I've heard from some of you that you believe that in the next few years or decades that there will be no more mainstream music. In the future musical trends will be compartmentalized so that everyone will be listening to different things; thus there will no longer be a 'mainstream' and no definite musical trend.

Do you guys believe this? Why or why not?

Jump in your time machine and let us know what you find out ::)

What is considered "mainstream" music?  ???

I hope not...
Every decade has its own spirit and popular culture and its remembered the most by the"mainstream" music of that era.
Nothing will make sense any more...
I blame the internet for killing mainstream music, radio, television, cinema and for the alienation of the people!

There will always be mainstream music. It's just that independant and underground music is getting more easier to access

No. There always has been and always will be pop music.

Jump in your time machine and let us know what you find out ::)


Jumps :. ....ow!!

What is considered "mainstream" music?  ???


I guess mainstream can mean what's popular or 'in'. Pretty much what's on the radio, on the Billboard hot 100, Top 40 radio, etc.

Well, back then before the radio and records I guess people just sang songs that were 'popular' like twinkle twinkle little star.  :D Would that be considered mainstream?

Also there was Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, back then. So I guess THAT could be called mainstream of before technology and music charts like Billboard.

There will always be mainstream music just as there will always be indie, underground, oldies, etc.  If mainstream music did not die between 2005 and 2010 when the iPod was becoming the standard replacing the CD player, then its going to be around for a while.  The thing is, when indie or underground movements become popular enough they become mainstream.

No. There always has been and always will be pop music.


pop music has been around for many years.

I hope not...
Every decade has its own spirit and popular culture and its remembered the most by the"mainstream" music of that era.
Nothing will make sense any more...
I blame the internet for killing mainstream music, radio, television, cinema and for the alienation of the people!


I blame the fact that songs on the radio right now are so horrible that people are seeking other options. I'm thankful for the Internet giving me a greater selection of what I can find and listen to.

I blame the fact that songs on the radio right now are so horrible that people are seeking other options. I'm thankful for the Internet giving me a greater selection of what I can find and listen to.


The internet is king!  8)

The internet is king!  8)


Rise of the internet and Youtube = Best things out of the 2000s

8)

I think the next big musical movement will come from the internet.

I think the next big musical movement will come from the internet.



That'll be cool. To be quite honest I need less time on the internet and more time with fresh air!  ;D :-[

Rise of the internet and Youtube = Best things out of the 2000s

8)


yes definitely.  :)

I blame the fact that songs on the radio right now are so horrible that people are seeking other options. I'm thankful for the Internet giving me a greater selection of what I can find and listen to.


I wonder what fm radio would sound like WITHOUT internet. Better? Or even worse?

I've got the feeling, before the rise of the internet (or: the whole downloading movement and dropping cd sales) radio stations were taking more risks.

Ten/fifteen years ago, it was a lot easier to discover nice music by listening to regular fm stations. The American overly formatted Clear Channel concept - music databases with just a couple of hundred tracks - looks like hell for me. But here in Holland, there's also not much creativity anymore, when it comes to fm radio. Playlists compiled by listener research, think about the 'tune out factor' and such marketing nonsense. No surprises. Especially the last couple of years.

In the mid 90s, there were still big Dutch fm stations with djs compiling their playlists by themselves. It stopped in 1998 or 1999; a so-called central 'music police' took over.

I wonder what fm radio would sound like WITHOUT internet. Better? Or even worse?

It wouldn't sound any different.

It wouldn't sound any different.


You never know Howard. Maybe the reason why mainstream is so cruddy is because they're lazy. I mean, why try so hard when there's the internet for listeners?

You never know Howard. Maybe the reason why mainstream is so cruddy is because they're lazy. I mean, why try so hard when there's the internet for listeners?


I listen to the internet music almost every day.

Interesting topic.    8)

On that topic, I'll throw a new idea out there. I work in a nursing home/retirement facility/whatever the politically correct term is for it. I've been in the field for the entire 17 years of my life that I've been working, and have been aware of how the music preference among the "newer" generation of our elders are now entering nursing home age. For years, it was Lawrence Welk, Glenn Dorsey, big band and similar styles. We are now entering the generation of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and other stars of the 50's and even early 60's.

