I'm not saying that the music at SXSW sucks, though that might be the case. Last night I went to one of the greatest record (CD) stores in the country. Waterloo Records. Waterloo is a renowned destination for discriminating music lovers. It's been awhile since I've been in a decent record store as they're very rare nowadays. The only one even close that's near me, is Amoeba in SF. I never get up there. So if you know me, going to a great shop is something that I look forward to.
Man I was disappointed. There is nothing good out there. It's not Waterloo's fault, it's the industry. I was looking to spend a decent amount of money on some cool and rare finds, but I had to struggle to spend $35.
I see this as a huge problem. Mediocrity is ruling the music industry and it's not getting any better. Look at the review magazines and sites. More and more you see one, two and, three star (out of 5) reviews. Everything is boring. Even bands that should put out great music are succumbing to the doldrums that permeates the era.
Much of this, or all of this is due to the ineffectiveness of record labels. Since the 90's and perhaps the 80's, labels care more about when and how soon an album from a band comes out than what is actually on the album. So quality of music has been affected and the standard bar continues to be lowered. As each year passes, it gets worse because new bands are influenced by existing or established bands. So music is being watered down across the board. Even indies.
It's pathetic, especially in these troubled times. We should be hearing challenging music, there should be a new punk or rebellion movement. Where's the anger, where's the passion? It's like everything is on Ritalin. If history is any indication, we should be hearing the most fucked up, insane, awesome sounds ever recorded. Instead the corporate structure of the industry has quashed creativity and innovation in order to make their quarterly numbers. Because sameness is safe and predictable.
The Internet has not helped. The "leveling of the playing field" that the web has supposedly brought about, only made it worse. There may be some good stuff out there, but good luck trying to find it for all the shit that is being uploaded.
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. The worse music gets, the worse music gets. And corporate labels want to know why sales are down? Funny. It's not because of downloading. It's because of the homogenization of the product they are releasing. No wonder why people download for free; music today isn't worth anything.
