music, and they even had a huge catalog where you could buy all these great imports and bootlegs. When the guy who owned it was telling me he was gonna have to go out of business, it was pretty sad. He said how he had to buy cds at the price Wal Mart was selling them for and there was no way he could make a profit competing with that.
The death of the mom and pop record stores is a bit similar to the death of arcade culture in the early 80's.
#18020 Re: The Sunset Strip » KISS » 935 weeks ago
I haven't been much of a Kiss fan since I was a kid. Nice compilation of shows though. I never liked how they really milked their discography. They have a bunch of hits albums with a pretty much identical tracklist.
