Why music?

[Julián Fernández]

Do you think this Cobus character could have even gotten out of the gate if this was 1992? Or even 2000 for that matter? Not a chance. Thanks Google. Thanks YouTube.

Do you remember this guys? To me, MTV is one of the biggest responsible for marketing image over music... The pop scene today is quite sad.

[langmick]

I was struck by how good the song Baby Blue was while watching Breaking Bad.

The drums don't sound perfect, nothing sounds perfect. It sounds really unique and rich.

[Paul Marangoni]

I was struck by how good the song Baby Blue was while watching Breaking Bad.

The drums don't sound perfect, nothing sounds perfect. It sounds really unique and rich.

Badfinger was one of my all time favourite bands. Todd Rundgren produced the record with Baby Blue. There are a couple different mixes of that single.

Check out the documentary of the band. A must-see for EVERY musician.

[percusski]

"You guys are complaining about mediocrity but have you released reams of clips with your music to act against it? There you go."

There are thousands of clips and recordings out there of masters of the instrument, but many only get a handful of watches on youtube v the multitude of 'look at me playing through this song or that'...many of which are done very badly, not to mention the swathes of tuition clips on such mystical techniques as 'wristing it out'
I remember when there was virtually no access to the great drummers other than the occasional clinic or when rare and expensive VHS tapes came out, I don't remember seeing many half-asses on those early releases. It did seem to reinforce the idea that only the best, the people that worked hard at their art, got the deserved level of recognition. It was definitely sold to me at a young age that one had to work hard if you wanted to get somewhere, mastering one's craft. Times have obviously changed in that people a little beyond beginner level but with good social networking and marketing skills, add to that being handy with a home studio and final cut, seem to clear up.

As an example let's look at this one posted recently in another thread - 3483 views: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9itKO3Q14A

versus this: 4861174 views http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIm0kOa65Do

or my old teacher 21486 views: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69md7aLuo2I

The picture is much bigger than just bombarding the internet with even more clips of ourselves, there is a social issue that everyone under a certain age believes they are great, regardless of demonstrating anything great, they just are. This link goes someway to explaining what I'm on about in part, but further reading on millennials will demonstrate more: http://www.waitbutwhy.com/2013/09/why-g ... happy.html

Style over substance.

[Jim Richman]

Some kids just post their stuff ALL over to get all the views. I know. One kid did a drum play along with one of my band's songs. We had 50,000 hits over a few years for the song. He has 134,000 views in less than 3 weeks. Go figure.

[AllenS]

He who shouts the loudest, and spends the most time on networking and marketing, will reach the most people. Can it last? Probably not without substance at its core, but another person will just fill the void.

The Internet has only increased this concept exponentially by removing the gate keepers. With no filters, we are forced to do our own filtering. This extra effort causes fatigue and we end up retiring to our old favorites, which is why there is so much nostalgia.

This. It's all marketing. The music is almost an afterthought.

[AllenS]

Frankly? I dont give a shit. Here we are complaining about something that's happened naturally, without our interference. The technological evolution is happening and you can't do squat about it. Whether it's radio, tv, or web, mediocrity will always have an upper hand. That's because it makes money, and it doesn't require any thought.

Why does mediocrity make money?