Which brings me to the question: with the musical diversity of today's world, what will those retirement homes be like when gen X and beyond get there? I find the thought of one corner filled with elderly people thumping out to Eminem while another corner holds the death/grunge metal group.....and then the boy band corner. Any thoughts??

;D :D ;D :D ;D :D ;D :D

There was no Glenn Dorsey! There was Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Jimmy Dorsey! Because many of these people are aging out, I'm finding vintage 45 records of these artists (right when 45s were first released) to be some of the cheapest music to collect. The line between "mainstream" and "cult" is getting blurrier, as many teens these days are into "classic pop"- classic rock, old school hip hop, classic punk/metal, along with current followers. I believe that means in the future I would expect to see more of a hodgepoge of music in such facilities. You'll have those decade-themed events, some classical music, some jazz, some rock, some country, some disco, and eventually some hip-hop (though not until around 2030 or so).

One thing I wish is that as stuff from the digital generation eventually becomes oldies, I wish people would buy special "collectors editions" on CDs/vinyl to show how physical stuff feels more authentic.

Good call...I did mean to say Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey.....reason number 999 why I shouldn't be posting so far past my bedtime!! Sorry for the typo!! 


:-[

One thing I wish is that as stuff from the digital generation eventually becomes oldies, I wish people would buy special "collectors editions" on CDs/vinyl to show how physical stuff feels more authentic.

And everything from the 70's and early 80's are collectors editions.

There was no Glenn Dorsey! There was Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Jimmy Dorsey! Because many of these people are aging out, I'm finding vintage 45 records of these artists (right when 45s were first released) to be some of the cheapest music to collect.


While I'm on the subject, I'm making a note to myself: when the inevitable happens, remind my folks to ensure that I inherit a few specimens my grandmother's collection of albums.  She still has a few books of shellac disks intented to be played at 78RPM.  I still have one piece of hardware that's capable of playing them.

(The oldest piece of music in my collection is one I've never listened to; it's an Edison wax cylinder I picked up at a flea market.)

Back to the subject of the thread - yes, it will.  Eminem's line from 2002's Without Me covers it: "embarassed their parents still listen to Elvis".  My grandma's since gotten over it, but she remembers trying to warn my mom away from that pornographically-gyrating avant-garde performer "Elvis the Pelvis". 

I went through the same thing with my parents and Iron Maiden during my 80s larval metalhead phase.  It wasn't until 1990's Holy Smoke that they realized Iron Maiden was the opposite of "satanic".  It was sometimes in the middle of the '90s, and the track came up on an MP3 player (plugged into a cassette adapter!).  Their first reaction was "Wow, who are these guys?  We didn't know you still listened to Christian rock!"  LOL.  When they got over the shock, I made them listen to 1982's Number of the Beast: Almost 25 years after its release, they finally figured out that it was more of a warning than a song of praise.)

I figured out that neither Ice-T nor NWA were trying to recruit people into the gangsta lifestyle.  I know that Lady Gaga isn't trying to give everybody a case of the ghey.  But I know that sooner or later, someone'll come up with a genre of music that I, too, will completely fail to understand.  I'm not looking forward to that day, and I'm grateful to everyone here for their efforts in helping me retro myself into permanent obsolescence. 

When you stop seeking out new forms of music, you've missed a big part of what music is about: shoveling novelty into your brainstem via the ears.  You don't have to like every form of music you encounter, but you owe it to yourself to keep listening.  To listen is to learn.  To learn is to live.  Stop listening, stop learning, stop living.

While I'm on the subject, I'm making a note to myself: when the inevitable happens, remind my folks to ensure that I inherit a few specimens my grandmother's collection of albums.  She still has a few books of shellac disks intented to be played at 78RPM.  I still have one piece of hardware that's capable of playing them.

(The oldest piece of music in my collection is one I've never listened to; it's an Edison wax cylinder I picked up at a flea market.)

Back to the subject of the thread - yes, it will.  Eminem's line from 2002's Without Me covers it: "embarassed their parents still listen to Elvis".  My grandma's since gotten over it, but she remembers trying to warn my mom away from that pornographically-gyrating avant-garde performer "Elvis the Pelvis". 

I went through the same thing with my parents and Iron Maiden during my 80s larval metalhead phase.  It wasn't until 1990's Holy Smoke that they realized Iron Maiden was the opposite of "satanic".  It was sometimes in the middle of the '90s, and the track came up on an MP3 player (plugged into a cassette adapter!).  Their first reaction was "Wow, who are these guys?  We didn't know you still listened to Christian rock!"  LOL.  When they got over the shock, I made them listen to 1982's Number of the Beast: Almost 25 years after its release, they finally figured out that it was more of a warning than a song of praise.)

I figured out that neither Ice-T nor NWA were trying to recruit people into the gangsta lifestyle.  I know that Lady Gaga isn't trying to give everybody a case of the ghey.  But I know that sooner or later, someone'll come up with a genre of music that I, too, will completely fail to understand.  I'm not looking forward to that day, and I'm grateful to everyone here for their efforts in helping me retro myself into permanent obsolescence. 

When you stop seeking out new forms of music, you've missed a big part of what music is about: shoveling novelty into your brainstem via the ears.  You don't have to like every form of music you encounter, but you owe it to yourself to keep listening.  To listen is to learn.  To learn is to live.  Stop listening, stop learning, stop living.


I know I'm no longer hip when I'm 40 and my kids will ask...."Who's Eminem?" Sigh:.  :-\\

Don't feel bad, I'm 19 and I'll take older stuff like The Who, Foghat, Nazareth etc over rap any day. Don't get me wrong I listen to plenty of current stuff too but really, it's not as cool to hate on your parents' music as it used to be.

I know I'm no longer hip when I'm 40 and my kids will ask...."Who's Eminem?" Sigh:.  :-\\


Eminem?  No, not the candies (and no, grandpa, not that Martha and the Muffins thing), I mean Eminem.  You know, that guy who did that Super Bowl commercial for some car company back in the '10s when there were still cars being made in Detroit.

Eminem?  No, not the candies (and no, grandpa, not that Martha and the Muffins thing), I mean Eminem.  You know, that guy who did that Super Bowl commercial for some car company back in the '10s when there were still cars being made in Detroit.


Kids will also ask in the future: "Who is that woman in that dress that looks like meat?"

I respond, "It's Lady Gaga!"

"What? It's a lady that went gaga?"  ;D

I know I'm no longer hip when I'm 40 and my kids will ask...."Who's Eminem?" Sigh:.  :-\\


and they'll wonder who in the hell is Lady Gaga?

Don't feel bad, I'm 19 and I'll take older stuff like The Who, Foghat, Nazareth etc over rap any day. Don't get me wrong I listen to plenty of current stuff too but really, it's not as cool to hate on your parents' music as it used to be.


My Parents like their doowop and I like my disco and funk.

and they'll wonder who in the hell is Lady Gaga?


There are some kids today who don't know who Madonna is.  ::)

There are some kids today who don't know who Madonna is.  ::)


Us old men must teach the new kids of today The old school.

There are some kids today who don't know who Madonna is.  ::)


Haha how young are these kids? Although I'm guessing that will star happening. The only reason I knew who Madonna was as a kid was because she had those two hits back around 2000 with "Music" and "Don't Tell Me". I really knew who she was because of that whole Britney Spears/ Madonna kiss back in 2003. Actually I could see a lot of people my age (17) not knowing the things Madonna did in the 80s and 90s, just the 2000s.

Haha how young are these kids? Although I'm guessing that will star happening. The only reason I knew who Madonna was as a kid was because she had those two hits back around 2000 with "Music" and "Don't Tell Me". I really knew who she was because of that whole Britney Spears/ Madonna kiss back in 2003. Actually I could see a lot of people my age (17) not knowing the things Madonna did in the 80s and 90s, just the 2000s.


They were about 15.

Madonna's hey day was about in the 80s up to about 1991 or 1992 or so.

They were about 15.

Madonna's hey day was about in the 80s up to about 1991 or 1992 or so.



I remember when Madonna was hot in 1983.http://traveljockey.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/madonna1983.jpeg

I remember when Madonna was hot in 1983.http://traveljockey.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/madonna1983.jpeg


Can you believe she's been around for almost 30 years?  :o

Can you believe she's been around for almost 30 years?  :o


And remember when teen girls back in the 80's dressed like her?

I remember when Madonna was hot in 1983.http://traveljockey.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/madonna1983.jpeg
She still is hot for her age

She still is hot for her age


At 50 years old? no doubt. ;)